Kage no Naruto
by Artful Lounger
Summary: What would have become of the idiot blonde if he had intelligence, ambition, and power over shadows and darkness, and all the madness that comes with them?
1. Prologue

Greetings my faithful (hopefully) readers

Greetings my faithful (hopefully) readers! To those who are new to my writings, welcome! To those who have read one or more of my other fics, welcome back! As you can probably deduce from the title, the story that won the poll was Kage no Naruto. To be honest, I have known that this one was going to win for a long time, it consistently held between forty five and seventy percent on the votes. Anyway I shall not bore you any further with my rambling and shall give you the full summary and the unfortunately mandatory disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any other anime/manga ANYWHERE! Why do you people keep asking? Honestly….

Full summary: What would have become of Naruto if the Kyuubi didn't leave him out in the cold and actually gave him some defense? The power of not sand, not fire, but shadow. Basically he will be able to manipulate shadows like Gaara manipulates sand, and he will also have a lot of shadow powers from different shows such as Gecko Moria's abilities from One Piece, Kido's abilities from Yu Yu Hakusho and others. By the way this story will have a bit more humor than my last story, no much but a little extra sarcasm. There will be Team 7 bashing, but not to such a severe degree as it was in Naruto the Chimera. I think that was mostly my irritation at Kishimoto coming out at the time. Also there will be a pairing, but I am thinking Naruto/Harem but there will only be 2-4 girls in it.

Also I am going to take a leaf from some other dude's book when it comes to OC's. Basically the guy came up with the idea to use characters from other shows and manga's, only they don't have their powers or anything like that. They just make it easier to produce a visual. I thought it was a good idea so I am going to shamelessly rip him off. I would give you the guy's name but I can not remember it. What can I say, I suck at remembering names. There will be other characters from different shows showing up throughout the story though. Mostly it will be people who had some interaction with the dude whose powers belong to Naruto now, but there will be others, so that will leave you guys something to look forward to.

Okay, that went on a little longer than I anticipated so without anything further, LET THE SHOW GO ON!

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Konohagakure, October 10th

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October 10th. A day that many in Konohagakure, the Village hidden in the Leaves held in utmost hatred. Why, you may ask? Simple, because that was the day that the almighty Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked the village without any warning whatsoever. Konoha's population generally believed they were above everyone else in general. After all, their village was the most powerful of the five great villages. If anything happened to threaten them then their extremely powerful ninja would protect them. They considered themselves invincible and when the Kyuubi came rushing over yonder hill, they believed that it was nothing major, that the ninja could take care of it with little difficulty. As a result, they were rather sluggish in the way of retreating to the shelters. This probably has something to do with the unprecedented massive amount of civilian casualties, but Konoha researchers have yet to give up any tangible findings. I wonder why?

Regardless, that was considered the worst day in their village's history since Orochimaru fled the village. Because not only were the civilian casualties raised through the damn roof, but the shinobi body count was right up there with it. Many a Chuunin or rookie Jounin had rushed the monster head on only to get flattened, eaten, burned to a crisp, or any combination of the three. Genin who had disobeyed orders to 'Get the fuck out of there' had also gotten the same treatment. Most looked on the bright side of that particular score though, less weaklings for Ibiki to sift though come Chuunin Exams. The battle finally ended when the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, in a combination his infinite misplaced trust and simply great power, sealed the Kyuubi into his own son, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, note that only two people in the world knew that that was his name aside from the Yondaime himself. He had summoned the great Shinigami to do the job and as a result he ripped the man's soul out of his chest and ate it. He seemed rather pissed off at the moment. Maybe his mumblings about 'interrupt my golf game with Kami, eh mortal? Well you got what you had coming didn't you?' had something to do with his pissed off status. Not that anyone heard him say it since he was on another plane of existence but regardless, moving on….

Now then, the current score was that a few hundred people were dead, civilians and shinobi alike and the beast was sealed into an infant. Now then, this would have been fine and dandy if it wasn't for one major factor. The fact that the recently reinstated Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Sasuke, couldn't keep his mouth shut and actually trusted a bunch a frightened and angry people to make a halfway reasonable decision. The boy could have lived a normal life, free of hatred, but the moment he told the people of the village that the Kyuubi was sealed into the boy, all Hell broke loose. The people basically rushed the balcony the old man was on yelling 'Kill the demon!' and the like, throwing empty liquor bottles at the child in question and other such violence. The Sandaime retreated to his office with the boy after ordering the ANBU to get the villagers back to their homes. The same day, a law was passed which forbade anyone from mentioning the Kyuubi or its landlord to anyone in the younger generation, especially the boy himself. After all, it wouldn't do well if the boy actually knew why he was hated, would it? No, much better to let him wonder why. He couldn't know who his parents were either, no one could. Iwa or Kumo would figure out and attempt to assassinate or kidnap him. He couldn't tell the boy either, he was to be put into an orphanage. After all, you can't trust kids these days, if you told him his father was the Yondaime he would probably go into Iwa and shout 'My dad was Konoha's Yellow Flash!' in front of everybody, wouldn't he?

Regardless of the reasons and poor judgment, the boy was put into an orphanage. It was a rather poor affair, but about half the council wanted to kill the boy and about another third of the remainder wanted him used as a weapon. Luckily he was the Hokage and could override the council to a degree. All he could do is hope the boy turned out well and became an excellent shinobi and a patriot for his village. (1)

Mind you that feeling of trust didn't last long. What may have broken that trust you may ask? It was probably when the two ANBU he had stationed to protect the boy went into his room and attempted to stab a kunai into the infant's jugular. Normally this would have killed him and Konoha would live in peace. However, the word 'attempted' was used for a reason. This reason was that the kunai was stopped mid-thrust. Not by a hand, not by any jutsu, but by a wall of solid darkness. A wall of shadow that had risen from the ground and stopped the knife cold. The shadows of the room all writhed suddenly and descended upon the two ninja. There was nothing in or around the room the next morning to prove that the two ninja were ever there. The only evidence, if you looked really closely, was in the top right corner of the ceiling and the ground near the bed.

In the top right corner of the ceiling there was a very small bloodstain. On the ground near the bed of the sleeping child was a very small piece of triangular metal. This metal was coated in blood and if you looked into it enough, you would realize that it was the point of a kunai knife.

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(1) What is the old man smoking and where can I get some?

That my friends, admirers, readers, or whatever you want to call yourselves is the prologue of Kage no Naruto. Then next chapter will be put up whenever I feel like it, which should be in the next few days. Until then, press the little blue button like the angel on your shoulder is telling you to and REVIEW!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	2. Chapter 2

Welcome one and all to the first real chapter of Kage no Naruto

Welcome one and all to the first real chapter of Kage no Naruto! Thank you to all who reviewed and without further ado, LET THE STORY BEGIN! By the way if you guys are wondering why I am posting again so quickly the answer is that I have been waiting for a WEEK to start up a story and I am really excited at this point in time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else.

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Summary of last chapter

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What you guys forgot already? You must have a worse memory that I do.

If you really need to be reminded this soon, hit that arrow near the chapter thing and read the prologue again, it's only about fifteen hundred words, not much.

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Konohagakure

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The day after the two shinobi vanished from the orphanage was pretty hectic for all involved. They had two shinobi missing, presumed dead, and the only evidence that they were even in the orphanage that night was a bloodstain, the broken off tip of a bloody kunai, and about a dozen eye witness accounts. Naturally suspicion was placed upon the 'demon child' for their murder but the Sandaime wouldn't hear a word against the boy. Eventually the case was closed with the most popular theory being that unknown assassins were going to attack the boy but were defeated and killed. They had managed to gravely injure the assassins and the assassins fled, taking the murdered ANBU with them, but forgetting to take the boy. Once again humanity proves that if they don't want something to exist they have numerous means to rationalize it to conform to what they already know. And people still wonder how Orochimaru got out of the village without anyone seeing him.

The years went on and after the first dozen people went mysteriously missing; everyone eventually learned that they shouldn't attempt to murder the child in his sleep. That didn't stop them from attempting to poison the boy's food, writing insults and cruel words upon his walls and door, preparing traps to kill him and other such nasty things. After the first few attempts on the boy failed, traps not killing him, poisons not working, assassins vanishing never to be seen again, one drunk old fool finally did it. He attacked the boy in public. Broken bottle in one hand and a knife in the other he charged the boy in the street one day when he was ordered to go get medicine for the 'sick' orphanage manager on October 10th. He had specific instructions to go to a specific pharmacy which was right on one of the more populated streets during the Kyuubi festival. The old man yelled out "DIE DEMON!" as he ran toward the boy, attempting to cut the child with a knife, but the strangest thing happened. The knife was blocked by a sudden black wall. The crowd followed the wall and found that it stemmed from the shadow of a nearby building. Before the crowd's eyes a tendril sprouted from that wall, wrapped around the man's neck and threw him into a side alley where he lost consciousness. The boy didn't react at all, he just turned around and continued on to the probably fake pharmacy, he wasn't surprised at all, he had seen that happen before, that and much worse. The crowd however went absolutely ballistic. What was once a silently glaring crowd with the occasional dark muttering became a stampede yelling 'The demon is attacking', 'run for your lives' and 'the demon is loose' and other such kind things.

The boy eventually reached the address he was given by the manager. He looked at the paper in his hand, glad that the Sandaime had taught him to read and write and then looked at the address of the building again. They were the same. Then he looked at the building in question. It was an abandoned building that needed repairs twenty years ago. By this time there was ivy growing on the walls up to the ceiling and there wasn't an inch of un-rotten wood to be seen. He sighed and went to return to the orphanage. The Sandaime found him on the way there. He cried out "Naruto there you are! Come here, would you?" The boy approached the old man and he checked the boy over. "We need to talk Naruto, about what happened earlier. Come on." He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and shunshined to his office. Naruto sat down in the guest chair while old Sarutobi sat down in the larger, more comfortable Hokage's chair and he looked at the boy.

"I have heard stories Naruto but I want the truth directly from you. What did you do to that man in the street, who taught you to use such abilities, why did you attack the man in question? I need you to answer these truthfully Naruto, if I went by the stories you would be considered a monster by anyone's standards. So I need to know the truth, your perspective."

The boy nodded and began his story "No one really taught me anything old man. The only one to ever teach me anything was you when you taught me how to read, write, and do simple math and that sort of stuff that everyone else got taught but wouldn't teach me. I don't know why but that thing earlier, that just happens. It doesn't have anything to do with me, it just happens automatically without my doing anything. The man in the street was trying to kill me and the shadows reacted. I don't know what else to say."

The boy looked sad and confused as he went on this tale and Sandaime just said "I have one last question Naruto, when did this all start, when did the shadows start protecting you?" Naruto just said "For as long as I can remember." Sarutobi knew then that this all must have been Kyuubi's doing.

Sarutobi looked at the boy and said "Right, well Naruto I don't want you using your abilities anymore than you have to, okay? People might get jealous of you, you know and who knows what could happen." While he said this he was thinking 'I will have to have Jiraiya look at the seal, these abilities might let the Kyuubi take over.'

Naruto nodded and asked "Ojii-san?"

The ancient in question looked at the boy and said "Yes Naruto?"

The boy looked down at his feet and mumbled something. The Sandaime leaned closer and asked "What was that?"

Naruto looked up and asked "Ojii-san, can I live on my own? I really don't like it at the orphanage. Everyone treats me badly, no one pays any attention to me, the food is awful and I would really like it somewhere else."

The old man thought about it and where he should put the boy. 'Well, there is that one building.' He looked at the boy and said "Okay Naruto, I think that that is fair enough given what I have put you through today." The boy nodded and the Sandaime said "Okay let's go get your things."

The boy looked at him and said "What things? The only stuff I own is what I am wearing right now."

The old man looked at the child in surprise and decided that he would be paying the orphanage a little visit later. HE took the boy's hand and said "Okay Naruto, now come on, we have to go to your new apartment." The boy went on, holding the man's hand, a smile on his face.

A few hours, a heated negotiation, and some bought furniture later and Naruto was now the proud tenant of apartment number 392. Complete with second-hand furniture, mold behind the walls, and roaches and rats if you knew where to look. The Sandaime left the boy alone in his new 'home'.

The moment the door was closed the smile vanished and the boy's eyes gained the shadows of malice and cruelty, the false joy evaporating. 'Idiot old man.' The boy thought. Honestly believing that he wouldn't figure out everything given the right clues.

Naruto, sweet innocent and abused Naruto, wasn't as sweet and innocent as the old ruler believed. He had been avoiding trouble his whole life. His skills in stealth and secrecy weren't to be underestimated. He knew a lot more than he let on. Since the day he learned to read he had been sneaking into the library, learning everything he could about every last subject. He had stumbled upon a great many things that no one knew was there. Some of them were high class jutsu and others were secret reports that were probably put in the wrong place by tired bureaucrats. He already knew more than enough to figure out that he was the Kyuubi's vessel; the scroll on Jinchuuriki that he had found had been a big tip. He had also managed to find out who his parents were. He had already decided three things. One, he hated his father who had placed the village of ingrates before his own son. Two, he hated Konoha which had made his life a living hell, had disobeyed its greatest leaders last wish and acted as if they were living gods. And Three, he hated the Sandaime. That old bastard had the gall to lie to his face about who his parents were, who his tenant was and other such important information. There were several things that he could not fucking stand and being lied to was high up there. He was hoping the old man suffered before he died and he hoped even more that he was able to watch.

He had learned a lot from the library. Basic Taijutsu, and Genjutsu as well as Ninjutsu were found there quite easily. He also found a few scrolls on chakra control which were important and even a few misplaced high level Ninjutsu scrolls. The one that he found most useful was the 'Kage Bunshin'. Once he learned that his rate of learning skyrocketed. He was able to spend more time on the training grounds and less time in the library after that. He had spent every possible moment out on the fields, undergoing monstrous training regiments to strengthen his pathetic form. He planned to be powerful; he could not abide by weakness in any form. His training really jumped ahead when he first met the Kyuubi.

He did not show any fear before that massive demonic fox. He showed a bit of surprise when he found out that HE was actually a SHE. She appeared as a tall woman with flowing red hair. Long, slender legs and crimson eyes with slit pupils. She appeared in a black kimono with no unnecessary adornment and had nine flowing red tails. She had a decent sized C cup and had fangs that protruded slightly past her lips when she smiled. Also she had a pair of cute fox ears of top of her head instead of normal human ears. She was overall very beautiful. Boy was he surprised when she turned out to be as sadistic as he was. She had improved his already monstrously difficult and strenuous training regiment and improved his senses as well. One major thing he enjoyed was the improved sense of smell. This was because now he could literally smell when people were lying to him. She also improved his hearing and sight. He could hear anything as far as one thousand meters with perfect clarity if he concentrated and his eyes were amazing. He could pick out the smallest detail in anything he looked at and could see amazing distances. He could even predict where people were going to be before they moved like the Sharingan could. Mind you he had to do all the movement calculations in his head to do so, it wasn't automatic like the Sharingan was, nor could he copy jutsus. He had to work for his power. The best thing about it was that the senses didn't come in all at once. It happened little by little, day by day so as not to overload him with information.

The thing he loved most was that he was no longer entirely human. Kyuubi's presence in him was turning him into a Hanyou, a half-demon due to the demonic chakra flowing through him. It wouldn't be complete until he was about eleven though, until then he was human. It was good to have something of a friend though since she would be with him until he died. They were stuck together for the rest of time whether they liked it or not. He would gain her powers but she would always be there even after her powers were fully assimilated, a consciousness within his own. One major benefit of half and eventually full demon-hood was that he would not die by mortal means. Age, disease and the like would never affect him nor would poison thanks to the demonic chakra in his system burning it away.

He had been showed Kyuubi's memories too. She had been around for a lot longer than anyone had guesses and he was not the only person to ever manipulate shadows or darkness. There were many others and he learned from them. One major thing he learned was that three of the associates of one of his shadowy predecessors were still alive. The predecessor in question was called Gecko Moria and he was extremely powerful. He learned a lot from watching Kyuubi's memories of him. Powerful magics involving shadows, the importance of underlings and much more including his methods on creating an army of the undead which were actually pretty good. He looked up to him more than any of his other predecessors. He was ecstatic when he heard that his three main lieutenants were actually still alive after all these centuries.

Two of them, Absalom and a doctor called Hogback had remained alive by having Hogback replace their aging body parts every few years and were still out there somewhere and he made it a point to track them down at some point. Same goes for the third lieutenant, a woman called Perona the Ghost Princess. She had remained alive by forever shedding her physical body and forever remaining as a ghost. The powers of Absalom and Perona would be useful and Hogback was a doctor to rival Tsunade even though his methods were different. He was determined to find them one day. He had also figured out why Kyuubi attacked Konoha. She was a guardian spirit for a certain place. Not Konoha, but for Iwa. She was royally pissed off at Minato for killing her people and she went after him determined to send him to Hell. She succeeded in her goal but she never saw this seal coming. Still she reasoned that it could have been worse. She could have been stuck with an idiot who wore an orange jumpsuit and yelled 'Believe it!' or 'Dattebayo!' after every other sentence.

Instead she got a sadistic and manipulative boy with a hunger for power and knowledge that could burn someone with their intensity. Each day he placed Genjutus she taught him over his apartment and trained to the breaking point, smiling all the while as he felt his muscles contort and harden with each practice strike, as his aim gradually improved until he could take the wings off of a gnat with a kunai from one hundred feet away without hurting the rest of the insect. All of this had one major flaw though. He was lazy.

Not when it came to combat or training, but when it came to doing much, he preferred to get others to do it for him. He could hold his own but why bother if your subordinates could do it for you? The question was where he would obtain subordinates. He was going to destroy Konoha, he needed an army. However he couldn't leave Konoha and by the nature of his goals and the locations he was limited to, he couldn't just open a recruiting office. So he planned to take a new path to domination.

The first thing was space. He knew that all of the other tenants left soon after he moved in so all he did was Henge into some random schmuck and went to see the landlord with a plan to buy the building the 'demon' was living in. After assuring the short and fat man that he indeed did know what he was buying he managed to get the building at a fraction of what any other complex would cost. When he got home he simply got out some stolen paperwork, signed some forms and turned them in at the appropriate places and the deed was in his name. He was now the devious owner of a shitty apartment building. He decided that he could spruce the place up later.

He also bought a new wardrobe with the stipend the old fool gave him. He hated the buzzard with a passion but Naruto was a born actor. He knew that people who pitied you were the easiest people in the world to manipulate, second only to people who admired you, and he managed to slowly get the stipend increased and that increased his savings since he no longer needed to pay rent since he owned the building. What he decided on was a pair of black pants taped off at the ankle and a pair of shinobi sandals. He decided upon a black long-sleeve spandex number to cover his chest. It clung to his body revealing the well-developed muscles for someone his age and some seals made it extremely resistant to damage no to mention comfortable, over that went a black trench-coat with an abnormally large amount of pockets for holding equipment. He dept the collar on the trench-coat up and only the top two buttons buttoned, keeping his arms free and finally he bought a wide-brimmed black top hat to cover his blonde hair. He didn't want to be noticeable in the dark and the hair was a dead giveaway. He also bought a large amount of ninja equipment and stole what he couldn't buy. He was quite the exceptional thief when the time called for it.

Now that he didn't look like a scrawny brat that could easily be picked on. When he finally managed to get the basement stocked with the necessary materials, these included a large freezer, a metal slab complete with restraints and a large number of medical tools he bought a shovel and went grave-digging. He came home the same night with two dozen coffins in scrolls. He spent the rest of the day waiting while he prepared one of the bodies, making it stronger, more powerful and more prepared for combat.

Finally the day came and some idiot ANBU decided to try and kill him in his sleep. The building was dark and so Naruto had an immense advantage. The idiot probably didn't know about his abilities since he had been having a low profile lately and he walked into the darkness, but he never walked out.

Naruto stood before the man who kneeled in front of him, arms and legs bound by solid darkness. He had wanted to try this out for a while, but he never got the chance till now. He leaned in and said to the man "Though you are a bigot and a fool, I must thank you for being my guinea pig." The man looked up at him with hate in his eyes only to be backhanded across the face. "Now sit still." He commanded as a spotlight shone on him. A Kage Bunshin went up to the man and squatted down. The clone of the boy did what the man had never expected and pulled his shadow up off the floor!

Naruto approached in the darkness and pulled out the implement he had found in one of the coffins. Probably a Chuunin given the status of the grave, pretty old too. The implement was a gigantic battle axe as big as he was. With his strength though, he was able to lift it and he brought it down on the shadow near the man's feet. The axe cut through the shadow and the man feel unconscious. He took the shadow from the clone and went into his laboratory. He looked at his creation. It was twice as tall as a normal man and was much more muscular. It had claws instead of fingernails and there was stitching over much of its body. He took the shrunken shadow of the disillusioned ANBU and slammed it into the dead bodies' chest. The shadow vanished into the creature's skin and Naruto waited with baited breath, as did the Kyuubi. Within a minute, the beast's eyes fluttered and Naruto let out a laugh. "I DID IT!" He cried "IT WORKS, IT'S ALIVE, MY FIRST ZOMBIE IS ALIVE!" He was the most happy he had ever been, this opened all sorts of doors and he was looking forward to the fruits that the plans he could hatch with those opened doors could bring.

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That would be the end of the first real chapter of Kage no Naruto. What do you guys think? Like it, hate it? Review and tell me!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	3. Chapter 3

Welcome one and all to chapter 3 of Kage no Naruto

Welcome one and all to chapter 3 of Kage no Naruto. I really don't have much to say in this part so I will just move on. Oh wait before I do, all I can say is that Naruto might, MIGHT, be picking up however slightly. Apparently Shikamaru finally told the blonde imbecile to stop fucking around and act like an adult and now Naruto of all people is supposed to break the code Jiraiya burned into the elder toad's back. Who wants to bet that what Kishimoto has in mind goes something along these lines: Naruto stops screwing around and somehow becomes strong enough to, with his friends helping him, defeat the Akatsuki and Sasuke's Hawk team. Either convincing Sasuke to come back to Konoha or killing him afterwards Naruto would get all emo and they go and with his friends manage to take down Madara and ruin whatever plans he may have. Then he skips like ten years and shows Naruto as the Rokudaime, he married Sakura and had a son, Sasuke, if he lives which is rather likely, marries some chick and has a large family and everyone lives happily ever after or some such shit. Why do I have the feeling that something like that will happen? All I can say is that I hope I am wrong.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, if I did, Sasuke wouldn't be alive.

Note: I didn't mention this last chapter but the purchasing of the building, the new wardrobe, and the building of the lab and the zombie's creation all took place in a time-span of three months after Naruto moved in. Sorry I didn't write that in last chapter.

Right, chapter begins… now!

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto grew up and reveals that he already knew who his parents were, that he hates the village, the Sandaime and Yondaime, he knows that the Kyuubi is sealed within him and that it is female. He also has been training for a long time and is very strong. He has been grave-robbing and has succeeded in bringing a zombie to life by removing a man's shadow and using to re-animate a corpse that he has strengthened. We left off there.

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Konohagakure, Naruto's basement lab

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Naruto was happy. He was very happy. Why was he so happy? Because his idea had worked! At first the leftover personality of the ANBU he captured allowed his new creation to disobey him but after a little while that evaporated and the thing became totally obedient. At that point the zombie, now known as Zombie One which was indicated by the small black one which was tattooed on the left side of his face above his eye since he wasn't going to bother to name any of his zombies save the most important ones, the zombie was released from his restraints and was coming to terms with his new undead status. Naruto smiled as he went through four quick handseals and bathed the zombie in flame. He didn't flinch, nor did he ignite. Naruto smiled again, his seal had worked.

Gecko Moria's zombies had three major weaknesses. The first was fire, but that was taken care of by a small yet powerful seal that made his zombies fire-proof which was now proved to work. The second was salt. This was a bit more vexing for if a zombie ate salt, he was purified and the shadow he had inside the zombie would be freed. Alas Naruto couldn't find any way around that one, but as long as only he knew it wouldn't be any problem. The third and arguably greatest weakness was that if the shadow's donor died than the shadow would vanish and the zombie would die too. This was dealt with by a small seal that kept the shadow in but it had yet to be tested until now. Naruto had walked back where he left the unconscious ANBU. Removing someone's shadow had two effects on the person. The first was that they were automatically knocked out for at least two days; the second was that sunlight became anathema to them; it would dissolve their bodies like sugar in water.

Naruto unsealed his axe and raised it over the man's head. He hoped his seal worked as he decapitated the man and blood spurted over the floor. 'Worst case scenario' he reasoned 'I have a new marionette waiting for a shadow.'

He walked into his lab and looked for the zombie. There he was, walking around and moving, just as he left him. Naruto smiled, his seal had worked! He brought in a coffin and put the newly dead body into it. If he strengthened it and gave it a shadow the body wouldn't dissolve, even though the shadow once belonged to someone else. The ANBU would hopefully make a good zombie in the future.

Over the next few weeks numerous cases of grave robbing were reported in Konoha. Most of the deaths were only a few years old. A good thirty five percent of the stolen bodies were the more intact victims of the Kyuubi attack. Naruto couldn't help but see the irony of it as he examined one of the bodies in the freezer. The warriors that fell to the great demon would be reborn simply to serve the creature they were killed by. Kyuubi found it amusing as well.

Naruto had been keeping a low profile lately for the most part. He had the entire building to himself and though it was a dump he had managed to rig a very good defense for the place. The first thing he had done was establish an iron fence around the property. The only break in this fence was a large iron gate. This gate had a very thick border and for a good reason. Naruto had rigged an invisible and high powered barrier around the place. Anyone and anything that touched the thing would be incinerated. The gate's borders were specifically reinforced to withstand the power of the barrier, making it the sole entrance to the place. Well, the only safe entrance. The barrier also went underground to prevent people from getting in via Doton jutsus. He didn't have a lock on the gate though, he wanted people to get in, he just wanted them to go in through the front door. Mind you he could open holes in the barrier for whatever reason, such as an escape route.

No one saw much of the Jinchuuriki over the next few months. The reason was simple, he was improving and exploring his abilities with shadows. Kyuubi asked him one day why he trained his body so hard if he was going to use the powers she gave him, one made the other obsolete. "Not so Kyuubi-chan." He answered her. "True the shadows do protect me a great deal and despite all the attempts on my life, no one has broken though them yet. But you can never be sure. I guarantee that one day I will face someone who is able to bypass that protection and it is then that my Taijutsu skills will show their worth." Kyuubi was skeptical but she decided to trust his judgment, he hadn't been wrong yet after all.

Though his Taijutus and Genjutsu abilities were excellent. He was rather weak in the ways of Ninjutsu. There were about ten or so that he found useful but he didn't know many that he used often. He preferred to use shadows and Genjutu rather than big flashy attacks that, for the most part, could be avoided by a simple Kawarimi. Though if it came down to it, he did have some of the big flashy attacks, as he called them, on standby. Just in case he needed to destroy a large or well defended target. He was never one to leave himself without options. 'Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it' was his watchword.

He spent a good many of his days training his shadow abilities, preparing bodies to accept a shadow and capturing idiot shinobi who tried to kill him. He didn't complain about the assassination attempts, not in the least. The more people who came through that door uninvited, the more shadows he could collect and the more zombies he could create.

He had discovered a great many things about shadows and darkness as he trained. For example he could create alternate dimensions within them. They took a good deal of chakra and control to create but the result was a small spherical ball of darkness with an extremely large storage capacity. He had prepared a good deal of these 'storage shadows' and fused them into the pockets of his trench-coat. He had packed the shadows with a large amount of kunai and kunai with explosive tags attached to them. He could release a set amount of them at any time, the result being that they would fly out of the shadow at high speeds. He really enjoyed lifting up one side of the coat and releasing a bunch of kunai at his opponents. They never saw it coming since from their perspective the weapons came flying out of nowhere and because of that surprise factor it had a very good accuracy rate. He could also reach into the shadow and pull out kunai in as many numbers as he wanted. Some of the shadows held stored rations, ninja wire, normal explosive tags, paper and ink for seals or messages, blood replenishing and soldier pills, and miscellaneous items such as books and scrolls for when he got bored. He didn't carry any pouches or bags as a result. He also had one of the storage shadows compressed and hidden in the right sleeve of his long sleeve shirt. This one only carried one item: his battle axe. With it stored there, he could just stretch his arm in a sudden motion and will it to appear and it would appear in his hand. Best part of it all was that he didn't need to bite his fingers to release any seals like most ninja did.

He had also discovered a rather interesting feature. The fact that there were other worlds. Apparently all darkness was connected, existing as one single thing. This darkness was what connected the various worlds to each other, and he could use his abilities to travel there if he wanted. He decided to leave other worlds alone though. For one thing, he would be sent to one world at random and who knows what could happen. He could end up in a world where the people breathed something other than oxygen for example, or he could show up in a world that was completely uninhabitable. Even if he found a world that was suited for human life, he would have no sure way of getting back, he would just be tossed into the ether again and God only knows where he would end up. So as good as a killing spree in another world to vent frustration sounded, he decided to give the whole thing a miss. Besides, if worst came to worst and he ended up captured or defeated, than he could use that as an ever-present escape route. It was wise to always be prepared.

As the weeks and months passed and Naruto's strength grew, fewer and fewer people were both brave and stupid enough to try and hurt him. He said that he was happy about that to the Sandaime, but he really hated that. If people stopped coming for him, he couldn't acquire new shadows without drawing in unwanted attention. The last thing he wanted was for people to find out about his budding army of the undead. Before they outnumbered the villagers at least, after that who cared. Speaking of the zombies, they were about fifty in number now. About thirty of them were warriors, soldiers meant for combat like the first zombie was. Of the rest they were all made special. They were like the normal zombies, but they were trapped in portraits. They could leave these portraits at will and could also travel between other frames that were made the same way. They could be used as a warning system and a defense since no one ever expects enemies to come out of a damn painting do they?

Since he always carried a picture frame with him, he could always be aware of important events since they would warn him immediately. This frame was small, about the size of a pocket watch, but he wasn't really worried about the visual on it since he could hear the zombie in it just fine. There were only two zombies not directly made for combat. The first was zombie number twenty one. This one he made for recon outside of his home. It ended up as a mixture between a man and a bat. Since 'zombie number twenty one' was rather long for someone he actually had conversations with, he just named the guy Hildon.

The other zombie was not made for either combat nor recon or any other purpose in battle. Rather this one was made for around the house work. She was the only female zombie and as a result he tried to at least make her look good. She was of medium height and slender build. She had red eyes and bright blue hair. She was rather quiet, but very loyal and obedient. She basically took the position of maid since the other zombies couldn't cook or clean to save their lives while this zombie had a good talent for it. He decided to name her Rei. She also knew some hand to hand combat in case the house was ever intruded upon and she found them before he did. **(1)**

He still had to deal with the new problem of people fearing him. It was good; don't get me wrong, but now there were very few, if any, new shadow 'donors'. He could always abduct the villagers, but that would be a rather high profile action. There was already an investigation as to what happened to the fifty or so people that had already vanished, not that they would ever find anything. He made his decision on what to do and approached the Sandaime with it. Despite the fact that he hated the buzzard he still needed his permission and knew just how to play the man like a harp.

The main issue was getting him to agree to let him leave the village. The Sandaime had already given him several basic manuals and guides for the ninja business so he used the need for an escape from the hatred as the main excuse. He posed it as a training trip. He would stay at a cave near the village and train there for a year. It would act as survival training in addition to whatever work he got in on his skills. At least, that was what he told the man. Coaxing people to do what you want was a subtle art. He didn't approach his request directly for one thing. He slowly built up to it over the conversation. The subtle yet fake flattery in his words and tone, the innocent and abused mentality he portrayed, all of it was to convince the bastard to let him do what he wanted. Before long, the man agreed and while he thanked the man politely he was making fun of the bastard in his thoughts. The old man only had one last issue to raise. "You know Naruto-kun, if you leave the village for a year, you will have to enter the Academy a year late." Naruto looked at the aged leader and gave an enormous fake smile "I know Ojii-san, but the training I get done will make up for it!" "Well, if you're sure then…." "I am Jii-san, see you later!" The boy shuddered in his mind, he hated acting like that, but he had to maintain his façade until he became a Gennin at least, then he could let a bit more bloodlust show.

A year away from Konoha was just what he needed. Sure he would be watched, but whatever the man tried could be bypassed without too much trouble. He would leave a variation of the Kage Bunshin behind to fool the crystal ball and the ANBU that would probably check up on him at least once a week. He packed a map of the elemental countries and in his bag and sealed a large freezer into a scroll as he prepared to leave the village. He wasn't planning on staying anywhere near Konoha. He had shadows to collect, bodies to prepare, secrets to sell, and most importantly, people to find. He needed people better suited to do certain jobs than he was, and he had several things to find for his plans to be a success. One thing at a time, one thing at a time. He had patience after all; he could wait a few years for his plans to work.

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(1) If any of you are wondering, yes this is Ayanami Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion.

That would be the end of the chapter. Review the thing, and I hope to see you all in the next chapter. Naruto hunts down Hogback, Perona, and Absalom (And some other things). See you then!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	4. Chapter 4

Testing one two, one two, trolls in a tantrum cause terrible trouble, is this thing working

Testing one two, one two, trolls in a tantrum cause terrible trouble, is this thing working? Good. Now that that has been established, I must give you all an important announcement. Chapter four of Kage no Naruto has been released to the public! The entire thing is listed below, enjoy and review at the end.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else save my ideas. Those are mine, MINE I TELL YOU!

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto tested and increased his abilities, and also increased the size of the undead army. Since people stopped coming to 'visit' him, he managed to convince the Sandaime to let him take a one year long training trip in the forest outside of Konoha. We left off with him packing for the trip.

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Konohagakure, 'The Demon House' (As the locals call it at least)

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Naruto was preparing to leave for his one year training trip. At least that's what everyone thought he was leaving on. The real truth was a bit less pleasant for Konoha.

He had more or less everything he needed. Food, weaponry, a few hundred scrolls and books on the ninja arts that he had not read yet recently filched from the areas of the library people weren't normally allowed into, all disguised as lower level techniques via Genjutsu. Zombie picture frame, check, map of the elemental countries, check, a large freezer sealed within scroll to reserve any powerful bodies he happened to collect, check, immense power, check, hatred for most human beings, check. Okay he was all set to go.

As he prepared to go he gave some last minute instructions to Rei, who was to keep things organized while he was gone. Basically keep the place clean, repair any damage since the building was still rather decrepit, send a picture zombie his way should anything go wrong, and wear that French maid outfit more often.

He made several seals on the inside of the gate as he left the property, sealing in the place in a near impenetrable sphere of energy. Zombies didn't need to eat or drink, so no supplies were needed to be left behind, and he didn't really want anyone going into his house when he wasn't there.

His leaving Konoha wasn't that much of an event. He agreed with the Sandaime that he should leave in secret so the old man cast a small illusion on him so that he looked like someone else so that he could just walk out without any fuss from the civilians and gate guards, not that he needed to, but the Sandaime still believed that his skills were low Gennin level at best, a misconception that Naruto readily encouraged. After all, the most deadly enemy is the one that you overlook.

Within two hours of leaving Konoha he had reached the cave that he told the Sandaime that he would be staying at for the next year. It was actually a pretty good sized hole in the rock, a bit bigger than he thought it was. He put down most of the scrolls and books and removed the Genjutsu over himself, and replaced it with one of his own, which covered the cave area. This was to fool the Sandaime's crystal ball into thinking everything was normal. He would need something a little more elaborate for the living eyes and ears that would be watching him at the Hokage's behest. He had been wanting to try this out for a while actually.

He turned and faced his own shadow, a deep grey against the stone and raised his hand toward it, fingers spread. He said only two words "Come forth." And a black hand rose from the center of the shadow. The hand pushed against the floor and before long an entire person emerged from Naruto's shadow, which vanished as soon as the creature fully emerged. This being looked exactly like Naruto, the only difference was that his entire body was pitch black and his eyes and mouth shone bright white against that darkness. This being was Naruto's shadow. It was mentally much weaker than its master but it was extremely stronger physically as well as amorphous and immortal. All he had to do was give it orders and the shadow would obey them to the best of its abilities.

His orders were simple 'Take my form exactly and train here until I return. Read the books and scrolls I leave for you and do not do anything suspicious. Do you understand?' The creature nodded and Naruto was pleased. The shadow would act just like a Kage Bunshin, he would learn what it did as he went to sleep each night. There was only one detail to take care of first….

Naruto went to the mouth of the cave and looked out into the sunlight of the dawn just peeking out from the horizon. He gently, carefully stuck the tip of his right little finger into the light and smiled as it didn't dissolve. Apparently he could separate himself from his shadow and not be harmed by the sun. He had separated from his shadow before and practiced all sorts of moves with it. With them both working together they were a powerful team, but Naruto hadn't dared to reveal himself to the sun without a shadow until now and he found that his fears were unfounded.

He watched as the shadow's color changed until he was looking at an exact copy of himself. He nodded to the shadow and left the cave heading into the forest. He knew his way around Konoha's forests rather well from his sneaking about at night, so he knew right where to go to begin his search… away from Konoha and to the north, in the direction of Iwagakure.

He walked into a tree's shadow and closed his eyes. He mumbled under his breath 'Kage Hokou' (Shadow Walk) and vanished into the darkness, sinking into the shadow beneath him.

When he emerged from that darkness, he was near the border to Tsuchi no Kuni. He really loved the Kage Hokou, he could transport from one shadow to another anywhere in the world in a moment as long as he had been there before by more normal means. He had never been out of Hi no Kuni so he had to do with the border instead. He crossed the border and made his way into Tsuchi no Kuni, Kyuubi's ancestral home, the enemies of Konoha and if his information was right, the location of the den of the esteemed Dr. Hogback.

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One week later

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Naruto was staying in a small yet comfortable hotel about fifty miles in from the border. So far he had no luck locating Hogback, but it was to be expected, Tsuchi no Kuni was a big place, and graced by half a dozen mountain chains and Hogback's hideaway could be almost anywhere in it. The only places he could be sure Hogback wasn't was within twenty miles of the borders and within fifty miles of Iwagakure no Sato. Those places were heavily guarded by Iwa Nin. Aside from those locations, Hogback could be almost anywhere in the country though he probably wasn't in any town or city. After a night of thinking he came to the conclusion that Hogback's most likely position was in the mountains somewhere probably near a place where they had a large graveyard so that he could continue his exploration of the human body's mysteries.

Naruto unrolled a newly stolen map of Tsuchi no Kuni that showed every last town and known settlement and was rather dismayed at what he found. Apparently there were at least a dozen villages that fit the bill in each mountain chain and if he was right Hogback and Absalom could be in a hidden place anywhere within five miles of any of them which was probably heavily defended. He knew finding any of Moria's old compatriots would be difficult but _come on!_

Eventually Naruto decided that he really had no choice but to either search each and every one of the places he could be, over fifty villages and the lands surrounding them, or he could develop some method to search every place at once. He ground his teeth in frustration, if it was THIS hard to find Hogback and Absalom, who were thankfully traveling together since Absalom needed the doctor to replace his aging body parts with new ones every so often, then it would be almost impossible to locate Perona, who didn't even have a physical form. 'Wait a second.' He thought. 'Absalom needs Hogback to replace his aging body parts every few years. Of course! Absalom's body is composed of mostly animal parts, mostly predators. If any of the villages listed have a large population of dangerous predators, especially ones that may have shrunk noticeably than that would probably be the place!'

He eagerly looked at the map again, taking out a book of Iwa's natural wildlife. There were unique animals and plants in every country so he had bought such books in case he found one. He checked each place in the book's index, looking for the most dangerous and powerful animals near each of them, especially ones that have experienced a declination of population over the last few years. He found some good news and some bad news when the search was complete. He had managed to narrow down the likely possibilities from over fifty to below ten, seven to be exact, but those seven were equally likely to be the place and they were all very far apart. He had no real choice but to check each village individually. As most people from the Nara clan would say 'Mendokuse.'

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Three days later, 40 miles from last town

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Naruto was in his hotel room, grinning like a madman. 'Why was he so happy?' one would ask. The answer would be that he had found an EXTREMELY useful piece of information. Iwa had a Jinchuuriki of its own! Mind you, her abilities were not really meant for combat, but he didn't really care about that, her abilities were in the way of recon over an extremely wide area, such as an entire country. If he could get her on his side than he could find Hogback and Absalom within a few hours! She was also supposed to be monstrously talented at Genjutsu.

There were only two problems with that. The first was that because Iwa was horrible to her, as it was for all Jinchuuriki, she was a rather meek and easily intimidated individual. This was a bit of a problem because he liked people to be able to think for themselves. It would also make her extremely distrusting of anyone, especially people she had never met before. The second was that though Iwa was extremely abusive of her, it was still protective as all Hell when it came to her. It would be difficult to get her to come to his side, extremely difficult and just as difficult to steal her away. If he succeeded he would have to vanish from the country and quickly since the entire country would be swarming with ninja looking for her and more importantly, him. He would have to observe the girl for a while and find a good way to either deceive or coerce her into accepting his offer to come with him.

He looked at a picture of the girl that he had taken from the hitman he had beaten almost to death for the information on the Jinchuuriki. He had heard him mention to a friend that he was hired to kill her and took action; he killed the fool once he had finished talking. The girl wore small square glasses and had short red-brown hair, very plain looking, and was supposedly extremely smart though shy; rather bookish too, she was supposed to be fifteen years old. He looked at the girl's name before destroying the dossier, he muttered to himself 'Kikukawa, Yukino, Jinchuuriki of the Rokubi no Koubayajuu' memorizing the name and picture. He had a new target. **(1)**

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Two weeks later, outside of Iwagakure

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Naruto was holed up in a decent sized cave about a mile and a half outside of Iwa. He had been spying on the local Jinchuuriki Yukino for the last two days, trying to learn about her, her fears, her preferences, how she fought, and everything he could. The more he could appeal to her when they met, the more likely it was that she would come with him.

So far he had learned quite a bit. She was tremendously powerful in Genjutsu, stronger than most Kages. The only people that would be able to come anywhere close to matching her in Genjutsu would be Uchiha Itachi and that chick in Konoha that could make Genjutsu real before Yuuhi Kurenai sealed her powers away. Her illusions were as unbreakable and traumatizing as the Tsukuyomi, he knew that if he was caught in one of her illusions, it would be really bad. The only bit about that was that she was too meek and shy to use her Genjutsu abilities against those that would harm her. He really couldn't figure that one out. Though she was possibly the strongest Genjutsu master in centuries, maybe ever, she was low Jounin level in everything else.

He had found out about a decent bit of her life too. She was extremely introverted and didn't like confrontation which was to be expected given her 'abandoned by parents' status and was listed as a Tokubetsu Jounin in Iwa's books. The only reason someone hadn't killed her by now was because of her one and only friend, Suzushiro Haruka. Unlike her friend Yukino she was loud and aggressive, and fiercely protective of her friend. As a result the blonde Jounin was considered 'demonically tainted' by her peers. After she befriended Yukino, she quickly became her only friend. He also noticed that Haruka wasn't incredibly loyal to Iwa either. He knew that if he was going to convert Yukino, Haruka was the key to it. If he could rope Haruka into going with the idea then the Jinchuuriki would follow. This was only cemented when he learned one crucial fact about the shy Jinchuuriki that no one, not even her friend knew. The fact that Kikukawa Yukino was head over heels for Suzushiro Haruka. He could slightly understand that, after all the blonde Jounin was the only one who ever helped her in the least. He knew that if he could get Haruka on his side somehow, than the Jinchuuriki would remain loyal. It was one more person than he intended to carry off, but it was worth it. The only question was how to use Yukino's love to his best advantage.

He had gotten his chance a week later. The day that Suzushiro Haruka was killed. It was supposedly a training accident, that was the story spread but Naruto knew the truth. What was supposedly a 'friendly spar' between co-workers was actually a well thought out assassination by a Jinchuuriki hater to 'redeem the tainted one's soul'. When Yukino found out she went into a depressive slump and retreated to her home and the only people that had seen her since was the mob that attacked her home the next day to 'remove the taint once and for all'. Yukino in her depressed state was apparently more willing to shatter minds with her illusions than her normal self was judging by the new additions to the local asylum. Naruto thought of a way to bring both Yukino and Haruka to his side and shatter their frail loyalties to Iwa in one fell swoop. He grinned as he snuck into the Jinchuuriki's apartment one day after the 'accident'.

The place was a lot dirtier and unkempt than it normally was as he looked around the interior. He could hear a slight crying from a nearby room. He made sure that he stayed quiet as he neared the room, the last thing he wanted was for her to attack him, he wasn't all that sure he could win against her if she did. He found her crying her eyes out muttering things such as 'Why Haruka, why did you leave me?' and other such things. He entered the room without a sound and used the shadows to cloak himself from sight as he spoke to her.

Yukino had spent the last day and a half in utter depression. Her best friend, her only friend, the love of her life even though she knew that she would never return her feelings was gone, killed by accident. She couldn't believe that life could be so unfair. She was utterly consumed by despair and hopelessness. She was completely shocked when she heard a voice from nowhere whispered into her ear. "Why are you crying?" the voice asked her.

Her sadness turned to anger at the voice. Who was this person to wonder why she was crying? Wasn't it obvious?! She growled to the voice "Why do you THINK! She's gone, my Haruka-Chan is gone, she left me behind, just like everyone else. How can I go one without her? She was the only reason I had left for living." Her voice was loud and harsh at first but settled into a whimper as the sentence ended.

The voice returned "What would you do if I said that I could give Haruka back to you?" She looked around for the voice in supreme rage. How DARE this person, this thing, toy with her emotions! Toy with her love for Haruka! She would find whoever it was and tear their mind asunder and she told the voice as such.

The voice returned, filled with mirth. "Why would you destroy your one chance to have Haruka returned to you? I do not joke, resurrection is within my abilities, simply ask me to and I will return Suzushiro Haruka to you, just as she was before she was assassinated."

Yukino was stunned. Haruka was assassinated? Murdered? She couldn't believe it. She asked the voice, her own voice filled with uncharacteristic rage "Who did it!? Who took Haruka-chan away from me!? Why would they hurt her, when she was so beautiful, so perfect…?"

The voice returned once more "She was killed because of her association with you. It was done on the orders of the Tsuchikage. Why do you think someone who Haruka had never talked to before challenged her to a match and used an abnormally long kunai that could easily strike an accidentally fatal blow that he had never been seen using before? It was planned by your village, it was Iwagakure itself that took Haruka from you, no one else is to blame."

Yukino was once more distraught; she picked up a knife and yelled with fresh tears staining her eyes "Haruka-Chan was killed because of me! It's MY fault she's dead!" She drove the knife toward her chest but a tendril of shadow struck the knife from her hand.

The voice returned "It is not your fault Haruka is dead. It is Iwagakure's fault. Even so it does not matter as I can bring your Haruka back to you, if you want me to." Yukino looked up to where she thought the voice was coming from, which was about ten feet to the right of where Naruto actually was and said "And what would you want in return, if you were able to do so? Nothing comes for free, I know that much."

Though she didn't know it, Naruto smiled at that. Even depressed to borderline insanity, she was still sharp as a razor.

The voice returned and whispered to her "You are correct, there is a catch, but it is insignificant to what you would gain in return. In exchange for your Haruka's return I only ask for your loyalty. Your obedience to my commands. You will leave Iwa with me, and your Haruka-chan may come as well if you want. I can assure you that if you come with me, you will one day have your revenge on Iwagakure no Sato."

Yukino considered it for a long while. If she left Iwa than there would be no one to defend her, but then again Iwa had hurt her more than anyone else ever had or ever could. She decided to agree to the deal. She didn't know what would happen, but it would definitely be better than staying here. She spoke and Naruto smiled when he heard her reply when she said "You have a deal". Yukino looked around and said "I have a question though, just who are you?"

A small figure stepped from the shadows and she jumped when it did. She didn't detect anything from there; she didn't hear any heartbeat, or its footsteps. She didn't sense any chakra until the figure moved either. Her jaw dropped when the figure was revealed to be a boy no more than seven or eight years old. He said to her "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, now then let's get going. We'll have to get Haruka's body back for this to work." He walked out the door, with the bookish Jinchuuriki behind him, still astounded at both the boy's age and the authority he apparently had.

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One hour later, Genjutsu-hidden cave forty miles from Iwa

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They were hiding out in one of Naruto's portable labs, prepping for the resurrection. Haruka's nude form was on a metal table and Naruto had put on a lab coat, mask and gloves, and was cleaning a bunch of scientific/medical instruments.

Yukino just sat in the corner, amazed at what had happened in the last two hours for her.

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Flashback no jutsu

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Naruto and Yukino had gotten to the morgue in one piece. It was about nine at night so no one saw them. He had asked her about the security around the morgue since a Hidden Village's morgue was always well defended. Dead ninja bodies were flesh-colored gold nowadays. The techniques that could be developed and the jutsu and bloodlines stolen could do tremendous damage to a ninja village if their morgue was successfully raided. As a result the only places that were more defended than the morgue was the local Kage's residence, the reservoir in Sunagakure, and any jutsu libraries in the village. Aside from those places, the morgue was the most well defended place.

Yukino had told him what she knew. Since the third ninja war, the number of high quality shinobi was lowered by a lot and Iwa was still dealing with the damage. As a result their were only ten high Chuunin level ninja guarding the place from the inside and the five doctors that held the night shift were all high Chuunin to low Jounin level shinobi. Quite a bit of security for a three story, completely square building. Especially considering the fact that there were alarms linked to every other door and cameras everywhere. One slip-up and half the ninja population of the village would be raining upon them like bats from hell. Naruto though had a simple solution to alarms, cameras, and reinforcements already thought up.

He held his hands in front of him, palms facing eachother about six inches apart. Shadows began to coalesce between his hands, forming a small sphere. He showed the ball to Yukino and explained. "This sphere" He began "will envelop a large space and immensely speed up time inside of it. An hour in there becomes a minute out here, you see?" She nodded and he continued. "This solves the problem of reinforcements, but the cameras, alarms, and other non-human defenses in there will be gone too since everything electronic will short out upon contact with the sphere, the stuff comes back online when the sphere is gone though. Lightning jutsu can't be used in here either, they just don't work and no one can get in or out without my help. The plan is this: I put this little guy around the building and we storm the place. We get the soon to be not late Haruka's body, and we hightail it out of here. Sound good?" Before she could nod, he pressed the sphere between his palms. A second later he let it go and the darkness spread from his hands, enveloping the morgue and everything within twenty feet of the building, the two of them included.

According to Yukino there were four guards inside the entrance hall so he went in prepared for them. A very small ball of solidified shadow formed on the tips of the first four fingers on his right hand. She asked what those were for and he looked at her, grinned and showed her his fingers one by one, as each sphere became visible to her he said 'One dead ninja, two dead ninja, three dead ninja, four.' Then he turned to the door said beneath his breath 'Ding ding, round one.' Before he kicked the door down and flicked his hand toward the four ninja that rushed them the moment the door opened. The four balls of condensed darkness rushed from his hand and pierced through the chests of the four, each appearing to be nothing but a line that stretched from his hand and went through his opponents before disappearing into the wall. The four ninja fell without a sound and four small craters decorated the wall around the receptionist, who was looking frail and helpless. That was to be expected since she was the only civilian in the building.

He approached the woman and casually leaned against the counter, a smile on his face and asked her 'Where would I look to find the body of the late Suzushiro Haruka?' like he didn't just kill four people like it was nothing. She shakily pointed to a chart which listed in which freezer a body was in, depending on what letter their name started with. There was a separate freezer for the unidentified. The S's were in Freezer 5. He looked at the terrified secretary and said "Thank you" before a shadow came from the ceiling, wrapped around her neck, and hoisted her up. He shrugged at the hanging secretary said 'nothing personal' and walked toward the freezer section.

They encountered two more Chuunin on their way to the freezer in question who made the bad move of attempting to use Raiton jutsu. Given the treaty between Kumo and Iwa during the war, Iwa ninja picked up a few lightning techniques and vice versa. Since Doton jutsu were too wide range to use here they went to the only thing they knew that would work in any other circumstance. Naruto thought the look on their faces was priceless when they looked at their hands in shock when their jutsu didn't work. Their heads were cut off from tendrils of darkness that originated from the natural shadows of the walls before they knew what had happened.

When they got to the freezer, Naruto cut off the lock with a small blade of shadow that extended from his fingers and found a large room with a bunch of square cubicles lining a wall. He looked to Yukino and said "You keep watch." She nodded and stood a small way back from the door as Naruto cut the lock off of one cubicle, opened it, and checked the tag on the toe of the body inside before moving to the next one. On the seventh one he checked the tag, smiled and said "We have a winner." As he rolled out the steel sheet that the body rested on. He called to Yukino who came quickly and told her to pick up the body and follow him, which she did, albeit with some difficulty. Naruto led them to a shadow in the corner and grabbed her arm. He muttered under his breath "Kage Houko" just as four Chuunin and three Jounin level doctors rushed inside the room. A moment and a whirl of nausea later and they were in a strange cave.

Naruto took a scroll from his coat and told her to put a Genjutsu over the cave mouth. By the time she was done he had unsealed a small building and carried the body inside. And then they were where they were now.

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Flashback no jutsu Kai

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Naruto, after dressing in normal scientific/medical clothing, removed the white blanket covering Haruka from view. The moment he did, Yukino had a massive, near debilitating nosebleed. Modest C cup, not too bad by anyone's standards. Bright blue eyes, currently closed, and a full head of blonde curls. The only thing marring her body was the thin yet extremely deep wound in her side.

Naruto went through a few handseals for an examination jutsu and put his hand over her chest. He quickly copped a feel when Yukino was cleaning the blood off of her upper lip, and she didn't notice at all. After a second or two he took his hand a way and whistled. "Damn, whoever did this knew what they were doing, he did an awesome job. One stab, clean, right between the ribs and right through the heart. I couldn't have done it better myself. Okay, this is going to be more work than I thought. We are going to need a transplant."

Yukino looked at the diminutive blonde and asked "Transplant? I thought you were going to resurrect her?"

Naruto pulled off his gloves and looked at the girl like she just said the moon was made out of cheese and said "Yes, but I think you don't want her resurrected into a body that has been fatally wounded. I need to fix up the wound that killed her before I do it or she'll just die again. Her heart is beyond repair, everything else is easily mended. As a result I will need to do a transplant. Now if you'll excuse me." He walked outside of the small building and she reluctantly followed him outside, taking one more look at the body of Haruka.

Naruto had taken a scroll from the coat he left inside the portable lab and unsealed a large freezer. It was as big as the laboratory, easily. He opened the door and motioned for her to follow him inside, which she did. She wasn't prepared for what was inside. There was the massive cold of course, it was about ten degrees Fahrenheit inside the freezer but there were at least fifty bodies inside, hanging from meat hooks, men and women, young and old. He looked at her and just asked "What's her blood type?"

Yukino was shocked for a moment but got a hold of herself and answered "Type AB." He nodded and went through the bodies, eventually choosing a rather busty female that had taken a rather nasty fall, given the angle of her neck. He took out a kunai and without missing a beat cut through the skin of her chest, revealing the breastbone. He charged his chakra into the blade and cut through the bone like butter. He carefully spread the two halves of bone and reached in, taking hold of the necessary organ and with the knife cut each of the connecting veins and arteries that led to the organ. He pulled out a perfectly functional, if a bit cold, human heart and walked out, Yukino following.

He sealed up the freezer and went back inside the lab; he prevented his fellow Jinchuuriki from entering though. He needed a sterile environment. As a result Yukino was stuck sitting outside the door listening to the sound of flesh and bone parting, the clinking of metal instruments and the scent of cold blood for about an hour before the door opened again and her love's mysterious savior stepped out again, medical smock covered in blood. He motioned for her to come in, which she eagerly did.

The room was just as it had been before, only there was more blood and a brand new scar on Haruka's chest. The wound that killed her was also gone. There was a lot of blood on the instruments, especially the scalpel. There was also a pierced heart in a jar. She looked at him and asked "How did she recover so quickly? There should still be stitches, and the wound should be open."

He looked at her and said "Demonic Chakra. One of the best healing agents there is." She looked at him in shock and asked "How do YOU have access to Demonic Chakra? Only a Bijuu could use it."

He looked at her again and said only one thing "A Bijuu, or a Jinchuuriki."

She looked at him openmouthed. She shakily asked "J-just who are you?"

He looked at the completely astonished girl and said "Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, pleased to meet you." The already astounded girl almost went into shock. 'Not only a Jinchuuriki, but the container of Kyuubi, the strongest of the nine, no wonder he is so strong.' She thought.

He knelt by the body and said "Now we begin the resurrection." He began a low chant in a language she did not know. It was twisting and writhing, she couldn't explain it. About two hours later he was still chanting. She gathered up the courage and asked "Is this really necessary?" He stopped his chant and looked at the girl before standing up and saying "No, not really."

She was surprised by this and couldn't come up with a response. He smirked and said "Okay, enough joking around, time for the real thing."

He took a deep breath and reached down and touched her shadow, his hand sliding into it as though it were water. He thought the process to himself as he worked. 'The only thing you need for a human is a body, and soul. The body is already supplied in this case; all we need now is her soul. What most people don't know is that the shadow and the soul are connected. This is why a zombie would die if the original owner of its shadow died before I put my seal on it. The process of zombification is simply putting a powerful shadow and therefore a powerful soul into a powerful body, creating an even greater warrior than the two would be on their own given a lower quality counterpart. Resurrection though is different from zombification, since I need a specific shadow to go with the now functional body. When a person dies, their soul, their memories and feelings, separate from the shadow and move on. The soul still leaves traces on the shadow though that gradually vanish as time goes on. A resurrection of a person only a day or two old is easy, after a week has gone by though the soul is irretrievable. The body has to be functional too; otherwise the person would just die again. She is only a day or two dead, so it shouldn't be too hard… THERE!'

The moment he found the remnants, he quickly followed the trail to the soul, wherever it was. He slowly, slowly pulled it out of the shadow's darkness, a small rainbow-colored orb. "There's a good girl." He muttered to himself and he slowly pressed the orb into the girl's chest and waited. A few moments later her eyes flew open and she took in a ragged breath like a person who was borderline drowning. She looked around wildly, shocked and confused.

Yukino was overjoyed she yelled out ""Haruka-Chan!" and rushed forward, but stopped when Naruto knocked out the newly revived Haruka with a chop to the neck. Yukino was surprised and instantly went on guard.

He looked up at her and said "Relax, I didn't hurt her. Her soul still needs to acclimatize to being alive again, so she needs to sleep for at least a day. If she gets too excited before then it could shatter the feeble link between body and soul and kill her again. Anyway, I did as I promised; I resurrected your friend, now for you to hold up your end of the bargain."

She was rather nervous at the thought of what the strange boy would ask her to do but was surprised at what he asked. He gave her a picture of a very strange looking man and said "I need you to find him. Locate Dr. James Hogback."

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(1) Yukino and Haruka are from Mai HiME and Koubayajuu literally means 'plant beast'.

That is the chapter. Naruto reveals a new facet of his abilities and gains two powerful followers. I really don't have anything more to say other than REVIEW YOU LAZY BASTARDS!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	5. Chapter 5

Greetings, one and all

Greetings, one and all. It is with great pleasure that I bring this excellent document to the world. I give you… Kage no Naruto, chapter FIVE!! Now, now no need for the bowing, applause is just fine, all I ask is that you review at the end and tell me what I did wrong. See you at the ending note.

Note: Okay guys, listen up. This dude by the name of Score89 reviewed last chapter and apparently this guy made a story a little over a year ago that is also named Kage no Naruto. I read it over and the only real similarities between the two are the name and the shadow concept, even though our ideas are vastly different. I am just putting this in because he DID get the Kage no Naruto name first and so I am, in his words, 'giving credit where credit is due' though the fact that the names are the same is pure coincidence. Check out the guy's story if you want, personally I think it's not bad, not incredible or anything but still a decent read, 5-6 out of 10 in my opinion but then again I am extremely critical in my story judgments so other people might rate it higher. To Score 89, since I am sure that you are reading this, if you really want me to, I will change the story's name to avoid any further mix-up between our stories in the future. Sorry if it appeared that I was stealing your ideas, but I do assure you that the name thing is pure coincidence and that I had never heard of your story until you told me about it.

Note: Some guy PM'd me and asked what I meant by a 'spandex shirt' so I will answer that here. Think of what Greed or Pride wore in FMA. That's pretty much what I meant. Hope that answered any questions you may have regarding that.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Okay guys, in my boredom I decided to read through what I have written so far in this story and I made a slight mistake. I said that Naruto was five, which I did not intend to do. I was planning to say that he was eight. Totally my fault. I am correcting that now, so he is eight not five. I am not really sure how that mix-up happened, but it is now corrected. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I saw this in one dude's profile (I can't remember whose, I suck at names, it is my curse), and I had no choice but to rip him off. In Soviet Konoha, Naruto owns YOU!

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Summary of the last chapter

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Naruto infiltrated Tsuchi no Kuni in search of Dr. Hogback and Absalom. He had no luck finding them, but learned that Iwagakure had its own Jinchuuriki who was a master of Genjutsu and had abilities to scout out an entire country. Enlisting the meek Jinchuuriki Kikukawa Yukino by resurrecting her only friend (And secret crush) the Jounin Suzushiro Haruka, he has obtained two powerful followers as well as a means to locate the elusive Doctor and now the chapter begins.

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Genjutsu hidden cave

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Naruto handed Yukino a picture that he had gotten from Kyuubi's memories of what Hogback probably looked like. It was really a Genjutsu on a piece of cardboard but that wasn't really important.

Yukino examined the picture. The man was of decent height and broad. His face was rather memorable. Long, pointed ears, vampire-like fangs and he had a very long and pointed nose. His lips were a dark shade of purple for some reason and he wore completely black, circular glasses like the Aburame Clan were prone to do that completely covered his eyes. His hair was shoulder length, lank and pitch black, and he had a spiraling tattoo on his left shoulder. His forehead was very large due to balding at some point in his life. He wore some sort of black fur clothing over his back a fishnet shirt and normal looking black pants. He also wore rubber gloves that reached his forearms and boots that went to mid-shin. Yukino looked at the boy and told him that it shouldn't be too hard to find him if he was in Tsuchi no Kuni. He nodded and gave her a list of the points where he most likely was. She took the list and got to work.

Naruto watched in surprise at Yukino's abilities. She closed her eyes and murmured something under her breath and a hexagonal mirror appeared in front of her from nothing. As he watched, large green tendrils of plant-like material emerged from the ground. There were probably one to two dozen of them and each of them sprouted a few dozen strange pod-like seeds that broke away from the main plant and floated in mid-air. Before long there were a few thousand of them throughout the cave.

He examined one of the seeds quickly. Though the plant was biological, it had a strangely mechanical eye, like a camera lense in the middle of the broader side. This was before the thousands of seeds rushed through the cave opening. He looked toward Yukino and saw that the mirror she was looking at from before had turned into more. There were about two dozen identical mirrors around Yukino which she moved in front of them both, the sides easily fitting together to make a single gigantic faceted mirror. Each facet had a different image upon it and they changed at a rapid pace. She told him that each seed had a built in Genjutsu that allowed it to become invisible to normal people. He watched the multi-faceted mirror in complete shock as each view moved at incredible speeds, moving where Yukino wanted them to go. The view from it all quickly made him a bit sick and he looked away. Yukino had obviously had a lot of practice at this since she wasn't affected at all.

He was absolutely amazed. He had no idea that a technique like this existed. The possibilities completely shocked him. They were endless. Entire countries could be watched all at once, escape from Yukino's network was almost impossible. If it was in her range, which was amazingly broad, she would be able to find it within a few minutes. Before long the great mirror showed a complete view of every major event in the country. There was a riot in a smaller town because of a corrupt governor. The Daimyo was just waking up with a woman that was not his wife, Iwa was swarming with ninja, sending them out in droves, rare animals fed upon certain plants that they liked in the mountains, it was simply too much for the boy to believe and if he wasn't watching it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it. Inside of his mind, Kyuubi was just as amazed. She had no idea that the Rokubi was strong or smart enough to come up with something like this.

It was one hour of searching later before they found him. Dr. James Hogback, greatest doctor of his time and one of the two greatest medics alive, the other being Tsunade herself. He was currently drinking a cup of tea on a mountain ledge, apparently enjoying the sunrise until one looked at the town below. They were having a mass burial. Ten men dead due to a building collapsing. He put down the teacup and wrote something down on a piece of paper before walking straight _through_ the mountain side, disappearing from sight. Naruto asked Yukino where that was. Apparently it was a small mountain town called Bubuzuke, in the Fujino Mountains. He inwardly cringed, that was about ten miles away from one of the towns he had marked. He thought more about how he had walked through a mountain though. He came upon the solution after a minute or two. It must have been Absalom. He had the ability to make anything invisible, as long as he was able to touch it. Hiding a cave entrance would have been too simple for him. He told Yukino that he they would wait for one day so that Haruka could get her bearings and then they would go. Yukino nodded and marked the invisible cave's location on the map before letting the mirrors disappear, the seeds with them. The massive plant stalks sank back into the ground as Naruto laid out a tent for each of them before going to bed. Raiding a well-defended building, heart transplant surgery, and bringing back the dead really takes it out of a guy. After a few moments Yukino went to sleep too in the other tent, hardly believing that any of this was real.

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Nine hours later

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Naruto woke up exactly nine hours later. It was currently ten AM. He quickly got up, and sealed up the tent, then went over to wake up Yukino. A minute or so of shaking her shoulder later and he got bored and nailed her with a low powered Suiton: Mizurappa. She woke up in a flash. He silently handed her a towel and she glared at him as she took it.

Her mind was a little out of order. She had the weirdest dream where Haruka died and a small child agreed to resurrect her if she swore loyalty to him, which she did, and they raided the morgue for Haruka's body and he brought her back to life right in front of her, she had abandoned her home, if she could call it that. Then she looked around the cave and realized that her dream wasn't a dream and glared at the boy who handed her a towel after soaking her in water.

She got up and dried off to the best of her ability as Naruto sealed up the tent that he had lent her. She put her glasses back on after drying her face and looked at the boy, actually studying him. He was young. No more than eight or nine years old at most. He wore a shirt of a black rubber material and had durable pants. He wore standard issue shinobi sandals and had a large trench coat. He didn't put his arms in the sleeves but rather wore it like a cloak, with his hands and arms free inside of it. He had the top two buttons done and the collar was flipped up, covering his face from the sides and back. He wore leather gloves that reached mid-forearm and a black hat of a strange design. It was cylindrical and went up three inches from the brim and was pitch black. Its brim was wide and slightly glossed so that the reflection from any light would make it hard to look him in the face. The entire thing was apparently designed to be difficult to recognize his features. She noticed one thing about him that had slipped her notice before, he didn't have a shadow. The thing just wasn't there.

His size combined with what he had shown her forced her to ask a question. "How did you get all of those people into that freezer? Where did you get them, and how did you get them onto those hooks?" He turned to look at her and said "As for where I got them, well I have been collecting them as I traveled through Tsuchi no Kuni. Two or three from each town and anyone I met on the road. I studied them for blood type, any possible diseases, Kekkei Genkai or anything else that made them special. As for how I got them from place to place, well…." Without any obvious movement from him, a large black claw emerged from the darkness of the deeper areas of the cave. "Well, I have a lot of hands. Now come on, we have to go get your friend." He walked on toward the portable laboratory, Yukino hurrying to follow him. He may be small, but that little bastard was quick!

He opened the door and walked inside, Yukino following him as he approached the still sleeping Haruka. "Wait!" She cried. "Didn't you say that if you woke her up too early she might die?"

Naruto looked back at his fellow Jinchuuriki and said "Yes, but the amount of time necessary for the body and soul to acclimatize varies from person to person. She wasn't dead for very long so the time for acclimatization shouldn't be too long. I am going to check and see if she can be safely woken up yet, and if she can't then I will get an accurate time as to when it should be safe." Then he turned back and plunged his hand into her shadow before the bespectacled girl could say anything more.

He felt around the darkness of Haruka's shadow. 'Well her soul is definitely here, that's a good sign. Everything seems to be lined up correctly. Wait, there's one. A spot where the shadow and body haven't connected to the soul. Let's see now, there are one, two, three, four, yeah four spots not linked up yet. Yeah it's definitely not safe, but the spots are minor so it shouldn't be too long.'

He pulled his hand out from the shadow and opened his eyes. Yukino asked him "Well, is it safe to wake her up yet?"

He looked at the girl and said "Not yet, but it won't be too long, an hour or two at most." He looked around before walking outside. He asked the girl "Hey, since we're going to be waiting for a little while, care to play a game of chess?" The moment the question left his mouth and he took out a portable chess set he knew he made a mistake judging by how Yukino's eyes lit up. 'Oh god, what demon have I awakened now?'

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Two hours and thirty two chess games later

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Naruto buried his head in his hands. That was absolutely embarrassing. He had lost thirty two games in a damn row. Yukino was apparently a chess fanatic. He should have expected it given her bookish exterior but now he knew rather than thought that she fit the stereotype of 'Nerd'.

He looked over to Yukino who kept asking 'Oh come on, one more game, it can't hurt!' before he stood up and walked toward the cave mouth.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked him. He looked at her and said "There's a town about five miles away. I am going to get your friend some clothes unless you and her would prefer that she go with us completely naked. Now then, if you'll excuse me." He walked out of the genjutsu and sank into a shadow. 'He's right' she thought. 'The only thing Haruka-chan has to clothe her is her Hitai-ate since Iwa law dictates that dead ninja be buried with them. I wonder how long he'll be…?'

Her question was answered when he showed up barely ten minutes later with clothing in hand. When she asked him how he had gotten to a town five miles away, bought the stuff, and gotten back so quickly he just replied "Being able to instantaneously go wherever I have been before is awesome. Appeared about ten feet away from the shop's front door, picked up what I wanted, and sank into the shadows right in front of the shopkeeper as I got close to the register, his face was absolutely priceless. He is probably calling the local police as we speak but it will be cold day in Hell before they find this place."

Yukino was rather worried at that, and when I say worried I mean frantic. "You STOLE that stuff? Are you crazy!? We'll be listed as criminals! There will be wanted posters for us everywhere! We'll be…."

He just decided to interrupt her before she went too nuts and said "Yukino, think clearly for a moment. First off, I covered my features with a genjutsu before I went in so even if wanted posters DO show up, they will be looking for a middle-aged man with a pedophiliac smile, less hair than normal and a bad case of leprosy. Even if I didn't, I doubt that there will be wanted posters put up throughout a country for a spot of shoplifting. And the only places our faces are going to be seen will be in a nice comfy spot in the Iwa Bingo Book. We have raided a Hidden Villages morgue for the corpse of a powerful Jounin's body ripe with secrets. You will be listed as a B or A-Class Missing Nin for sure due to your skill, maybe even S-Class due to your Jinchuuriki status. When Haruka appears with you she will be treated the same. I won't be on a wanted list due to my apparent age. People will just assume that I appeared as a child due to an illusion and they will put a note in your profile that says something like 'Travels with an unknown shinobi of unknown power' or something like that. You already ARE a criminal Yukino, face it. I doubt a few articles of stolen clothing will make your Court Sentence any heavier than the Death Penalty that you could expect from Iwagakure if you're ever caught."

He waited for a moment to let that sink in before continuing "Now, let's get Haruka these clothes so that she is decent when she travels with us, and then we shall get the Hell out of here. I don't want to stay in this country any longer than necessary." He continued his walk toward the lab where the sleeping Haruka still was before remembering something. He turned and tossed a kunai to the ground at Yukino's feet. "Oh, by the way, since you are Missing Nin now, you may want to at least keep to the standard." Yukino knelt down and took the knife as Naruto entered the building and after a moment's hesitation, slashed her Iwa Hitai-ate, which she wore around her neck, through the middle.

Naruto came out a minute later and handed her a bundle wrapped in paper. "Also, I got you some new clothes since yours are in rather poor condition. I thought that it would be best if YOU woke up your friend and explained things to her. She will probably want to see a familiar face when she wakes up. I have examined her and it is safe to wake her. Take your time; there are only legions of Iwa ninja out for our blood." After that he went and sat against the wall. Yukino, after a moment's thought, entered the laboratory.

About ten minutes later Yukino and the now awakened Haruka walked out of the lab. Haruka was looking around at everything. She was wearing normal shinobi paints taped off at the ankle, standard kunoichi sandals, and a white Chinese style shirt. She had her noticeably slashed Iwa Hitai-ate around her waist like a belt. There was a pouch full of ninja equipment at her waistline. Yukino was wearing a shirt of a tough dark material and black pants of similar design to her friend's. A standard equipment pouch and kunai holder along with normal kunoichi sandals finished the outfit and she had her Hitai-ate around her neck as usual. She was guiding her friend by the hand and he heard Haruka saying "I only wish that we could get back at that find that killed me." "Fiend" Yukino corrected her friend.

Naruto sealed up the lab and put the scroll in its usual place before saying "You wish for revenge, and Haruno women wish they were born with big, beautiful tits instead of the equivalent of molehills. Not everyone gets what they want but at least your dream will come true in time, theirs won't. Anyway, Yukino explained the situation to you?"

Haruka nodded, carefully eying the person that supposedly brought her back from the dead and he just said "Good, then come on. The Fujino Mountains are about sixty miles away and the cave we are looking for is rather deep in them." He started walking toward the cave mouth, the two kunoichi hurrying to catch up. Before he left, he turned around and asked Haruka "Oh, by the way, do you want to keep this?" He held up the jar with Haruka's pierced heart. When he saw Haruka turn green he just said "Come on, it will make a nice souvenir." She slapped the jar out of his hand and it landed with a loud 'CRACK' on the ground. Naruto looked at the jar and said "Jeez, no one has a sense of humor anymore." Before walking on, the bookish Yukino trying to calm down her now fuming friend.

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Two weeks and 80 miles later

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The three were staying in a tent hidden by a Genjutsu provided by Yukino about a mile outside of Bubuzuke. The place was a rather quaint mining town under the control of an actually legitimate governor. Not a bit of corruption in the guy. That might explain why Naruto had heard rumors of ninja being hired to kill the guy in a few days; they had also had a mass grave robbing not too long ago, they were the ten that died in the collapsed building, proof that they weren't too far off from their goal. Yukino was currently using her abilities on a much smaller scale to try and locate the ledge she had seen the elusive Hogback on two weeks ago.

Getting there had been tough. Iwa ninja were swarming everywhere you looked. It was the benefit of having an insanely obese ninja population. They had managed to escape the scrutiny of most of the groups after them but one lucky, or not so lucky depending on how you look at it, team had stumbled upon their camp one night as Yukino was preparing a Genjutsu to hide them. There were three of them and they were all low to mid Jounin level. The four of them immediately sent out a barrage of shuriken when they recognized there target. Naruto, who had just left one of the two tents, blocked the projectiles with a wall of shadow donated from the trees and quickly distracted them. This distraction came in the form of six claws emerging from each of the four shadows of the four ninja. Two hands grabbed each ninja by the hips and held them still as the remaining four divided their attention to their legs. Each leg had two hands grab it near the knee and suddenly twist. There was a slight 'pop' as kneecaps were removed from joints and a quiet 'snap' as bones broke. When the four were incapacitated Naruto took them all out with a kunai to the neck each. An unsealed and resealed freezer and four bodies on meat hooks later, the only evidence of the hunter ninja's presence was the bloodstains on the ground from the pierced jugular veins, the shiny new equipment wielded by Yukino and Haruka, and the Iwa Bingo Book in Naruto's hand.

He looked through it and after a minute or two found an interesting entry. He showed Yukino a picture of herself in the A-Class section that had all of her known data. Naruto pointed to a small note that said 'Accompanied by an unknown ninja of unknown power, presumably Jounin, that hides his appearance via Genjutsu to appear as a child.' There was also a pretty fat thirty thousand Ryo bounty on her head too. When she finished reading her own dossier Naruto looked at her, smiled and said "Told you, didn't I?" Aside from that encounter their journey had been uneventful.

Yukino got Naruto's attention when she found the place she was looking for. It was about fifty feet up the mountain, not too far from where they were now. Naruto nodded and left the tent, the two women behind him as he sealed it up. Without a second's hesitation, he walked to and started walking up the mountain, the two older women behind him.

The ledge wasn't too narrow, nor was it too broad. A single person would have no difficulty standing on it but three people were a bit much. Naruto didn't doubt that there was an easier way to get up there somehow. Naruto, after a moment's thought, slowly pushed a hand through the seemingly solid rock wall before walking through it entirely. Haruka and Yukino weren't far behind him.

Naruto walked into a well-illuminated cave. There wasn't much to be said for the place really. If he didn't see Hogback here, and if it weren't for the torches on the walls, he would have said that it was uninhabited. He walked into a ten foot long torch-lit corridor before he broke a tripwire. He looked at the broken string with a bit of apprehension. No traps went off; no alarms went off, at least no obvious ones. He decided that it must be a silent alarm, a warning system that didn't let the enemy know they were detected. He continued in, keeping watch for any traps.

After traveling through a sparsely furnished living room, he finally found one of the two he was looking for. A tall man with the face of a beast, clad in a black coat and wearing an odd hat stepped around the corner and without any preempt lifted his hand, palm facing Naruto and growled "Dead Man's Hand!" A blast rocketed toward the young shadow user which was blocked by said shadows. Not wanting to bother with Absalom any further, but not wanting to hurt him too badly, he manipulated the beast man's own shadow. A pair of hands emerged from Absalom's shadow, grabbed the beast man's ankles and pulled his legs out from under him. A few seconds later when he was done kissing the stone floor, he pointed his hand at Naruto again, this time the hands did their work before Absalom could attack. They lifted him up and slammed him back into the ground, stunning the amalgam of man and animal. He told the two kunoichi following him to watch the knocked out creature as he continued on.

Naruto walked into the room Absalom was hiding in and found three doors. A bit of exploration later and he discovered that two of them were the bedrooms of Absalom and Hogback, while the third was Hogback's laboratory, where he found the skilled, yet elusive doctor.

He found Hogback dissecting a human corpse. There was an open coffin leaning against the wall alongside nine others, three of which were also opened. Hogback didn't really react to Naruto's intrusion like he thought he would. He just looked up, put down his instruments, and said "Hello, so why are you here and how did you find this place?"

Naruto stayed silent for a moment due to mild surprise. He was expecting something more loud and frightened rather than detached calm. After a moment Hogback reached under the table before him and pulled out a gun from his own time that had been stuck to a magnetic strip under the table. He pointed the gun at Naruto, who recognized the weapon thanks to Kyuubi's memories, cocked it, and asked Naruto the same question again, in other words 'Who are you, and how did you find this place?'

Naruto smiled and said "Well, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I found this place because I saw you on the ledge outside and I came here to give you a very interesting offer." Hogback adjusted the gun to point right at Naruto's head and said "Oh, and what's that? If I don't like your answer, I will have to put a hole between your eyes you understand." Naruto nodded and just said "In exchange for the assistance of you and Absalom, I will return to you the power and authority you had as members of Gecko Moria's Three Enigmas."

Hogback almost dropped his gun in shock. 'How does this BOY, know about Moria, or about Thriller Bark? No one other than the zombies on that island, and those weaklings in the forest knew what we were called either. Never mind the fact that Thriller Bark fell centuries ago, and no one except me and Absalom have lived long enough to remember the times of the Grand Line, before the Red Line fell. I must find out more.'

Hogback reaffirmed his hold on the gun. Naruto could have taken out the doctor by now, but he wanted the man to come along willingly. Hogback said, with clear distrust in his voice "Really? Tell me, how does a boy know about things that are in no living record? Gecko Moria was defeated centuries ago, and Thriller Bark with him. The only living people who should know about that place are Absalom and I. How did you find out, and even more importantly, how do you plan to give us back what we lost when Thriller Bark fell?"

Naruto smiled and said "Having access to a demon's memories is a powerful asset Hogback-san. As for how I can give you back what you lost that day, well…." He had large claws come out of the shadows around the room, shocking the doctor. "I have the abilities that you required from Gecko Moria to create zombies, those abilities and more. I have already made around fifty zombies using the methods you created. I have even improved upon them."

Recovering from his mild shock, Hogback asked, with a bit of suppressed hope in his voice "Oh? Is that right? Well, how have you improved upon my designs then, Naruto-san?"

Naruto smiled openly then and said "Well, I have made them fireproof for one thing. The second is that I have developed a way so that it is safe to kill the shadow's original owner and not kill the zombie with him."

Hogback actually dropped the gun this time, and it clattered to the floor. "I-impossible" He muttered. Naruto smiled and said "Not so, it is like I told you Hogback-san, I can give you back what you lost at Thriller Bark, that and more. However, though I can make zombies easily enough, I need a medical expert to assist me. You have far more experience in creating zombies than I do, so your creations will be superior to my designs. That is why I did not try to harm you. If I couldn't have found you useful I would have killed the both of you by now to prevent word of the zombies' weakness from spreading once they become known. Now then, I trust you will agree to my deal? It is simple enough; serve me as you served Gecko Moria. Create zombies for me to animate, it is simple enough."

Hogback nodded, he knew that this was the opportunity of a dozen lifetimes he was being offered. The time he spent at Thriller Bark was the most successful time of his life. Once the Mugiwara crew defeated Moria, that all went down the drain, but now, now he had a chance to get it all back.

Naruto just said "Come on, we need to go wake up Absalom." before he walked through the door. Hogback followed him quickly, afraid that this might be a dream.

After they had woken up Absalom and he agreed to the same deal that Hogback had, the five of them sat down in the living room. Naruto and Hogback sitting in the two chairs while Absalom and the two girls leaned against the wall. Naruto started the discussion. "Okay, first thing, we have to get out of Tsuchi no Kuni and fast."

Absalom looked at him and said "Why is that Naruto-sama?"

Naruto looked at the beast man and said "Well, Iwagakure is going to be hunting high and low for these two here since one of them is the Jinchuuriki they have long abused. Didn't you notice the slashed Hitai-ates?" Without waiting for any response he continued "Once out of the country, we are going to get you two" He indicated Hogback and Absalom "To a safe place. Hogback will need to begin his work into creating more powerful soldier class zombies, though you can come with us if you wish Absalom." He gave the man a moment to think and he responded "Why not, I would like to see how the world has changed recently; I will need to see any possible terrain we may one day be fighting on."

Naruto nodded, pleased. Absalom was a powerful fighter, and more importantly, an excellent commander. Why else would Moria give him the job of commanding his most powerful zombies?

Naruto continued on "Good, it will also probably help to see a familiar face when I attempt to recruit Perona."

"PERONA!?" the both of them yelled at the same time. Hogback continued on "Perona is alive!? But how?" Naruto looked at the doctor and said "Her powers. You know that she could separate her spirit from her body right?" Hogback nodded and he continued "Well, a year or so after she was defeated by Bartholomew Kuma, she was faced with a powerful foe that had wounded her fatally. In a last ditch effort to survive she left her body, which died shortly after and ever since then she has been a ghost trapped on earth, though she is just as powerful as you remember."

Hogback and Absalom were shocked into silence. 'Perona was actually around all this time?' they thought. They had both believed that she had died at Thriller Bark.

"That will be the main goal of the journey from here on out, to find and recruit Perona the Ghost Princess. It will be difficult since she doesn't even have a physical body anymore, but if we can find her, with Absalom vouching for me combined with what I have planned to offer her in return, I think we can do it."

"What are you planning to offer her, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto just smiled and said "Oh, you'll see."

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And that is the end of the chapter. I don't really have much more to say other than review and I hope to see you guys again next chapter.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	6. Chapter 6

Welcome all to Kage no Naruto chapter six

Welcome all to Kage no Naruto chapter six. I am pleased to report that Score89 did not have me change the name of the fic, which I am personally glad for since thinking up names is a pain in the ass. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and review at the end.

NOTE: DUDES! The Naruto Manga is picking up, BIGTIME! Pein and Konan are going after Naruto, ASAP! I am not joking here, I am telling the truth. Pein is going after Naruto before they decrypt the code Jiraiya left them. THIS IS GOING TO BE FUCKING EPIC! Hopefully, I would not get my hopes up TOO high. Kishimoto has a really bad habit of fucking things up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, One Piece, or anything else.

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Summary of the last chapter

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Naruto has finally located and recruited Hogback and Absalom, who he had been searching for the past month and a half. Now that he had a decent front line fighter and brilliant battlefield commander and a powerful medic on his side, he is ready to find the third and most likely the most powerful of the old Three Enigmas of Thriller Bark, the Ghost Princess Perona, though he still has all of Iwagakure after the two he rescued from it.

Now let the chapter begin!

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Hogback's hideaway (Hey that has a decent ring to it)

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Naruto, Hogback, and the rest of them were getting ready to leave. Naruto had the doctor bring together any and all research he had as well as any irreplaceable specimens and experiments that he had. He also had both Absalom and Hogback pack all of their essential belongings. By the time they got around to asking 'Why?' the reasons were obvious. It was probably Naruto setting explosive notes on the walls and ceiling of every last room. He meant to get rid of the cave, and any evidence that they had been there.

With Hogback's research and experiments sealed into scrolls, and all necessary baggage packed. Naruto set the seals around the cave on a five minute timer and moved all of them to a safe location he had prepared for this moment. He had intended to destroy any evidence of anyone ever living in that cave. He had also set up a barrier around the cave entrance to prevent the explosion from drawing any attention. He was covering his tracks completely. The fewer who knew of his new companions the better, as far as he was concerned.

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Naruto's hidden safe-house

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The five of them emerged into a sparsely furnished room with walls of stone. There was only one door leading from that room elsewhere, and there was no light, which was how Naruto got them there.

"Where is this place, Naruto-san?" Haruka asked the one who brought her back from the grave.

"This, my dear Haruka-chan" Naruto began "Is a place that I have been constructing over the past two years. It is a network of caves dug into the Hokage mountain of Konoha. The only real way in is through my Kage Hokou technique. The only passages to the surface are the passageways left for air, and those are no wider than a drinking straw. There is no way in, no way out, and there is a year's supply of food and water for two people."

"But, Naruto-san, how did you create this place if there is no surface entrance? You would have had to start digging somewhere." Haruka persisted.

Naruto smiled and replied "Very true, Haruka-chan, very true. I started this cave system from a small chamber that I discovered in the rock of the mountain. Nobody knows about this place, not even the Hokage. I also built several seals into the infrastructure. The only way to find this place without being told about it is to break through the mountain and find it by accident. Any detecting jutsu, no matter how strong or sophisticated will show only solid rock inhabiting this space." He turned to Hogback and said "This is where you will be working, doctor, at least for now. I will give you plenty of material to work with of course."

Hogback nodded, happy to be getting to work, and asked "So, what are your plans now, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto coolly replied "We'll discuss that later. In the meantime, I suggest that you get settled. I will be back in a few minutes with the necessary material for you to begin your work." Naruto then walked into the shadows and vanished.

They waited in silence for a moment before Hogback turned to the two young girls. He decided that he should get to know more about the mysterious Naruto. "I do not believe that we have been properly introduced." He began "My name is Dr. James Hogback, and you are?"

After a moment of being uncomfortable under the extremely strange man's gaze Haruka's more 'jump into things headfirst' side took control and she said "My name is Suzushiro Haruka, and this is my friend Kikukawa Yukino, nice to meet you."

Hogback seemed pleased by at least getting an answer out of the two and continued "Yes, nice to meet you as well, tell me what do you know of the good Naruto-sama? You have known him longer after all."

Haruka looked at him strangely before saying "I really don't know him all that well, we haven't talked much. What do you know of him Yukino?" Absalom, who had been examining one of the walls, perked up his ears.

Yukino looked a bit flushed and embarrassed to be asked a direct question by Haruka but she continued on anyway "Well, we have talked, a little."

"And?" Haruka inquired.

Yukino continued "And, he seems nice enough on the surface. He is kind to those that are kind to him in turn, and is overall a very generous person. He is very strong, that is obvious, and he is very patient as well."

Haruka and Hogback looked a little let down "Well, that's a lot to go on isn't it?" Haruka mumbled under her breath.

Yukino continued on as though uninterrupted "However, that is only the façade he shows most people."

"Huh?" Said both doctor and Jonin simultaneously.

Yukino continued "He SEEMS sincere and kind on the surface but I believe that it is an elaborate act. I have been studying him without fail ever since I met him and have discovered several things about him that he probably doesn't want us to know. Things about him, personally. I have learned that he is NOT a trustworthy person. He would betray anyone, no matter how close they were to him, if he believed that their death would serve him more than they would alive. If someone or something isn't useful to him, he would discard them without any remorse. He is obviously well informed, too well informed. I believe that he most likely has spies or undercover workers in several governments for him to amass such information. I know that he is the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and is slowly gaining her powers, though he confided in me that he doubts that he will ever be able to control them well. He is also patient; he has no trouble in waiting for his goals to be completed, be it a month, a year, or twenty years. He also hates being lied to and can tell when people do lie to him. If he was going to kill someone, he wouldn't care how it was done. He would be just as satisfied planting a bomb to go off in someone's office as he would thrusting a sword through his heart. And I have concluded that he has no forgiveness for anyone who betrays him. Overall, he is an extremely dangerous person, and not to be underestimated due to his age. Of course, these are all my speculations and my speculations only."

The three of them looked at her, stunned. Haruka stammered out "H-how did you figure out all of THAT Yukino?"

Yukino looked down and said "Well, he got a bit talkative when I defeated him at chess." All conversation was cut short though, as Naruto reappeared, two scrolls in hand. Without a word he crossed into another chamber. A minute or so later there was a large puff of smoke that went through the cave. Naruto came back and told Hogback "I have established a freezer for you to work with. There are several dozen bodies inside." He handed Hogback the second scroll and said "This scroll contains the blueprints for the zombies I have created so far, I need you improve them as much as possible." Hogback nodded and took the scroll. Naruto waved a hand toward the center of the room and the shadows moved from the corners of the room, forming a circular table. Other shadows came together and formed five black chairs. Naruto sat down in one of them and motioned for the others to join him, which they did.

Naruto gestured again and the tabletop changed into a very detailed map of the Elemental Countries. He began "As you probably guessed, these are the Elemental Countries, Perona could be anywhere in them, aside from Tsuchi no Kuni and Hi no Kuni. That leaves a LOT of ground to cover, way more than is possible to cover in the remaining nine months of my 'training trip'. What I need is the opinion of you two" At this he gestured to Hogback and Absalom "I need your opinion of where she most likely is. Anything that you can remember about her, places she liked, things like that. Anything you know about her that could make the search easier."

The two several hundred year old beings stayed silent in thought for a moment before Hogback said "She usually kept to herself. I only know that despite being a fruit-user, she enjoyed being near the ocean. She also liked extremely creepy places, the creepier the better. If we are going by that than any landlocked nations are probably not the place that you are looking for. A country with a beach, or an island nation is much more likely." He looked at the beast-man among them and said "Absalom, you knew her longer than I did, do you know anything more?"

Absaloom stayed silent for a moment before saying "Perona joined up with us shortly before you did, doctor. You are right though, she did enjoy the water for some strange reason, she said that it reminded her of her home, but from what I know of her, and her tendencies…" The immense creature leaned over the map and with one claw circled three country names. "From what I know of her, if she would be anywhere it would be one of these three places: Mizu no Kuni, Umi no Kuni, and Nami no Kuni. Those are the most likely places that she would be. Other than that, I have no idea."

Naruto nodded and after a second of thought asked Absalom "Are you sure that she would be there, more likely than anywhere else? Why those three in particular?"

Absalom pointed to Mizu no Kuni and said "Mizu no Kuni is famous for its thick mists, which is how Kirigakure got its name. The place is surrounded by water and the mists add in a certain air about the place that would appeal to her, if I remember her correctly." He pointed to Umi no Kuni "Umi no Kuni is also surrounded by water and has been plagued by rumors of the 'Kaima' monster. This adds in a certain amount of fear, which would also catch Perona's interest." He pointed to Nami no Kuni "Nami no Kuni is an island nation, like Umi no Kuni. In addition to that, it has deep forests which mist from the sea tends to collect in. That seems perfect for someone like her." He looked at Naruto "I give no guarantee that she is in any of those places but from the places listed on this map; those three seem the most likely."

Naruto nodded and said "Well, it looks like we have a plan. We will enter and investigate those three countries. It will take most of my remaining time to do so, but we will just have to do the best we can. While we are gone, I expect you to create as many marionettes as possible Hogback and also do your best to improve my current blueprints."

He looked over to see the doctor already nose deep into the scroll containing Naruto's designs. The doctor said "One step ahead of you, Naruto-sama. I have already examined most of these and I can not see any simple means of improving them. They are excellent Soldier-class zombies." Naruto nodded as Yukino asked "Soldier-class?"

Naruto explained to the bespectacled girl "The zombies of Thriller Bark had several classes. The first were Soldier-class zombies. These were reasonably strong, and numerous. I would say that my soldier-class zombies are all mid to high Chuunin level, since they have the shadows and therefore the techniques of ANBU. A few of them working together could defeat a Jounin or two. The next is the class known as a General-Zombie. These are the elite, strong and smart enough to take on a Jounin one on one. A few of them working together could give a Kage a run for his money. The final class was the Special-class zombie. Hogback only created one and it ended up destroying half of Thriller Bark. A Special-class zombie would be strong enough to combat a summon boss or one of the lesser Bijuu. That is the main reason I recruited Hogback. While I can create Soldier-class zombies with ease, I have extreme difficulty in creating General-class zombies and cannot begin to create a Special-class. In fact I only have one General-class zombie and he isn't finished yet. He is made to contain one specific shadow after all. Anyway, moving on, our first stop will be Nami no Kuni, since from there we can get ships from there to Umi no Kuni and from their to Mizu no Kuni. Agreed?" Everyone nodded, there was little choice.

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One week later

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The four of them had made it; they were in Nami no Kuni. Not that it was anywhere easy to get there. The only way for them to get to the island chain was through boats and even then, it had to be a bit enough one for Absalom to ride upon invisibly, so as not to draw attention to his features. Plainly speaking, it was a gigantic pain in the ass for them all. They saw the beginnings of a bridge being built, but it wouldn't be completed for several years at least.

Naruto and the rest were staying in three tents made for two people each. Naruto and Absalom kept one to themselves each, and the two girls slept together. What most of them didn't know was that he had a fourth tent but he just kept the girls sleeping together to embarrass Yukino since Haruka moved a lot in her sleep and usually ended up hugging the Jinchuuriki before everyone woke up, leading to one of the deepest blushes the blonde had ever seen every morning. He found it all funny as hell.

Naruto was actually wandering around the town near the soon-to-be-bridge with Absalom keeping himself invisible nearby. Strong and smart he may be, but inconspicuous he was not. Naruto was searching for possible ways to spend the time in the city as well as keeping an eye out for any particularly strong people that might make good marionettes if handled properly. He had set up a system with Hogback using the portrait zombies. He had a full-sized one in the cave system, so he could send things to the doctor, such as sealing scrolls full of material, and vice-versa using the smaller portrait he kept in his coat. It was very useful, all things considered. Naruto had been walking around town for several hours, trying to find something worth his time while Yukino searched the country for anything that might indicate that woman's presence.

From what he knew, Perona had been wandering around various countries, causing entire towns to have emotional breakdowns to try and ease her boredom. All well and good, he reasoned, but she was still hard as hell to find at any point in time. He had told Yukino to be especially careful to look for cities full of horrifyingly depressed people, that would probably mean that they had hit the jackpot and found her earlier.

'It really is terrifying' Naruto thought 'It really is terrifying, what that woman can do.' Perona's abilities revolved around spirits and ghosts. Her main tactic was a type of ghost that, should it go through someone, it would cause that person to have an immense emotional breakdown, losing all will to live and any focus whatsoever. As far as he knew no one was immune to this effect. Since the thing that induced it was intangible and couldn't be stopped by any physical object, the ghost would just pass through it; it was a pretty nasty technique. More than one fight that Naruto knew of had been decided through sheer force of will and stubbornness. Being able to completely take that away from someone would leave nothing more than a sobbing wreck. The only person that had EVER been able to resist that effect was that pirate sniper, Usopp, and he was the first one to ever defeat Perona. But that guy was unique, a freak of nature, and most importantly, long dead.

In addition to that attack, she could also call upon ghosts that were explosive in nature. The smaller ones could blow holes in solid concrete a foot deep. The larger ones would blow away a building. Combined with the fact that she could create such ghosts without limit would make her an extremely useful person when it came to dealing with a large number of opponents, or destroying a tough target. A combination of the two techniques, removing someone's will to live, effectively immobilizing them, and then blowing them away with the explosive ghosts was a very potent tactic. She could also leave her body indefinitely, existing as a ghost after hiding her body somewhere else was one of the other things she could do. Someone that couldn't be hurt and could pass through walls would make an excellent short-range scout. Even more dangerous was the fact that she could still attack while in that intangible form, yet no one could hurt the spirit body.

All things considered, Perona the Ghost Princess was NOT one to be taken lightly, no matter who you were. Her abilities made her one of the more dangerous people in existence at the moment. No one could survive one of the blasts from the larger ghosts head on, no one. That being said, if she managed to hit you with the 'Negative Hollow' that removed a person's will to live, it was over shortly afterward. The fact that she was so dangerous was the main reason he wanted her on HIS side, before anyone else found her and realized what she could do. With any luck what he had to offer her would make her work for him, and maybe a bit more down the line.

While Naruto was lost in his musings, he had wandered into the port area, where dozens of ships docked and departed with cargo every day. All days except today apparently as what he saw was a completely empty place. HE looked around for a second before stumbling upon the reason behind the desertion. It was a large sign that said 'Under new management, Gatou Transport'. Naruto looked at the sign for a second before smiling. He just thought of an excellent way to pass the time.

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Two hours later

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Naruto was sitting at a small dango shop eating lunch. Absalom, as he was invisible, wasn't able to eat much but if you looked closely, a stick of the dumplings would vanish every so often. Naruto was currently thinking. For the last two hours, he had launched inquiries into the dear Gatou. Apparently the man was slowly but surely buying every port and major shipping company in the country. Most of the people didn't see where this was going, but Naruto did. When a rich man gets a monopoly, it is never good for the common man. If his prediction was right, Gatou would buy a monopoly on the shipping trade in Nami no Kuni and once he did, he would raise prices through the god damned roof, sucking the country dry for every last Ryo. Mind you he was about the only person in the country who realized where this was heading, but everyone else would realize it too. Maybe a few months too late to do jack squat about it, but they would realize it.

Now, and ethical and moral person in that position would do something like try to warn the populace or try to stop Gatou from obtaining his monopoly and by doing so, he would save the people untold grief. Naruto however, was NOT an ethical or moral person. He had every intention of getting something out of this situation. So an entire country suffered for his greed, who was he to give a damn? No one that's who. As far as the blonde was concerned, the entire world could face Armageddon the day after he died. As long as he wasn't affected by it, anything could happen to anyone. The main question was how to get something out of his knowledge of the very rich Gatou's plans. It was a good thing that he had a very good plan on how to do so; in fact he would kill two birds with one stone. He ate the last of his dango and stood up before walking off to the campsite where he had left Yukino and Haruka. He had some new business in Nami no Kuni and it would involve a certain diminutive and rich businessman.

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Two hours later, Gatou's office

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Naruto snuck Gatou's office, where he was currently sorting through a bunch of documents. Even incredibly rich men had to deal with paperwork, massive businesses didn't run themselves and neither did the country-conquering variety. He allowed himself to be seen by the short man just after he put the documents into a bulging folder that was marked 'Nami no Kuni, ports and trade' and wrapped a thick rubber band around it to keep it from bursting open.

The first thing the short man did was gasp loudly and reach for a button that probably called some form of security, be it thugs or ninja, Naruto didn't particularly care to find out. As a result the intercom was covered in a dome of darkness and Gatou was strapped to his own chair by several bands of shadow so thin that they could have been painted on. He could still speak, he just couldn't move, it wasn't all that uncomfortable either.

Naruto just sat down in the chair facing the man's desk and looked at the man who was reeking with fear at the moment. Naruto kind of liked the smell of fear, but it wasn't really called for in this case.

He started off "Calm down, Gatou-san, I am not here to hurt you." Gatou stopped breathing so hard and began to calm down, though he looked wary. After all, what kind of person traps a person if they didn't intend them some kind of harm?

Naruto continued on, standing up from the rather uncomfortable chair and pacing around the room "No, I am not here to hurt you, in fact I am here to make your life absolutely wonderful. You can join the conversation at any time, by the way."

Gatou began to get his brain in order before asking this strange man "W-who are you?"

Naruto smirked as he examined a fake deer's head mounted on the wall "Glad to hear that I'm not talking to myself. As for who I am, well that changes depending on who you talk to. To some I am master, to very few I am friend, to many I am demon, but to YOU, to you, I am benefactor, a business partner even."

Gatou looked at the man strangely, a business partner?

The diminutive man continued on oblivious to the strange stare he was getting from the room's other occupant "Yes, a business partner, that fits the bill nicely. Sorry for strapping you down by the way, but I couldn't have you causing a fuss. Anyway, I have come upon your plans regarding the monopolization and subjugation of Nami no Kuni."

Gatou's fear went into overdrive. If anyone knew about that before he was ready, he was screwed and he knew it. "W-what do you want from me?" He asked. "Let me guess you're going to try and blackmail me eh? Dangle some information over my head and wrap me around you finger? Or are you some do-gooder looking to convince me to change my ways?"

Naruto looked over at the scared and somewhat angry businessman before sighing and saying "Oh please, why would I want to stop you? I don't live in this country so why should I care? Blackmail you? Definitely not, that never ends well for either party. No, in fact I have come here to assist you in your little conquest, for a reasonable sum of cash I am willing to provide the best combatants that you will ever find."

Gatou once more looked at the man oddly "What you mean ninja? I could just hire some nuke-nin; no one cares if they go missing once the job is done. If you're some sort of advertiser for a hidden village, you should spruce up your technique, it definitely use some work."

Naruto turned and faced the man. 'Good, he's getting his sharp tongue back, a good sign; maybe we can finally get some work done here.' He walked over to the man while saying "Ninja? Not quite. I said the best combatants that you will ever find. You will need more than a little muscle to complete your goals, and for an honest monthly payment, I am willing to let you rent them. Ninja you see have one major flaw, they can die, the fighters that I am offering you however, can not."

Gatou was unbelieving. A group of immortal warriors? The only immortal person that Gatou knew of was that Hidan guy in the Bingo Book. He read through the thing occasionally, looking for ninja that are strong, but not too strong for him to offer work to. It was understandable that he was skeptical.

Naruto looked at the man and said "Don't believe me huh? Okay fair enough, it is a bit tough to swallow, but I am more than willing to give a demonstration." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a picture frame. He tapped the glass and after a few seconds he said "Get me Rei." A few seconds later a whispery voice that made shivers run up Gatou's spine came from the strange device.

The voice said "She is on the other side, awaiting your orders master."

Naruto nodded and said "Good, tell her this, take SZ-1 through SZ-10 and put them in a scroll. Give them to the portrait to give to me." A whispery confirmation was heard and after a few minutes and entire hand emerged from the frame, holding a medium-sized scroll. He took it and said "Dismissed" And put the frame back from where he got it.

Naruto opened the scroll and inserted chakra into the ten symbols inscribed on the paper. Ten rotted, sewed together corpses knelt before him. "You called upon us, master?" the one with a number one tattooed upon its forehead spoke.

Naruto turned and spoke to Gatou "These, my friend are the warriors I am talking about. Incapable of dying and extremely strong. I am willing to lend them to you for the simple sum of three hundred thousand Ryo a month. Think about it for a moment. A squadron of invincible warriors doing your bidding. You would be unbeatable to any who would cross you. It would make your conquering of the country much easier. Why send in an army of hired muscle when you can send in ten who cannot be defeated? You would definitely save money in the long run, don't you think."

Gatou thought about it and thought about just how weird this was. 'Just who is this guy?' He thought.

Naruto continued on "And just in case you do not believe me…." Naruto made a motion with his hand and his axe appeared there. He swung it down and cut off the head of one of the ten kneeling before him. Despite the fact that it was a lethal blow, no blood erupted from the wounds, the body did not drop to the floor, it kept still in a kneeling position. The only noise was from the severed head which only asked "Master, may I reattach my head?"

Gatou was in absolute shock. He had never seen anything like that before. He saw the value behind this and the excellent deal that he was being offered. Especially when the man nodded and the headless body stood, walked over, and picked up its own head before sticking it on, before kneeling before him again as he was before, the wound already sealed. He readily agreed to his terms.

Naruto smiled, that was too easy. He handed Gatou a card with a number on it. He said to him "Wire the money to that number once a month, every month. I am glad to see that you made the right choice." He gestured and the bands of darkness holding Gatou captive vanished. He said "There is also a place for you to send messages to should you require my presence given any trouble concerning the merchandise." He turned to the kneeling corpses and said "Listen here! Until I say otherwise, you are to call THAT man" He pointed to Gatou "Master, you are to obey his every command that does not involve betraying me until I say otherwise. Do you understand?" There was a mumbled 'Yes master' Naruto just said "Good, now then Gatou-san, I believe our business is done here?"

Gatou stood up and crossed over to Naruto and said while holding out his hand "Yes, definitely. What should I call you?"

Naruto shook the man's hand and said "I told you already, to you I am benefactor. I believe this is the beginning of a wonderful business relationship Gatou-san."

"Oh yes, most certainly!" The small businessman exclaimed, nearly salivating at the thought of what he could do with the new 'help' as the strange man vanished into thing air. Naruto knew the man would keep his word, he smelled the truth on his words.

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Two hours later

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Naruto came back to the campsite where he left Yukino, Haruka, and Absalom. He said to them "Okay, thanks to Yukino-chan, we know that Perona is not in Nami no Kuni. Oh well, better luck next time. Now then, pack up and come on. I have a boat ready to get us out of here." He moved over to his own tent and sealed it up. The others quickly did the same, following the small blonde. He was happy. He had a steady source of income and he had managed to find a way to give the Soldier-class a field test. So far, so good, but they had a boat to catch, to Umi no Kuni.

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And that is the chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I do not actually have anything to say except review. See ya!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	7. Chapter 7

Lounger is angry

Lounger is angry. Why is Lounger angry, you may ask? Lounger is angry because his document saving thingamadooda decided to not work for some reason after he had finished this chapter and closed the word program so he had to write it all over again. And now Lounger speaks in perpetual third person. Such is life. Enjoy the chapter

Oh by the way, Lounger recently got his very first flame. Ever hear of Flame Rising? Yeah, that random guttertrash decided to go for me. I am not going to copy and paste his review, as I am not going to force you guys to read his unnecessary obscenities, but feel free to look through the reviews for the first chapter of the story and tell me if you think what he says about this story is accurate. Just asking a favor here. I wouldn't mind so much if his claims were accurate, but seriously there is a difference between a harsh review and a needless flame. I guess there is always that one asshole that has to try and ruin things for everyone else, eh?

Disclaimer: Lounger does not own Naruto

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto began his search for Perona, and narrowed down his search to three countries. He managed to make a deal with Gatou to rent some of his zombies for an obscene sum of money. Then he, Absalom, Yukino, and Haruka are making their way to Umi no Kuni, the Land of the Sea.

And now Lounger begins the chapter

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Random boat on the way to Umi no Kuni

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They had the same trouble getting to Umi no Kuni as they did getting to Nami no Kuni. In other words, trying to find a large enough boat for the lot of them to travel and have the invisible Absalom go unnoticed. They made it, and the best thing was that they didn't have to kill the boat operator this time since Naruto now had some money to his name, thanks to the obscenely rich Gatou,

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Two hours later

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They were staying in a decent sized hotel in the port town on Hahajima, the largest island in the country. Yukino was in the forest, using her abilities to look for their target while Haruka was guarding her as she searched.

As the girls were out in the woods, Naruto and Absalom were doing what they did in Nami no Kuni. In other words, they were looking for some way to pass the time while Yukino determined whether or not they were wasting time there in the first place. Absalom was currently looking up the skirt of some young fisherman's daughters while Naruto was looking up rumors concerning the 'Kaima' creature that was plaguing the waters around the country.

Naruto was curious about the creature. He was also curious about what secrets that Kikaijima, the island where the beast was said to appear, held. Apparently anyone that sailed too close to the island was never seen again. That combined with the Kaima monster targeting ships recently meant that things would certainly get out of hand within the next few years.

Naruto knew that Orochimaru once had a compound in the area, but that it was abandoned shortly before the Serpent Sannin's defection. He was wondering if the old compound and the Kaima monster could be connected. Maybe and escaped lab experiment? Judging by Orochimaru's previous work, he decided that it was quite likely, and if that was the case than who knew what sort of stuff he could find in that compound. He didn't know where it was, but judging by the disappearances, Kikaijima seemed to be a good guess.

Naruto decided his basic plan of action. One, he would find something to eat and hopefully dissuade Absalom from stalking that fisherman's daughter. Two, he would wait for the results of Yukino's search for their target, and Three, he would pay the very mysterious Kikaijima a little visit, Kaima monster or not. A possibility of finding out about the Snake Sannin's experiments was too good to pass up. Especially since the compound in Umi no Kuni was where he did most of his work on the Curse Seal. Information on that would be worth the entire trip to Umi no Kuni, whether or not they found Perona.

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The group's apartment, three hours later

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After he managed to prevent Absalom from stalking that girl, they met up with Yukino and Haruka and returned to the hotel. Yukino's report was less than satisfactory, but it could have been worse. Apparently there was an old story of a city vanishing in a single night in a massive explosion, and it WAS noted that the people of that town had been cripplingly depressed the day before it happened, but Perona was not in the country. It was more than likely that she was here at some point, but she definitely was not there now.

Frustratingly elusive woman aside, they at least had a lead. She WAS there a few years ago, that was a good sign. As for the business at hand, it was obvious that things were not what most considered normal. Fishing boats and commercial ships had been attacked and looted at random for the last six months or so, and anyone who got too close to Kikaijima never returned. The only person who HAD returned from Kikaijima was a local outcast by the name of Isaribi. She was a young girl that had been ostracized due to actually returning from Kikaijima. Apparently people, in their idiotic fear of the unknown, believed her to be a monster, an unnatural being that did not belong. This did not sit well with Naruto, who faced similar treatment from Konoha. 'Kikaijima, the Kaima monster, and the mysterious girl Isaribi' Naruto thought. 'Those three things are definitely connected, but how?'

Naruto told them what he had planned. He started off "Okay, here's what we are going to do. A boat filled with expensive merchandise is going to sail tomorrow, this is a monthly shipment to a large market in Mizu no Kuni. These shipments are usually attacked by this 'Kaima'. As a result there is a good chance that the Kaima will appear and attack the boat. Absalom, you will trail this Isaribi girl during this time." Absalom nodded and Naruto continued on "As for the attack itself, it will be observed by Yukino-chan, she will also use her abilities to scout out Kikaijima today." Yukino nodded. "Haruka-chan and I will infiltrate Kikaijima the day after tomorrow, using the information granted to us by Yukino-chan, understood?" They all nodded and then Naruto said "Good, Yukino-chan, you had best get the scouting done before it gets too dark out, Haruka-chan you should go with her. I am going to get some sleep, see you in the morning." Without another word Naruto laid down and was out like a light. Absalom took a second bed, being rather tired from stalking women that caught his eye. Yukino and Haruka shared a look and left.

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The next morning

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Naruto woke up before anyone else did. He looked over the room. Absalom was still sleeping, as were Haruka and Yukino in the third bed. Naruto cracked a huge grin at the position the two were in. Haruka had been moving in her sleep again. At the moment her head was using Yukino's chest as a pillow, and one of her hands was resting just above the hem of Yukino's pants.

Naruto snuck over and quietly woke Yukino up. He made sure that she couldn't see him when she woke up. She looked down and Naruto swore that she invented a new shade of red. She couldn't really move that well since one of her arms was trapped under Haruka. As though awakened by Yukino's return to consciousness, Haruka opened her eyes and after a second realized the position she was in. She moved away so quickly she fell of the bed. Naruto laughed his ass of at the both of them, then and there. He managed to ask them "S-so, I take it you two h-had a good night? HAHAHAHA" A moment later a shadow moved from the bed and blocked a thrown pillow. Absalom slept through the entire thing.

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An hour later

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After waking up Absalom, and eating breakfast, the beast man left to begin his job for the day, stalking a young girl. Yukino and Haruka left civilized areas so that Yukino could use her abilities to watch the attack, Haruka was there to guard her as she did so, the entire thing took a lot of concentration on the Jinchuuriki's part, and she wouldn't be able to defend herself without letting the whole thing vanish. As a result, Naruto had jack squat to do until the next day so he just wandered around town.

He idly wondered when Yukino would finally tell Haruka how she felt. In his opinion, the sooner she told the other girl and got laid the better, it would probably help with her confidence problems. He also wondered if the bespectacled Jinchuuiki could use Mokuton jutsus. She had a plant monster sealed into her, so he supposed it was in the realm of possibility. He would have to investigate that later though. He checked the time; he had three hours until noon, when the ship would launch. He guessed he would just have to find something to occupy his time until then, after that he could go after it and watch to Kaima attack that was sure to happen, Yukino's scouting was second to none, but an eyewitness perspective would help in his planning. Depending on how powerful the beast was, he might have to call off the entire operation. Not likely, but possible.

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Hahajima, the docks, 12PM

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Naruto watched the workers load the boat with dozens of crates. The ship was undergoing its last minute preparations for the week long voyage to Mizu no Kuni, where they would sell it all for a large profit. That is assuming of course that they manage to get there. Naruto was thinking at the moment 'If they are so afraid of a sea monster, why don't they just hire Kiri ninja to escort the ship or something? Hell, since Kiri buys a decent percentage of the goods sold they may even be able to get some kind of a discount. It's just stupidity bordering on insanity. Wait a second, I spoke too soon.' Indeed he did, for at that moment, Naruto spotted the trio of Chuunin who were probably there to protect the boat judging by the fact that they were positioned around the boat at random points. Obviously from Kirigakure, if the Hitai-ate they wore were real.

This presented a problem. Naruto wanted this little robbery to go off without a hitch; he didn't want the thing dead, well not yet anyway. Konoha and its allies had a decent amount of sea trade, so if he could capture and tame it, or if it was sentient, convince the thing to work with him, it could be very useful down the line. If not, well no one would really miss the thing. Either way, he didn't want the Kaima to go down at the moment. He had a choice, let the ninja go on the voyage, and while it carries the risk of the creature being killed, it would give a good demonstration of how powerful it and its possible allies were. On the other hand if he eliminated the ninja beforehand the boat was guaranteed to be successfully robbed and he would get a clear view of the people responsible and perhaps overhear something useful. 'Well' he reasoned 'if it dies, it probably wouldn't be worth the trouble anyway. Plus, a fight will be WAY more entertaining than a plain old robbing.' He decided to let the ninja go, it would to see the creatures full abilities and more importantly, entertain him since he was almost bored to tears at the moment.

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One hour later, the ocean

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Naruto was following the ship via water walking while being hidden by a Genjutsu. He was wondering where the hell this thing was. It had been an hour already, and he had seen nothing. If the thing turned out to be fake like most people outside of the country believed, he would be REALLY pissed off. He was kind of surprised that the Kiri ninja hadn't spotted him, the Genjutsu wasn't that strong. It would easily fool any Gennin; he could understand it getting by newbie Chuunin, but experienced Chuunin and above should have had little trouble dispelling it.

It was a little risky putting an under-strength Genjutsu over himself given the presence of enemies, but this was a possibility to test the power of Kirigakure's Chuunin. So far, unless they were new to their rank which is unlikely due to the somewhat important nature of the mission they were on, he was extremely disappointed. Then he was shook from his musings by the ship suddenly shaking somewhat badly. Naruto smiled, at last the thing decided to get off its ass and do what it most likely did best.

Naruto watched as the ship gradually slipped off of its course and plowed headfirst into a nearby rock formation. The people who managed to get a hold of something solid were a bit shaken up, but otherwise okay. As for those who didn't, well… one bashed his head into a rock, making a very pretty mural on said piece of stonework, the second skid about three yards on his nose before sliding into the water, unconscious, and the last, well he got hit in the stones by a stone, sang soprano for about two seconds before blacking out, and going under. Naruto chuckled under his breath, wishing he had brought a camera for that last one, and focused hard on engraving that moment in his memory.

He watched the proceedings on the boat carefully. A man with white hair in a lab coat was telling the captain that if he gave up the cargo without a fight, he would spare the lives of him and the remaining two crew members. He looked for the ninja and found two of them with scalpels in their throats, most likely courtesy of the white haired man, and the third was out cold. There was a broken bottle near him, probably a liquid that vaporized into a gaseous sleeping agent upon contact with the air. Naruto was watching the captain, wondering if the man would do as this stranger asked, either way he would end up dead, he smelled the lie from the white haired man when he said the part about sparing them all. The captain denied the assailant's false offer and was promptly met with a scalpel to the neck; the remaining two crewmen drew their swords and charged the man, only to be stopped. One was hit by a blast of water and forced into the ocean, while the other was nailed by a sudden blast of wind and shredded.

When Naruto looked over to where the blasts had originated from and saw two figures, the first was a combination of fish and human that quickly went under the water and went in the direction of the fallen sailor. The second was a rather tall man with red eyes, white hair and a small scar near his chin. This man looked toward the man wearing the lab coat and said "Your orders Amachi-sama?"

The newly named Amachi looked over from the recently shredded body and said "Start unloading the cargo, Mabashi should be here soon with the boat, nice job with that sailor by the way Jin." The newly named Jin nodded and headed below deck. The fish creature that was most likely the Kaima monster emerged from the depths and was greeted by Amachi. "Excellent job Isaribi-chan!" He said. She meekly replied "Thank you, Amachi-sama."

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what had most likely been going on. 'If that Isaribi is the same Isaribi that I told Absalom to follow, then this guy must be behind the disappearances near Kikaijima since she returned from there. Judging by his attire, he is either a doctor, or more likely judging by his speed and knife-work, a med-nin. Those two, Jin, and the man coming with the boat, Mabashi, must be his assistants with whatever it is he is doing. He is probably conducting some form of research in Orochimaru's compound on Kikaijima, whether at his order or not has yet to be seen. Since they all refer to him as 'sama', he is most likely the leader. If he is the leader than the group must be small, more than likely the entire group is here, or will be once the mysterious Mabashi makes his entrance, if it wasn't small than their leader wouldn't have come in person to help with grunt work. Since the entire team is here, I can eliminate the need to hunt through the maze that Orochimaru's compound almost assuredly is. If that is the case than the matter is settled, kill the two assistants and capture the remaining two.'

Naruto waited while the one called Jin brought up several crates as a boat showed up, steered by a red-haired man. He called out "Hey, Amachi-sama! It seems everything went okay!" Naruto noticed that silver flashed from the man's mouth, most likely a tongue-stud or something. He didn't think about it anymore before a spike of darkness emerged from the shadow left by the boat ran the guy through.

Amachi and Isaribi looked around wildly as a similar spike ran through Jin. Thin bands of darkness trapped the arms and legs of the remaining two as Naruto stepped on board the downed ship and released the illusion concealing him.

He stepped up to the girl, whose features returned to normal after she was captured, well as normal as you can look when scales covered random patches of skin. He asked her "You are Isaribi, the girl who was ostracized by the inhabitants of Hahajima after you returned from Kikaijima, correct?" She shakily nodded, eyes filled with fear and he continued on "You are also the Kaima monster, correct?" She once again nodded. Naruto looked her up and down and said "Huh, I thought you would be bigger."

He turned to the downed medical ninja and said "Your name is Amachi, yes? The man nodded, a strange combo of fear and fury in his eyes. Naruto asked him "So, what's your story? What do you have to do with the compound on Kikaijima, the kidnappings, this girl's appearance, the Kaima monster, and Orochimaru? Oh, don't bother lying to me, I will be able to tell, and if I catch you lying I WILL kill you, if I don't, well I might let you live."

The man, driven by his fear told Naruto of what had been happening over the last few years on Kikaijima. How Orochimaru started the base along with him and had him running it. How Mitarashi Anko had her Curse Seal applied there, about Orochimaru abandoning the fish man research that Amachi had continued, Isaribi being a guinea pig in said research, how he had helped spread the rumors about the Kaima by letting people live, and his plans in general.

Naruto nodded and asked the girl "Why do you work for this scumbag?" Amachi looked pissed and Isaribi looked surprised.

She stammered out "H-he promised that he would return me to being human if I helped him." Naruto nodded again and turned to the doctor.

He asked "Are you planning on, or even capable of fulfilling that promise? Keep in mind that the same rules from before apply."

Amachi gritted his teeth for a second before spitting out "Hell no! I have perfected the way to turn someone from human into a Kaima and give them the ability to go fully from one to the other at will, but it is completely impossible to change an imperfect specimen into a perfect result."

Naruto nodded and said to the man "So, you were using an ostracized girl's hope of becoming human again to manipulate her into serving you?" Amachi nodded and Naruto smiled before saying "I like your style."

He took a moment to appreciate Amachi's surprised look before asking "So, do you have any perfect results of your research? Also, are there any remains of Orochimaru's research on the Curse Seal in the compound?"

Amachi shook his head before saying "None but myself, and that is only a recent development. As for the Curse Seal, yes I helped Orochimaru create it, but he took the research of it with him when he left, along with the specimen we extracted the enzymes used to create the seal from."

Naruto nodded before turning to the girl and said "You know, you kind of remind me of a young me, ostracized, used, lied to, and tormented. In fact, if you were more cunning and malicious and a lot stronger, you could be me at a younger age. As a result, it is with some pleasure that I do this." At the word 'this' a spike rammed through Isaribi's chest and she dropped to the ground.

Amachi gasped as he saw the boy kill Isaribi, he stammered out "B-but you said that she was like a younger you, why would you kill her?"

He looked at the bound man before saying "I know what I said. If I were faced by some younger me from some other dimension or something, I would kill him too. I don't want an opponent anything like me, and I can guarantee that we wouldn't get along. As for you, there are no remnants of the Curse Seal research left? None at all?" Amachi nodded and went the way of Isaribi. "Than you are useless." Naruto looked around the various wreckage before mumbling to himself "Right, since Isaribi lost Absalom by going into water, he will probably be at the hotel room, since Yukino saw that little incident for sure, she and Haruka will be back at the room soon too." He checked the time "Well, that was a good way to blow two hours, looks like its time to move on."

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One and a half hours later

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Naruto got back to the hotel room and told the group "Right, the Kaima is taken care of. There will be no need to search the compound, there's nothing of interest there. I got us some tickets to a boat heading for Mizu no Kuni in an hour, so get everything you want to take with you." Naruto took the kunai he had hidden under his pillow and put it back in his coat and the others gathered up everything that was theirs, except Absalom who took all that was his and the ashtray. 'Souvenir' he replied when asked about it. After that they left and headed for the docks where their boat was soon to depart for their next destination, Mizu no Kuni, the home of Kirigakure, the village hidden in the mist, and with any luck, the Ghost Princess Perona.

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Lounger hopes you all enjoyed the chapter. He also hopes that you all appreciate the torture that he put himself through by watching four whole episodes of Naruto filler so that he had all of the correct information regarding Umi no Kuni and the characters. He truly sacrifices his mind and body to serve you all. Oh, and a cookie goes to whoever can place Amachi's two assistants. As for why they were not Misumi and Yoroi like they were in the filler, those two are spying on Konoha with Kabuto. Lounger also hopes you review and enjoyed the running joke of Lounger referring to himself in third person for an entire chapter.

Also, for those who are wondering or have asked if Naruto will go random dimension hopping like Chimera did, the answer is 'no', though Lounger may consider doing a separate story with this Naruto traveling to some other world, such as Bleach, or Yu Yu Hakusho, or something that was worth watching.

One more thing, Lounger apologizes that this chapter was so short, but there was little information on the country since it was introduced in a filler episode.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	8. Chapter 8

Greetings all to Kage no Naruto chapter eight

Greetings all to Kage no Naruto chapter eight. I am glad to report that I am able to refer to myself in the first person again, thank god, and I hope you enjoy the chapter. For those who wondered why I killed Isaribi, well I just couldn't think of a long term part for her, she doesn't have much in the way of character development in the show, unsurprising since it was filler, and she doesn't have much in the way of combat skills. Sorry for those who thought that made Naruto a little too evil, but oh well.

Oh, for those that were worried, I do not take morons like Flame Rising seriously. Hell, I blocked him within fifteen minutes of reading that review (see 'needless flame'). I just wanted some sort of refuting argument against that jackass. To be honest, I was worried for a second and questioned my own abilities as an author. But thanks to all of you guys for supporting my work. Okay, moment over, on with the chapter.

By the way, a cookie goes to Genesis Flame. He was the first guy to correctly guess both of Amachi's assistants. They were Jin Kariya and Mabashi from the Bount arc of the Bleach anime, which in my opinion was the best filler arc in any anime in history. I don't care if it was filler; I still think it was awesome. Throws cookie into the audience in Genesis Flame's general direction and hopes for the best Now on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: Fuck that, I've done seven of these bastards already, I am not doing eight.

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Summary of the last chapter

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Naruto and his group traveled to and from Umi no Kuni, accidentally dealing with the Kaima monster while inquiring about the research conducted in the compound Orochimaru had set up on Kikaijima. Now they are heading for Mizu no Kuni, where they hope to finally locate Perona

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Naruto's campsite

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They had made it into Mizu no Kuni with some difficulties. Unlike the countries they had been to before, with the exception of Tsuki no Kuni, Mizu no Kuni had a hidden village, and therefore border patrols. Every boat into and out of the country was searched by Kiri ninja for bandits, Missing Nin, and other wanted criminals. It wasn't that they were widely recognized, but two women and a boy wearing ninja garb, along with an invisible beast man, although he couldn't be seen he could still be detected by other means, it would be rather odd and they didn't want to be noticed by the local authorities. As a result they had jumped ship about three quarters through their journey on the water after altering the boat operator's memories with a strong genjutsu courtesy of Yukino. Haruka had to carry Absalom across the water as could swim about as well as an infant. The curse of eating a devil fruit, some form of amazing ability, but you become as suited to the water as a fish was suited for dry land.

They had to be extremely careful to avoid the border patrols when they got to shore. Mizu no Kuni wasn't as big as the other four great ninja village countries, so their borders were a lot easier to defend from criminals and the like. They had a few close shaves with some Kiri Chuunin, but they managed to get into the country without too much trouble, no crippling injuries, no dead people on either side, and they still had a low profile. As long as they stayed away from the borders and far away from Kirigakure itself and the capital they probably wouldn't encounter anyone that could actually defend themselves until they, hopefully, found Perona.

They had just finished setting up the tents to protect against the rain that was sure to fall as Mizu no Kuni had more precipitation than any other country other than Ame no Kuni, when Haruka asked Naruto "Naruto-san, what is this Perona person like?"

Naruto looked up from setting up his bedroll inside his tent and said, rather eloquently "Huh?"

Haruka asked the question again and Naruto replied "Oh, what's Perona like? You should have just said that in the first place. You should probably ask Absalom, he's the one that actually knew her."

As a result Haruka ended up asking the inhuman pervert the same question. Absalom blandly said "What's Perona like? Well, she could have changed since I last saw her, but the Perona I knew was a rather strange person. She was very dangerous, thanks to her abilities so people tended to treat her with a lot of respect. She was very strict with her subordinates, I remember that, and had a slight obsession with things that she deemed 'cute'. Mind you her definition of the word included things that could have come straight out of someone's nightmares. She was a heavy sleeper, and never liked direct conflict, she always preferred to fight long-range whenever she was forced into combat. She really HATED insects of any kind, especially cockroaches. She would be a person easy to remember, if you saw her. There were three things that you would never forget about her, her eyes, her laugh as it was very distinctive, and her crown. She always wore a black and red crown like old English monarchs; she never took the thing off. Even when bathing or sleeping, heh heh heh."

At this point Absalom blushed rather noticeably and was smacked over the head, see 'slammed mercilessly into the ground', by Haruka mumbling 'damn pervert'. She went over to her tent and decided to get some sleep. If they were going to find this person tomorrow, they would need their energy. The others apparently agreed as they joined her in sleep within the next hour.

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The next morning

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Naruto woke up before anyone else once again, and he had the honor of waking everyone up. He did so by using a tried and tested method that everyone knows. It was called 'pouring ice cold water over their heads and getting the hell out of there'.

Once the curses of varying volumes had died down and everyone had garbed themselves in their normal attire Naruto had Yukino use her abilities to hopefully locate Perona. As they say 'third time's the charm'. As Yukino gathered her chakra and focused her thoughts in preparation for using her abilities to locate the Ghost Princess going by a picture Naruto created by putting an illusion over a stone, Naruto himself was preparing to catch breakfast.

Naruto managed to catch some ten or so fish by manipulating the nearby shadows to form a tight net in the river. He skewered them onto a nearby stick and headed back. As Naruto neared the camp though, he heard a very unwanted thing. The sound of a large explosion.

Naruto tossed the fish into the bushes and ran back to the camp as fast as he could. He was shocked, he had never anticipated this. His team was facing off against a group of Kiri ninja. He figured that they must have recently completed a mission and their path home crossed near their campsite or something, because he chose the spot specifically so that they would be far away from the paths most ninja took.

He examined the ninja, staying hidden as each group waited for the other to make the first move. There were four of them total. One of them wore his hair in a strange, spiking style and wielded a sword that was jagged on one side and flat on the other, its hilt was very strange looking as well. The man wore ninja sandals and pants, and wore no shirt at all. He also had an eye-patch over his left eye. He had a glint of madness in his one visible eye. Naruto felt something about the man, something he couldn't put his finger on, like he had seen him somewhere before. Regardless, he was obviously an experienced warrior, almost guaranteed to be a Jounin. He wore a Kiri Hitai-ate around his neck.

The other three were a lot less hardened based on the shaking of their knees and the inexperience could be felt like an aura around them. One of them had shoulder length black hair and an aura of grace about him that vanished due to his fear. He was wearing normal shinobi garb and a Kiri Hitai-ate around one arm, he held a kunai in the standard guard position and seemed to be at least competent, if a little young. The second wore similar clothing to his comrade, and had his hair in a military crop along with black sunglasses. He had the Kiri Hitai-ate on his forehead and though he held a kunai and acted brave, Naruto could smell his fear. The last was strange as he was completely bald and had small red markings near his eyes. He wore the same clothing his other comrades wore and he had the Kiri Hitai-ate around his waist and of them, he seemed the most eager for a fight of the three. He seemed to have a watered down version of the madness the first man had.

Naruto pondered over the four, he didn't recognize the other three, but the first seemed familiar and was definitely dangerous. His team didn't miss a beat. Yukino and Haruka stood side by side, Yukino with kunai in hand in a reverse grip, Haruka with two kunai. Absalom crouched with his arms low, his face set in a feral sneer.

Naruto stayed hidden, many people of his age would have jumped in headfirst, but he knew the value that the element of surprise held. He was watching the man with the sword carefully. He knew he had seen him somewhere before he _knew_ it as certainly as he knew that grass was green, but he couldn't place him, or come up with a name and it was driving him nuts. His question was answered when the ninja with the shoulder length hair asked the first man "Zaraki-sensei, who are these guys? What should we do?"

The name hit Naruto like a bucket of ice-water, he knew the name and he knew where he had seen the man before. He thought to himself 'Zaraki Kenpachi, the madman of the hidden mist. One of the three remaining loyal members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananinshu. I see, he must be acting as a Jounin sensei, and those other three must be the Gennin he is leading, which explains why their so afraid. Fuck, I never expected to run into someone like him. This is bad, Zaraki is supposed to be one of the strongest of the Seven, alongside Hoshigaki Kisame himself. Of all the possible enemies…. No, I have to think positive here. Zaraki is strong but he isn't unbeatable, no one is. With three newbie Gennin to protect, he could be ambushed. Best case scenario, we manage to capture him alive. Or we could…'

Naruto's thoughts were going a mile a minute. He knew that although Zaraki was one of the strongest of the seven, they couldn't run. If they did, he would be able to bring information about them back to Kiri and before you could say 'knife to the throat' they would have Kiri hunter ninja coming after them on the grounds that they would all be Nuke-Nin from Iwa, which was half-true. If they managed to defeat Zaraki, then his disappearance would be heavily investigated. 'Of bloody course' Naruto thought 'of all the possible opponents we could have been stuck with, it had to be a fucking celebrity.' He decided that his best chance was to strike at the Gennin, forcing Zaraki to protect them. He laid low, and waited for his moment.

As for the great swordsman himself, things weren't looking too good. He had three Gennin in tow, barely a month from the academy, which had just completed their first C-rank mission. And they stumble upon a camp of Nuke-Nin from a village that was famous for powerful Doton jutsus. Before they could prepare a plan, fucking Ikkaku drops a kunai with an explosive note tied around it, setting off an explosive that allows them to find their location, and now here they were. 'I suppose' he thought 'THIS is what I get for taking a short-cut.' He knew that things were looking bad. The three of them handled themselves like professionals, almost guaranteed to be Jounin, AND he had a trio of greenhorn Gennin to protect. These were far from the best odds he had ever faced. He knew that if the battle dragged out, he would be screwed, they would outlast him. He had to end the battle quickly. Taking that to heart, he rushed forward, sword in hand.'

Naruto watched carefully as the spiky-haired ninja rushed forward. This would be the first time he had seen his team in real combat. The three of them dodged aside from the sideways slash that he used and while they were in the air, Absalom blasted the swordsman with one of the invisible cannons strapped to him arms before vanishing, while Haruka launched a volley of kunai toward the Gennin.

The blasted Zaraki turned out to be a Mizu Bunshin and the real thing appeared in front of the three Gennin and deflected the knives that would have impaled them at the speed they were going. He mumbled to the Gennin as he kept his opponents in sight, looking for the third 'You three need to get out of here, fast. You guys would only get in my way, and if you stay you WILL get killed, understand?' The three nodded and Naruto continued to listen in. 'I will give you guys a chance, and you need to take it. When I give the signal, run and get back to Kiri. Tell the Yondaime that three A-rank Nuke-nin from Iwagakure are in the area. I will follow you when I can, okay?' The three nodded again and he whispered 'Okay'. The powerful Jounin went through several handseals and mumbled "Kirigakure no jutsu" Soon afterward, a thick mist rolled in, beginning to obscure the group from view.

The mist took a few seconds, but it eventually covered a good distance around the clearing, and enshrouded the clearing itself. Naruto felt the Gennin try to run as Zaraki rushed Yukino and Haruka who repelled his assault. Absalom was getting behind him. Naruto manipulated the shadows and formed a wall in front of the Gennin, preventing them from escaping. They were they key to winning this fight as easily as possible; he wasn't letting them get away.

Since the Gennin could barely see in the thick mist they ran smack dab into the wall of darkness and reeled backward. Naruto formed a few more walls around them, leaving only one direction for them to travel in, back towards the fighting. Since they were inexperienced and far too weak to penetrate the wall, not to mention nearly blind in the thick mist they followed the only path they could, right back into the clearing, though they didn't know it. They arrived just in time to hear the 'boom' of one of Absalom's cannon shots nailing Zaraki in the side, sending him flying into a tree, his side bleeding badly.

Naruto winced when he saw that. He wanted to catch Zaraki alive since the shadow couldn't be taken from a dead man. As much as he would love to jump into the fight from a distance and end the thing now, he couldn't use his best techniques without his own shadow, and though he COULD call the shadow to him and have it there within a few seconds, it was guaranteed to be watched so such an action would blow his cover with Konoha. He would have to step in at the last possible moment to subdue and transport the still living Zaraki.

The man in question whoever was in both blazing pain and immense confusion. He was in pain because of the bad wound in his side, and was confused as to how he got it. He didn't sense any Genjutsu and he didn't sense any chakra being used. He didn't know how the third enemy did this to him, but he knew that it was the beast man that did it. Then, of all things, he saw his Gennin team watching the fight. He roared at them "What the HELL are you doing here!" He yelled. "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

"We can't find our way out of here Zaraki-sensei!" The bald one yelled "There's something stopping us from leaving!" Zaraki cursed under his breath. With the Gennin there to slow him down, his chances of winning that were already slim were getting lower and he knew it. His eyes widened as one of the two women, the one with glasses, whispered something to the blonde one, and turned toward the younger ninja. He rushed toward the brown haired woman, determined to stop her from hurting the Gennin when he was met by a blast just like the one he felt before, only it hit him in his other side and sent him flying in the other direction. He watched in a pain-filled daze as his team scattered and charged the woman, knowing that they couldn't escape from such a high level opponent, only for one of them to be met by a blast just like he had, and since their bodies were nowhere near as strong as his, he saw the boy get ripped in two.

As for the other two, one of them had their kunai parried by the brown-haired woman before slitting the boy's throat and the other was pierced through head and heart by… darkness? Indeed, the shadows had stretched from their places below the tents and pierced the third boy's body, ending his life.

Zaraki knew that this was it for him. The adrenaline was keeping the pain somewhat numbed but he knew that his wounds, if not seen to by an expert medic in the next few minutes, would be fatal. He never expected something like this to happen. He didn't know why he couldn't take these guys out. He never had this much trouble with an opponent before. Ever since Kurosaki died and let the seven swordsmen decrease to six, they all went downhill. Zabuza, Kisame, and Raiga went rogue, and Tousen went blind, though it never really bothered the man. He and Gin were the only ones to have changed the least. Gin had only grown a bit creepier and he hadn't changed at all. But against two opponents of high strength and worked extremely well together, which would have posed anyone a challenge, he still would have fought on even ground. It was the third that did it for him. He couldn't detect the beast man, and as a result he was there, lying against a tree with his lifeblood pouring through his sides. He tried to rise, but the sudden jolt of pain that the action brought drove the man from a slight crouch, to his knees. He then drifted into unconsciousness.

Naruto moved quickly, smiling the whole way. Apparently the rumors he had heard about Zaraki were false, he really didn't live up to his reputation. He was very strong, but he couldn't have been on par with Kisame. Then again Kisame went rogue almost ten years ago, maybe Zaraki had gotten old, he was in his early fifties now. His team worked very well. Apparently Yukino was only shy outside of battle, in battle she didn't care about taking lives that much and her teamwork with the skilled Haruka was amazing. Absalom had used his abilities well too, keeping himself undetected and nailing Zaraki when the opportunity arose. It was a good system.

Absalom reappeared as he approached. "Nice work" he called to them.

Haruka shouted "Where the hell were you?" as he got closer and approached Zaraki's dying body.

He told them as he prepared to leave "I was watching the fight, waiting for a chance to attack, but you guys finished him off before I could, nice job. Get rid of the Gennin's bodies while I'm gone, I'll be back in a minute." With that the shadows pooled around them both and they vanished, leaving the remaining three with a lot of cleanup duty.

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Hidden cave inside Hokage Monument

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Naruto appeared in a dark room inside the cave he left Hogback with the still living Zaraki Kenpachi. He yelled out and his voice carried throughout the entire cave system "HOGBACK!"

Within a few seconds the doctor appeared at the doorway, somewhat out of breath and managed to get out "Yes, pant Naruto-sama?"

Naruto looked up from patching up the unconscious Zaraki as best he could and said "Get me that swordsman General Zombie that you cooked up and make sure that he's restrained. This guy won't last too much longer so you had better put a rush on that."

Hogback nodded and dashed off as best he could. Within the next few minutes Naruto did his best to keep Zaraki alive through moving the nearby shadows to literally patch up Zaraki's wounds. It stopped the external bleeding but not much else. He had to keep him alive until Hogback got there with the only General class zombie he had completed. It was meant for a sword-wielding shadow, which was a bonus. Worst case scenario, they had to put it in a Soldier zombie and transplant the shadow later.

Hogback arrived, pulling a wheeled cart with a frozen body after him. This body was much stronger than any other zombie thus far and had the tattoo upon his upper arm 'GZ-2'. The body was strapped to the table with thick circles of iron that ensnared the corpse at knee, waist, and bicep level. Hogback pulled the cart near the body while Naruto got up.

With a single handseal he created a Kage Bunshin. This clone moved toward Zaraki's feet and hurriedly lifted up the shadow from the ground. Naruto moved quickly and removed a recent acquisition from the shadow in the sleeve opposite the sleeve that held his axe. This new acquisition was an extremely large pair of scissors. He quickly cut Zaraki's shadow from his person, and the clone, without any ceremony, simply pressed the shadow against the body, and let go and vanished once the shadow sank in.

Naruto quickly took a brush and some ink from within his coat and quickly sketched a complex seal onto the torso of the zombie. He had to work fast to secure the shadow before Zaraki died. If the seal didn't anchor the shadow to the body before he died, the shadow would go with the original owner. As a result, Naruto worked faster than he ever did before, drawing frantically and making handseals as quickly as possible. He was overjoyed when the symbols glowed blue and shrank into a space the size of the head of a pin thanks to another seal he included in the design. Naruto collapsed onto the ground.

He was so fucking glad, it could not be expressed in words. He was actually surprised that he made it. He was glad the scissors did their job. They cut through the shadow a lot easier than the axe did. Plus it didn't leave large indentations in the floor. He would use the axe to take shadows in battle, but if he had some calm he would use the scissors to cut the bonds between shadow and body. He looked up and said "Thank you doctor. Now then, we should give our friend here some space. We both know that zombies won't be immediately obedient. I will take care of Zaraki's body. Keep up the good work." Hogback nodded and wheeled away the body, which was starting to move.

Naruto got up and with a few handseals incinerated the body with a Goukakyuu no jutsu. He left the same way he came, vanishing into the shadows.

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Back at the campsite, or battlefield, depends on your point of view

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When he got back, he saw that the bodies of the Gennin were incinerated. The tents and sleeping gear and everything else were already sealed into a scroll and they were all waiting for him.

After a second to get his bearings, he stood before them and said "My friends, I believe it is now time for me to reveal my most powerful tactical maneuver." They all looked at him oddly, and with some degree of anxiety. If it was as powerful as he said it was, it must have been something right? He continued on "Yes, my most secret maneuver. It is aptly named Operation… GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

He started to run into the forest, the others hurrying after him.

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Two hours, and ten miles later

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They came to a stop in a decent sized clearing where Naruto stopped and said "Right, this should be far enough." They all stopped and panted slightly, Haruka glaring at him.

He continued on "Sorry about the suspense and the sudden run, but we needed to get as far away from there as possible, plus the mood needed lightening up. Fighting and killing one of the Seven Swordsmen takes its toll."

He gave them a moment to catch their breath and stop panting before he continued before saying "Right, now that we are here, Yukino, I need you to do your best to locate Perona. The rest of you can do what you want; I can smell a stream not too far from here so I am going to try my hand at catching breakfast… again. Build a fire while I'm gone." Then he walked into the forest.

By the time Naruto got back, with a skewer of fish in hand, Yukino had already done her job. When Naruto had finished prepping the fish to cook and set them before the fire, he asked her "Well, did you find her?"

Yukino sat down and said to him "Well, there is good news, and there is bad news. Which do you want first?"

Naruto looked at her and said "Let's hear the good news, why not?"

Yukino nodded and continued on, the others hanging on her every word. "The good news is that I DID find Perona."

She was cut off by Haruka yelling out "Nice job Yukino-chan!" which made Yukino blush a bit.

Naruto interjected into the moment and said "And the bad news?"

Yukino looked at him and said "The bad news is that she is sealed."

Naruto looked at her and asked "Sealed?"

Yukino nodded and looked at the frying fish and said "Yes, into a jar."

Naruto was getting slightly irritated when he asked "Okay, where is this jar?"

She looked up from the fish and gave him the bad news, plain and simple "The vase is locked into a safe behind a portrait. This portrait is in the office of Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, the Yondaime Mizukage."

Naruto said only one word and it summarized the entire situation "Fuck"

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And that is the chapter. For anyone who is wondering, all of the non-canon characters from Kiri, Zaraki, Yamamoto, Ichigo, and the Gennin, are all based on characters from Bleach. I hope you give positive reviews and I will update as soon as I can. In the meantime, it is currently 7:30 AM and I have been awake since 2:00 PM, so I am going to go get some sleep. Ja!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	9. Chapter 9

Good news all

Good news all! I have finally decided to get off my ass and write Kage no Naruto chapter nine! I hope you all enjoy the chapter and review at the end, until the ending note then.

Oh, someone pointed out that they were shinobi, so why did it take them two hours to go ten miles. Well, they had to cover their trail to make sure that no one could follow them if they found the battleground, plus they had to be on the lookout for any possible encounters with Kiri ninja. Also, someone asked how Zaraki knew that they were A-rank missing Nin. The answer to that is mostly instinct on his part. Since they managed to sneak past the excessive border patrol, they had to be pretty good. If he was wrong and they were B-rank or C-rank, than a squad sent to take out A-rank Missing-Nin would have done it easily. He was mostly going on the mantra 'better safe than sorry'. Plus it wouldn't have mattered if he won like he believed that he would.

One other dude asked how they managed to take out one of the seven swordsmen so easily. The answer to that is 'no one is invincible'. Regardless of their reputation, everyone in this story is human, well mostly. A wound from a damn cannon in the side would cause anyone to miss a step, and such a wound in both sides would be fatal by anyone's standards. It doesn't matter who you are, large open wounds can kill just about anybody. Absalom was completely undetectable and caught Zaraki off guard, plus Zaraki wasn't as young as he used to be, AND he had to try his best to make sure the Gennin weren't killed so his mind wasn't completely on the battle at hand. All of that adds up.

One other dude asked why didn't Naruto go back to Konoha, grab his shadow and leave a clone in its place, then go back and join the battle? The answer to that is that Naruto could, but he believes that his shadow is being watched twenty four-seven. Plus, he wanted to see his team in real combat and then there is the simple matter that he didn't need his full strength with the advantage he already had what with outnumbering his enemy, having the enemy worry about people needing protection, plus the advantage of surprise.

Just so you know, I DO remember the names of the people who I mention when I answer questions like these, well most of the time I do, I just don't like mentioning names.

Disclaimer: What the fuck did I just say last chapter?!

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto and the rest successfully infiltrated Mizu no Kuni. They had made camp when they were discovered by Zaraki Kenpachi, one of the Seven Swordmen, plus his Gennin team through complete accident. When the smoke cleared, the three Kiri Gennin were dead, and Zaraki himself was kept alive long enough to have his shadow removed and sealed into a General Zombie, creating a powerful servant for Naruto to command since Zombies possess all of the abilities the original owners of the shadows had.

After they had gotten far away from the battle ground, Yukino actually managed to locate Perona. However, she was sealed into a jar (Like the jar they sealed Shukaku in before sealing it into Gaara). That jar was in a safe behind a portrait in the office of Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, the Yondaime Mizukage. And now we begin!

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The clearing where we left off

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Naruto summed up the entire situation in one word "Fuck".

This was bad and he knew it. He never planned to go within fifty miles of Kirigakure on this trip. Now he not only had to infiltrate the office of one of the most powerful men in the world, but he had to do it in a damn short time limit. He would have to get into and out of Kirigakure before they found out about Zaraki's death. The moment they found out about it, the entire village would be sealed up tighter than a camel's nostril in a sandstorm for quite some time while they tried to find the people responsible, in other words, Naruto, Yukino, Haruka, and Absalom.

He gave out the order immediately after the fish were cooked and eaten. "Pack up, we're moving out now." Knowing that they wouldn't be told what he had in mind until he wanted to or needed to tell them, they just did as they were told and after removing any traces of their presence, ran off into the forest.

Naruto kept the pace quick and brutal. No stopping, even for a moment, it was keep up or get left behind. Naruto may have been rather young, but the boy was a fast little bastard.

They went a lot faster than they did after the battle. They weren't extremely hungry for one, plus they didn't have to go slower than normal to cover their tracks from anyone who might have been pursuing them. Naruto went as fast as he could through the chilling, mist filled woods, heading steadily eastward the entire way.

After six hours of non-stop running, they finally stopped about ten miles outside of Kirgakure. This was much closer than Naruto ever wanted to go to a hidden village on this trip, but circumstances demanded some alterations to many plans. He told them to get some rest, and for Yukino to place a Genjutsu around them before she did. He quickly unsealed the tents and everyone slept the sleep of the completely exhausted once Yukino shielded them from prying eyes and ears.

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Exactly eight hours later

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Naruto woke up at three AM exactly. Having a Bijuu acting as your alarm clock was a pretty handy fringe benefit of being a Jinchuuriki. He woke up the other three in the usual way, i.e. cold water.

Once they were awake and calmed down a bit, he told them what was going through his mind once he heard of Perona's unfortunate location.

"I am not going to lie to you, I did consider this possibility when we entered Mizu no Kuni. This is the second worst possible scenario that I had envisioned, that Perona had already been found and captured by Kirigakure, or some other hidden village. We need to secure that container and we have to do it fast. Once the Mizukage hears of Zaraki's disappearance, he will be forced to launch an investigation. It will be two days at most before they come to the conclusion that Zaraki is either dead, or has gone rogue. In either case the village itself will be put on total lockdown due to a major security breach. The Seven Swordsmen know more about Kirigakure and Mizu no Kuni's defenses than anyone save the Mizukage and the Daimyo themselves, and if one of them went rogue, or was killed, the swordsman or his killers would automatically receive a kill on sight order plus an S-rank in the Kiri Bingo Book for either stealing important village secrets, or killing one of the Seven. If we are going to have any, ANY, chance whatsoever of obtaining Perona's container within the next year, we have to do it NOW. Do you understand? If we miss this chance, the village will be damn near impenetrable for god only knows how long, and the security will be tightened immediately afterward for quite a long time. We… do…not…have…a…second…chance. Do you understand?"

They nodded and said "Yes, Naruto-san/sama."

Naruto continued on "Good, now then no matter what, we are NOT going to engage any Kiri ninja. The only time you should attack anyone is if that person finds out what we are here for, or you are laying down cover fire for our eventual escape. This is a stealth operation, no violence whatsoever unless absolutely necessary. We are also going to avoid the Mizukage at all costs. The last damn thing we need is one of the Kage's coming after us. Well, fighting us, he will definitely come after us once he realizes what we have stolen, but we do NOT want a confrontation with him, at this point in time Yamamoto would rip us apart. The moment we obtain Perona's container, we are getting as far away from here as possible. If possible, I don't want anyone dying either on either side; we are here as thieves not assassins, besides killing someone leaves way too much evidence of our passing. Now then, Yukino-chan, I need you to scout out the village in its entirety, leave nothing out, every sewer entrance, every abandoned building, any place that would be useful as a rendezvous point. Pay special attention to the gates, ANBU patrols, and the Mizukage tower. Also make sure to scout out the inside of the Mizukage tower, every guard post, every camera, and every possible hiding place, and get it all down onto a map. Absalom, I will need you to infiltrate the village. Yukino can only do so much, so I will entrust the stalking of the Mizukage to you. Don't get too close to him, just discreetly follow him, most importantly, find out when he is guaranteed to be away from the tower, understand?" They nodded "Good, Haruka, you guard Yukino, Absalom, you had better get going."

Before Absalom left, he asked "What will you be doing Naruto-sama?"

Naruto looked at the beast man and said "I will do my best to get inside the village. If I can manage it, we will have a guaranteed way to enter Kirigakure, making this operation much easier as well as leaving a back door into the village if for any reason we ever need to come back. Now get going! I told you already, we are on a time limit! I want to be out of here with Perona in tow by this time tomorrow!" Absalom then scurried off, and Yukino went to work. Naruto took a deep breath and went to attempt his infiltration.

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Kirigakure Main Gate

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Most people underestimate this, but infiltrating any Hidden Village is FUCKING DIFFICULT. Kirigakure had three gates, a main gate that opened to the east, and smaller, less used gates to the north and south. There was no entrance from the west; beyond that wall was the sea and nothing more.

Each of the three gates was guarded by two full squads of Chuunin, eight ninja in total, plus a Jounin was a call away should a powerful intruder appear. There were also several ways to trigger the village alarms at each gate should something severe show up, such as an army. Each and every visitor to the gates fell into one of three categories: shinobi, enemy or civilian.

Friendly Kiri shinobi, after getting their identification checked, and their mission verified, were let in without a second thought. Enemy shinobi were killed on sight or captured. Civilians on the other hand were checked carefully. You couldn't just wander into one of the Hidden Villages; you had to have a purpose.

If you were a merchant looking to buy or sell goods, you and your goods were thoroughly checked before you were given a temporary citizenship that lasted for a month, once that expired you had one day to pack your stuff and get out. People who came to offer a mission to the village were escorted to the Mizukage tower by one of the Chuunin guards. After that the client to be was interviewed by a Chuunin to get the mission specs down and give a price estimation. After that the person would be escorted to a group of rooms in the tower and were ordered to stay there while their mission was evaluated, the final price was negotiated, and ninja of the appropriate rank were chosen to do the job. People intending to move into and gain citizenship inside a Hidden Village were warily granted some time to choose a house and apply for said citizenship, and basically get everything settled. Once everything was said and done and the citizenship was granted, a house bought, a job secured, and everything was settled down the person in question was watched during this entire process by ANBU and would continue to be watched for a probation period of somewhere between one and two years afterward to make sure that they weren't spies. It was an effective system and it was what most Hidden Villages did when it came to visitors and new residents. It also came with the benefit of being hard as hell to break into.

After carefully scouting out each of the gates, Naruto decided that the Main Gate was the best bet. A lot more people went through there every day so it would be easier to hide among the crowd and sneak in inside of a cart or something. He had no chance in hell of getting in officially; he didn't have any of the papers required for something like that. Getting in wouldn't be easy by any means.

He watched the security procedures carefully. There were four ninja at the gate itself, four more were on top of the thing watching for possible incoming enemies, and an ANBU patrol stopped by every thirty minutes. There were also ninja patrolling the walls at random, watching the areas the men on the gate couldn't see and checking up on the place in general. He decided that his best chance was to stow along in another person's group. How to do this however was presenting a bit of a problem.

His best chance was to wait for a merchant convoy of a decent size and cling to the bottom of a cart, using a powerful Genjutsu to hide himself from sight during this time combined with using the natural cloaking effect the shadows provided him. A plan decided upon, Naruto left the gate, heading down the road. If he was going to pull this off, it wouldn't be in plain sight of a few more than a half a dozen Chuunin.

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About two miles down the road, thirty minutes later

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Naruto was crouching in the bushes, stiff as a board, and just as cold.

A little less than half an hour had gone by since he started scouting out a good stowaway target but there was absolutely no one. His thoughts were going by 'What the hell! This is supposed to be the busiest road for miles. Where the fuck IS everybody? The only person to go by since I got here was that pair of newly weds going to Kiri for their damn honeymoon. I hope the fucking bride snaps her neck falling down some stairs or something. Come OOOOOOOOOONNNNNNN.'

Naruto ended up waiting another hour and a half before a merchant with a cart showed up that Naruto could stow away on. Two hours, combined with it being Mizu no Kuni in the later months of the year, the temperature was getting closer to the bottom of the thermostat. Disregarding his near miss with hypothermia, Naruto snuck by the old geezer guiding the horse pulling the cart, got underneath it, and sticking to the thing with chakra channeled into his back, placed a Genjutsu around himself that would hopefully sneak by the damn locals, wrapped himself in shadows for a combination of good measure and warmth and settled in for a good, long ride under massive scrutiny in mid thirty degree weather.

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Kirigakure, Merchant's Quarter, two hours later

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Naruto climbed out from under the dude's cart and managed to get away without being seen. Why it took two bloody hours to get a cart across roughly three miles of space was beyond him. Now the guy in question was in some cheap hotel looking for a room, so Naruto decided to take the opportunity to get the hell out of there while the going was good.

Through a powerful Genjutsu that would be difficult by the standards of most Jounin, he managed to get people to think he was a poor abandoned orphan. Not too far from the truth mind you, but he didn't carry the look of abused youth most of the time under normal circumstances.

There was one good thing about this entire mission, and that was the fact that the Mizukage tower, like all Kage towers, could be seen from like five miles away. With target in sight, Naruto got moving.

About an hour later, Naruto slipped into a back alley. Things were getting dangerous. It was a fucking swarm of ninja of all levels near the tower. Hell, he came within twenty feet of Ichimaru Gin himself, one of the now two remaining loyal members of the Seven Swordsmen. He was lucky as all hell that the man didn't sense the Genjutsu but he did look to have something on his mind at the time.

At the moment Naruto was trying to get as close to the tower as possible before he got out of dodge, at the moment he was about three hundred meters from the wall separating the tower from the street and you couldn't swing a cat without hitting a ninja at the moment. They must have gotten the news of Zaraki's disappearance sooner than he thought. 'Oh well' he reasoned 'this only means that I have to work faster.' He stepped away from the alley and did his best to slowly, and most importantly stealthily, make his way to the tower. He didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making it inside the wall without blowing his cover, but a starting point near the tower would be good for the operation.

He was about one hundred and fifty meters from the wall now, so close. If he could make it to one hundred meters, it would be perfect. Well, this whole situation was far from perfect so it would have been as good as he could possibly hope for. Just a little bit closer. He crept out of the alleyway very carefully, doing his best to remain unnoticed by the locals who seemed to have more important matters than some little brat. He was about two meters from the next alley when he heard it, the muffled sound of handseals and a muttered 'Kai' and he felt the illusion around him disperse. 'SHIT!' he thought as he scrambled to get away from the people whose sole attention now rested on him. He managed to get into the alley unscathed and with a quickly muttered 'Kage Houko' managed to escape before he got killed. He managed to get a look at the person who found him out though. It was Tousen Kaname, Kiri's Blind Swordsman and the other loyal survivor of the Seven Swordsmen.

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The campsite

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Naruto emerged from the shadows in the middle of the camp, breathing hard. That was way too close for comfort. If he didn't hear the guy before the illusion dispersed, well let's not get into that.

He looked around frantically and saw Yukino with a large screen composed of mirrors displaying numerous flashing images. She said to him as he got his bearings "You had a very close call there Naruto-sama."

He looked over at the girl and asked "You saw it then?"

She nodded and said "Yes, you managed to reach your goal but Tousen Kaname spotted you, ironic that it would be the blind man to find what no one else could see. Absalom is still tracking the Mizukage and he has remained undetected, his talents are really quite useful."

Naruto nodded and said "Of course they are, that's why I recruited him. How are you coming on that map of the city and the tower blueprints?"

She didn't even glance away from the mirrors and he noticed for the first time, a scroll and ink-brush in her hand. An inkwell was nearby as was a second scroll that seemed to be completed already. She said "The map of the city with all information you requested has already been completed," She indicated the scroll near the inkwell before continuing "The blueprints of the tower however are still being completed." She didn't even look away from the mirrors, or blink, as she inscribed another passageway on the scroll in her hand, adding several symbols that indicated guard posts.

Naruto reached down and took the completed scroll. He looked it over and it was extremely accurate to what he had seen in the city, he could trace his steps on the parchment from the gate to the alley where he made his disappearing act. Yukino had some real talent as a calligrapher, there wasn't a stray splotch of ink or a wobbling line anywhere on the thing, it could have been made by a computer. There were clear indications of guard posts as well as side notes that indicated how strong the guards were, dotted lines indicating ANBU patrol paths as well as how long it took the squad in question to complete one circuit of said path. Every place not frequented by the public and out of the way spots that could be useful was also noted. It was an impressive piece of work and he told her as such. She just nodded, not even looking away from the mirrors as she continued to draw upon the scroll in her hands.

Absalom returned an hour later, just after Yukino completed the scroll. He gave them an approximation of the Mizukage' schedule. He was in the tower taking care of paperwork and other managerial duties such as assigning missions, overseeing the training of new ANBU, and other such duties of a Kage. The only times he wasn't in the tower was during some kind of festival, when he went home for the day, or on a rare day off. According to Naruto's calendar, there wasn't any sort of celebration planned for at least eight months, and the guy took a day off once every five or ten years or so if the rumors were true. Therefore the only shot they had of getting into the office while Yamamoto wasn't there was during the late night, or extremely early morning. Either that or cause a large enough distraction to demand the Kage's personal attention. He took the newly completed blueprint from Yukino and got to work on planning the heist.

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One hour later

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After examining the blueprints and the maps, he had managed to come up with a plan. Given time, he probably could have come up with a better one, but he was pressed for time. He called the others close and unrolled the maps Yukino had drawn before beginning his briefing.

"Okay, our main goal is the jar in the safe, which is in the Mizukage's office HERE" He put a circle around the room. "Now, if you look closely you will see that with the pattern of guards they have set up, plus the arrangement of cameras in the tower, it is impossible to get near or into the office without being seen by somebody unless you are completely invisible. Take a hint Absalom. Moving on, we still have the major obstacle that the Mizukage himself provides. He is currently in his office doing damage control on one of the Seven going missing. We need to get him the hell away from the tower before we even think of going into that office." Naruto took a small break and reached into his jacket, pulling out a bar of chocolate, which he unwrapped and bit into.

'Jeez, he may be strong and smart, but he's still a damn kid. Sweet tooth the size of a monster' Thought Haruka rather cynically, though it was true, her commander had an enormous sweet-tooth and always had some kind of candy on his person or nearby. **(1)**

He continued on "Our best bet therefore is to create a distraction large enough to demand the Mizukage's personal attention. The slaughter of a clan would do, but that was already done by the Sandaime Mizukage, one Aizen Sosuke before Yamamoto deposed him and took over. I believe that our current best bet is to take out THIS particular target" He circled a large building near the wall, far away from any housing. "The power plant, if we take that out, the entire city will go through an enormous blackout. This will cause the Mizukage to leave and go with several Jounin and ANBU to find out what's going on. This normally wouldn't a the procedure, but with the high alert status they're under right now, he won't take any chances, most likely believing it to be a rogue Zaraki, or his killers. Well, he is right on that one but moving on. I will take care of the power plant. After I do, I will bring Absalom to the tower to begin his infiltration. Without power, the cameras won't be active so it will be a lot easier. I will also place a barrier around the tower to prevent reinforcements. Yukino, Haruka, you two are to stay here, we will come back for you once we have the target. Okay, it is currently six thirty PM, just getting dark, so the lights should start coming on any minute. Absalom, we had better get going." The beast man nodded and rose, the boy following him. Naruto looked back at the two girls and said "Get everything ready to leave at a second's notice. The moment we get back, we are getting out of here." The girls nodded and Naruto grabbed Absalom's shoulder. He muttered "Kage Hokou" and they were gone.

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Kirigakure, Merchant's Quarter

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The pair emerged in an alley behind the hotel where the merchant from earlier was staying. The moment they were there Naruto muttered to Absalom "Right, you saw the map, get us there unseen." Absalom nodded and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Within seconds they had both vanished. Absalom could become almost completely undetectable and render anything he was touching as such alongside him. They followed the memorized map, not moving too quickly so that they could remain undetected. Within an hour they stood before the power plant. It was an impressive sight, big stone building, surrounded by gate complete with barbed wire and the odd ANBU patrol made sure the place was safe.

Naruto got close to the gate and held out his hand. This was close enough. Darkness gathered in his palm, seemingly materializing from nowhere. What Absalom didn't know was that this was the shadow of the air itself. It wasn't much, but it was there and at Naruto's disposal. When the sphere got as big as his hand he let it go. It soared into the air above the facility and spread, cloaking the entire building. Within a few seconds the lights in the city began going out. Naruto muttered under his breath 'If you snuff it, they shall come.' He waited five minutes for the Kage to get his old ass out of the tower. When Naruto saw him approaching from the other side of the street, he grabbed Absalom and vanished the same way they came.

They were in the alley where Naruto vanished earlier. They looked around carefully, still invisible thanks to Absalom, and there were very few people in the darkness. Absalom had the eyes of an animal so he could see in the dark, and Naruto had naturally perfect night vision. Nice fringe benefit of his abilities. They quickly made their way to the tower. Naruto kept up a constant vigil. He wasn't afraid of the Mizukage, he was out of the picture, but there was a very real chance of encountering one of the remaining two members of the Seven Swordsmen.

Naruto did the same thing to the tower that he did to the power plant, only this time the dome covered the two of them as well, locking out any reinforcements no matter how strong they were… well to a certain extent.

Naruto muttered to Absalom. "Okay, nice, quiet, and slow. We don't want anyone knowing we're here until it's too late. The office is on the third floor so take the steps on your left." Absalom only nodded.

The main trick was getting the door open without telling them that you were there. This was impossible, so they just opened the door naturally. There was a pair of ninja waiting for them, Chuunin, that reacted to the opening of the door. A flicker of shadow blocked the projectiles the ninja threw in the direction of the door and with a few handseals and a muttering of "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu" He was gone.

Only to reappear a few seconds later to drag the pair under the ground, including the nose and mouth. They would suffocate in the earth's embrace, and he didn't give a damn. He nodded to Absalom and said "Let's go" Before dashing up the stairs, Absalom close behind him.

They moved quickly but quietly up flights of stairs and through numerous hallways, going upon Naruto's memorized map to get them to the right place. With the deactivation of the cameras in the building plus Absalom's invisibility they got the drop on most of the guards. The only exception were those few that had extremely good hearing. Absalom's ability was invisibility not inhearability after all.

They eventually managed to get to the Mizukage's office without any injuries, though there were plenty of fatalities on the opponent's side. The janitors would have there work cut out for them, I will say no more.

Naruto, without ceremony or patience, just kicked down the door and jumped in. He knew that Yamamoto was at the barrier he put around the tower, trying to break in. He could feel the heat of his techniques against the infinitely cold darkness ha placed around the building. He was amazed that the old man got there so fast.

They both ransacked the room, looking for the portrait behind which the safe laid hidden. The only problem was that portraits covered most of the damn walls. He mentioned to Absalom as they searched "Hey, don't you find it weird that the Mizukage, the leader of the hidden village of Mizu no Kuni, water country, is a master of fire techniques?"

Absalom checked behind another painting, no luck. "I know what you mean, it's exactly like Konoha's Niidaime Hokage. The leader of the village that was located in Hi no Kuni, fire country, was perhaps the most powerful master of water techniques ever. Honestly, it makes me wonder if some of them were adopted or something."

Naruto just nodded before turning over another painting, revealing a metal box. "HAH, found it!" Absalom looked over and moved to inspect the box.

He murmured to himself after a second "This is a pretty good design, damn near impossible to crack the code."

Naruto looked over, slightly worried "You mean you can't get into it?" He was rather irritated to go all that way only to not be able to enter a small metal box.

Absalom laughed for the first time in Naruto's presence. It was rather odd, a deep bestial '_Gurururururu'_. He got out though "Of course I can get into it! I just said I couldn't crack the code."

Naruto looked a bit puzzled "What do you mean by that Ab-?" he would have continued, but he was interrupted by Absalom pointing his left hand at the box and shouting 'DEAD MAN'S HAND!' A minute later we had one blown open box, and a charred wall.

Naruto looked horrified "A-are you INSANE!? You could have damaged the target you moron!" He looked into the box. 'Thank god' he thought. It was there. A medium sized ceramic jar covered with seals about the size of his head. He grabbed the thing without preempt, turned to Absalom and said "It's time to go." Absalom nodded and a gripped shoulder and a Kage Houko later, they were at the campsite. Rinse and repeat, and they were in the series of tunnels hidden deep inside the Hokage Mountain where they left Hogback.

Naruto sat down against the wall and just sighed as he patted the jar affectionately "Thank god that's over, eh?"

Absalom and the rest, after getting used to their surroundings, nodded.

Hogback, hearing the noise, walked into the room and asked "Ah, is that you Naruto-sama? Ah, you're all back! How was the search for Perona? Did you manage to find her?"

Naruto looked at the odd-looking doctor for a second before cracking a genuine smile for the first time in a long time. "Yes, yes we did. It was a pain in the ass but we finally managed it. There will still be some difficulties, but the hardest part is over. How is the new General coming along Hogback?"

Hogback smiled before saying "Excellently Naruto-sama! It is just as you said; he holds nothing but complete loyalty to you. Well, once the personality and memories left behind by the shadow's original owner vanished anyway, before that he was QUITE unstable. Oh, by the way Naruto-sama, shouldn't you release Perona? I don't think she enjoys confinement too much."

Naruto looked at the jar and realized that he had almost forgotten that there was a person in there. He just said "Well, here we go guys, moment of truth eh?" Before he ripped off the seals and yanked off the lid. The moment he did an eerie mist flooded from the jar and filled the room. From that mist they heard a very strange laugh. A high pitched '_Horohorohorohorohoro.'_

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(1) When I say sweet-tooth, I mean on the same level as L from Death Note.

Well, that is the chapter, I am sorry for the cliff-hanger, but I am evil like that. All I can really say is that I hope you guys review, and see you in the next chapter, which is going to be the last chapter before Naruto returns to Konoha, I might add. Well, I have nothing more to say, so Ja Ne.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	10. Chapter 10

Greeting to all of my ravenous fans

Greeting to all of my ravenous fans! I am glad to inform you that the long awaited Kage no Naruto chapter ten is now complete! Oh by the way I will now continue my habit of informing you all of the latest developments in the Naruto manga. So spoilers below, you have been warned. Skip it if you want to, or don't either way enjoy the chapter and review at the end!

Oh, before I forget, I will be beginning another story in the near future. This is actually a challenge that I accepted from a dude by the name of D-FireX. This isn't going to be a Naruto story though. This is going to be a Death Note crossover with Blood Plus. Just warning you before hand, if you haven't seen both series beforehand, you will most likely be lost rather quickly. Since this is essentially an advertisement for an upcoming story, I will even give you a slight teaser bit of information and let it make your mouths water. Light will be becoming a Chevalier. I say no more, let that bit of info torture you until I post the story. NOW LET THE NARUTO RANT BEGIN!

SPOILERS BEGIN

In the latest Naruto manga the Hachibi Jinchuuriki is revealed at last! Personally I think he looks like a bad-ass. He was actually wearing a Hitai-ate from Kumo of all places which means that Kumo had not one but TWO Jinchuuriki all along! He's been training for quite a while as well. Sasuke tortured some Kumo ninja with his newly obtained Tsukuyomi using his ill-gotten Mangekyou to get information on where the dude is and is heading there presently, pride parade AKA HAWK in tow, oh and did I mention that they are all wearing Akatsuki cloaks? Naruto however is going to be learning the Sage Arts that Jiraiya knew from the Elder Toads, training the same way Jiraiya did so that he can hopefully compare to Pein (HA, not bloody likely, then again Kishi-fanboy-moto is writing this so it will likely defy common sense, whatever happens.)

Will the Hachibi Jinchuuriki become the greatest hero of all time by killing the biggest fag in existence now that Orochimaru is dead (Sasuke)?

Will Naruto stop being a stupid douche-bag and realize that Sasuke is not his friend, become powerful and intelligent, and proceed to beat the living shit out of Sasuke and then kill him when he next sees him? I say again Kishi-fanboy-moto is writing this so probably not.

Find out in the next exciting chapter (not) of Dragon Ball Z! I-I mean Naruto.

SPOILERS OVER

Disclaimer: Read chapter eight you persistent bastards!

Let the chapter begin! I command it!

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto and co. broke into the office of the Mizukage and stole the jar containing Perona in a carefully planned heist, making an excellent getaway back to the caves hidden in the Hokage Monument where they left Hogback, where they released said seals and released the Ghost Princess. Now we must see what Naruto will offer the centuries old immaterial being that is doubtlessly pissed off at being sealed up to keep her from killing him and getting her to work for him. Let's find out.

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Hokage Monument, Hidden Caves

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A blast of mist erupted from the newly opened jar and engulfed the room. They could hear a strange sound from somewhere within the mist, a high pitched _'horohorohorohorohoro'._ Absalom and Hogback recognized it though; after all they were the only people still alive that could identify Perona's unique laugh.

They heard a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "So, you finally decided to let me go, you stupid old man? I can't believe you trusted me enough to do so, but let me just say YOU JUST MADE YOUR LAST MISTAKE!" Then came the words that Absalom and Hogback hoped they would never hear directed at them "NEGATIVE HOLLOW!"

Ghosts appeared from nothingness and rammed through the occupants of the room who were too slow to dodge them, in other words everyone save Naruto. He managed to duck aside from the speeding apparition. He saw the others get nailed though.

Yukino fell to her knees in tears muttering "I got off too lightly, I deserve the hate that everyone has always given me and much more than that. I don't deserve happiness, or love or care, much less Haruka-chan's."

Haruka just fell over muttering "I deserve to die, if I am reincarnated I hope I am a worm. Who am I to act all high and mighty to everyone else when I myself am so cowardly and weak?"

Absalom fell to his knees saying "I apologize for walking on the same ground as everyone else."

Hogback fell onto his back sobbing "Why am I still alive? I should have died years ago! Who was I to prevent it? I wish I could go back in time and prevent myself from ever being born!"

Naruto watched this in shock, her abilities were fucking scary. He looked around in the dispersing mist for the woman turned ghost responsible, taking a scroll out of his coat at the same time. He called out "What old man are you talking about? No one here qualifies as old, except maybe Hogback and Absalom!" This was the major reason he wanted those two to be here, if he was lucky the sight of old acquaintances might make her more willing to talk.

The voice returned and he could see a floating shadow at the other side of the room, as far away from the jar as possible. "Hogback? Absalom? Those two died centuries ago! How do you know of them?!"

He called out "They're still alive and well through Hogback's medical skill! They're right here in this room!"

The mist dispersed a little more allowing him to see some detail of the spirit. The voice returned "Oh my god, you're right! Horohorohorohoro! Who would have guessed I would see you two again? I see the old man isn't here, so who are YOU boy?"

The mist was almost gone and he could see some features but the figure was still mostly cloaked. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I am the current employer of Absalom and Hogback; they work for me as they worked for Gecko Moria long ago. I want to offer you the same deal. Who is the old man you're talking about?"

The mist still shrouded the figure "You know who I mean. The old man with all those scars and the long beard tied with purple ribbons. He managed to distract me while those other men put me in that horrid jar! Speaking of which, **Mini-Hollow!**" A very small ghost soared from the figure and when it neared the jar he heard her snap her fingers just before the ghost exploded and annihilated the piece of ceramic along with a good chunk of the wall.

The voice continued on "Now, where is the old man? And most importantly, why should I work for YOU? I have enjoyed being free, and I have no intention of returning to servitude. Moria promised me my own country to get me to work for him, so what do you offer?"

The mist cleared completely and he finally managed to get a decent view of her. She was lying horizontally in midair with her head resting in her right hand. She had a tall, thin figure, and she was probably around 5'10. Her hair was a light pink and was tied in two tails that would fall to her shoulder blades. She wore a white T-shirt with a winged skull and crossbones upon it, the flag of the long sunk Thriller Bark. The shirt had long sleeves that came to her wrists. The shirt itself only reached her below her ribs, revealing her stomach. She wore a red mantle that fell around her shoulders that was secured by a large pink bow. She also wore a pink mini-skirt with a belt whose buckle was a large pink heart and had black and white stripped leggings that ran down her legs. Her feet were covered by knee-length red boots that were secured by several buckles. Upon her head was a black and red crown with a black cross adorning the top in the style of old English rulers. Her eyes however were highly memorable. In fact he could only think of one other person that had eyes like hers, and he was a strange boy by the name of Lee. Unlike that talent less guy though, they actually looked good on her. **(1)**

Naruto continued on "In return for your service, I can give you what you lost."

A smirk graced her features "Oh, and what might that be? I don't believe I have lost anything."

Naruto went on "Really? You don't want the ability to touch again? To smell? To taste? When you abandoned your body Perona, you lost the ability to interact with physical objects. I am willing to give that back."

Perona looked struck for a moment before her features turned to anger. Naruto saw though, in her eyes behind the anger, a bit of hope. "What do you know about me boy? Nothing! I don't know what you offered Hogback and Absalom to get them to work for you, but I am not taken so easily? How would you even give me such things back anyways? My body rotted long ago, the only thing left of it is the dust that my bones became. Who are you to talk down to me?"

She contained her anger, but Naruto knew that cause of that anger. Her anger was caused by the pain of Naruto reminding her of what she lost when she gave up her body. She was forced to remember that which she lost and dearly wanted back. She probably hadn't thought about such things in centuries. He opened old wounds and she hated him for it. Her voice tapered off near the end, becoming airy, seductive, and extremely dangerous. This was his chance, if he made the wrong move, she would obliterate him, and he knew it. Naruto slowly unrolled the scroll and placed his hand upon the large symbol inscribed upon it. He just prayed that this worked.

From the symbol came a puff of smoke and when the smoke vanished, where there was once a scroll was now a human sized object. This object was completely white, and though it held a human shape, it had no features. If you stiffened the limbs, it could have been a shop mannequin.

Naruto looked at the ghost before him who asked, hope withering, and anger and pain rising "What is this?"

Naruto talked fast "It is a body that I have modified to be able to host any soul. If you possess this like you would when you once returned to your physical body, it will take on your features and clothing without a single flaw. It may not be your body, but it will be an exact copy of your body. This is your only chance to regain what you lost, to smell, to taste, to touch, to become human again. You won't even age, it will remain young forever. This in exchange for your service, I will even throw in revenge against the man who sealed you into the bargain. Do we have a deal?"

The ghost girl looked hesitant; she couldn't believe her change of fortune. As far as she was concerned, she was trapped in a very small space for who knows how long, then she is suddenly released and practically given what she has been looking for, for so long. She decided to take the risk and said 'You have a deal' before she dived into the body.

Naruto watched as his experiment did its work. The features shifted into those of its host as he just saw her, clothes and crown included. Before long he was looking at a black and white version of Perona before color filled the form. The eyes fluttered open. She felt the rock under her hand and a look of pure joy graced her features as he heard the moans of misery die off. The negativity was wearing off. He walked over a whispered into Perona's ear. "You see? I won't betray you, ever. I have given you back what you lost, the ability to taste, to smell, to touch." He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek "and to be touched. You can trust me." He got up and left the now blushing girl behind as he explored the caves. He hadn't been in there in a while.

The others eventually got over themselves. Perona's debilitating ghosts only lasted for a minute or two. Absalom and Hogback however, saw what the girls didn't since they recovered first. They had felt it before, what Perona could do when she got pissed off, so they had a bit of tolerance and they saw Naruto convince Perona to join them, and what he did afterward. Absalom sported a lecherous grin before he sang to himself "Perona's got a boyfriend, Perona's got a boyfriend." This was the wrong thing to say however as he quickly rejoined the ex-Iwa ninja on the floor in crying, though they were beginning to pull themselves together.

Hogback left the room to the girls and Absalom, smiling once the recovering Perona couldn't see him. He knew what Naruto was playing at. 'Inspiring loyalty by making a girl love you, very clever Naruto-sama. Perona has never had a boyfriend before, so she will be easy prey for someone with enough caring and good enough looks.' Hogback was no fool and he knew that every move the young man made was intentional. He might be too young for such a relationship now, but he is still good-looking for his age and could probably win over the most icy of hearts given some time to grow. He would be quite handsome in his teens and early twenties if his previous encounters with children were correct. And something told the doctor that Perona would not be the first woman won over by such methods.

He thought to himself as he walked into his lab 'Actor, shadow master, ninja, home owner, recruiter, scientist, army commander, dictator, and now a seducer. What occupation shall you take next Naruto-sama?'

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(1) I did my best to describe Perona here. She basically looks the same she did at Thriller Bark. For non-One Piece fans, just Google her in the images category, or look her up on Wikipedia, you should find something

And that is the end of the chapter! So sorry that it is so short, but there wasn't much to put in. The next chapter shall be the return to Konoha and the beginning of Naruto's academy days. I've got nothing more to say except to review and check out my new story once it is posted. The next chapter of Kage no Naruto might wait a bit since I am going to get started on the fic I mentioned above and after I get down a chapter or three, I will alternate between updating one and the other.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	11. Chapter 11

Greetings one and all

Greetings one and all! This is the one and only world debut of Kage no Naruto chapter eleven! You can throw a wild party later, in the meantime enjoy the chapter and review at the end. I've got nothing more so let the excellence continue! By the way, there will be a bit of a timeskip in the beginning.

And as you may have imagined, the fact that I have posted this chapter means that my other story has finally made its presence known in the world of fanfiction. If any of you like Blood Plus and Death Note, feel free to check it out in my profile, the title is 'Of Black Death and Blue Roses', it is barely beginning but promises to be awesome. Okay enough of the advertisements let the chapter begin.

Disclaimer: Haven't we been over this like three times already?

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Summary of the last chapter

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Naruto released Perona the Ghost Princess and upon restoration of a physical body has gotten her to agree to help him in his goals. That was basically the chapter so let this one begin. The return to Konoha is nigh!

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Konoha Main Gate

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It was finally time for Naruto to return to hell on earth, in other words, Konohagakure. To some it was the place of nightmares, to others the place of their dreams. One full year had passed since Naruto left the village under the pretenses of a training trip on his own. All the while he was supposed to be watched by ANBU, though what the ANBU were truly watching was his shadow given physical form and specific orders not to do anything suspicious. While he had spent the first few months recruiting members to his budding organization, each with a specific purpose in mind, he had never really planned much after finding Perona; he had never thought that he would find the Three Enigmas so quickly. That was all thanks to Yukino-Chan and her unique abilities. As a result he had spent the remaining months training in the caves of the Hogake Mountain and the last few months traveling in Rai no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni, killing the reasonably strong in order to provide Hogback with the most powerful people to transform into marionettes for General Zombies, and obtaining shadows in order to animate the completed creations of the ancient doctor.

The results of it all was that his growing army of undead had grown from around fifty Soldier Class zombies and one General Class zombie, along with Rei and Hildon, who were not meant for combat, to around one hundred Soldier Class zombies and five General Class zombies. He had also rented out some of his Soldier Class zombies to people like Gatou for a large sum of money each month, going from poor orphan with a large building in his name to an orphan with an extremely large amount of money stored in various dummy accounts in several different banks. His creations were generally used rarely by those he rented them to, and they had the sense to not let anyone see them and live. They could not die and had the skills of powerful ninja, so they were powerful warriors.

He had underestimated his creatures' true abilities since he had forgotten that the zombie retained the abilities of the one whose shadow he possessed. As a result his original fifty which had the shadows of caught ANBU, mostly from the 'Ne' division, had the tactics and jutsu of Ne ANBU. The newer ones had shadows of similar people, ninja that he had encountered and subdued in various countries. The Generals had the shadows of powerful A or B-Class ninja that had stood out among their peers, Zaraki Kenpachi, Rokushou Aoi, Kurosuki Raiga, Fuuma Kamakiri, and Fuuma Jigumo. Those were the five whose shadows he had used to bring his strongest creations to life.

Two of them were members of the Seven Swordsmen, on encountered in Kiri, one encountered on the road and captured after killing the boy who attempted to assist him. Rokushou Aoi, who had been made a Jounin of Amegakure after defecting from Konoha, wielder of the Niidaime Hokage's Raijin sword, defeated and allowed to keep the sword that he had grown used to using now that he was no longer living. The last two were Jounin of the once great Fuuma Clan, defeated together by himself and his allies. Their third teammate, Fuuma Kagerou, would have joined them if she had not used a jutsu that ended up killing her in an attempt to save them. As a result, she joined the ranks of the zombies as a body, a marionette, rather than an animating shadow. The beautiful girl now served as Hogback's assistant and is the third zombie not made for combat. Yes, his army had grown.

Even more impressive were the bodies that had been constructed for them. Some of them were an amalgam of parts, specifically the three that had gone to Aoi and the Fuuma clan members. The two that went to the shadows of the Seven Swordsmen were much more powerful. The body that he had animated with the shadow of Kurosuki Raiga was in fact the body of the Niidaime Hokage that he had stolen and replaced. He did the same with the Shodaime Hokage, but he had not found a shadow for that body yet. The Yondaime Hokage's body remained in the Hokage's tomb; he didn't want anything to do with the man, or his corpse.

The genius of the placement of Raiga's shadow was in the fact that the Niidaime was a master of water techniques, and that carried on even in death. Combined with Raiga's mastery of lightning, the pairing of body and shadow was extremely potent in this case, more powerful than the Niidaime had been in his prime since, although he had to relearn his water abilities, his body had been strengthened beforehand by Hogback. By surgically making the body more powerful, more durable, and more resistant to damage, stronger and faster, he had enabled the new zombie to surpass the Niidaime's human limits. The immensely powerful Suiton jutsu of the Niidaime Hokage combined with the immense Raiton abilities of Kurosuki Raiga, Kiri's Lightning Fang, and armed with Raiga's swords, it was an extremely powerful warrior, albeit with morbid tendencies and a love of funerals.

The body that was animated by Zaraki Kenpachi however, was as good a match-up. Hogback had not left Thriller Bark with nothing. When he fled the immense boat with Absalom and the unconscious Moria, he had taken several things, his lab equipment and the most powerful zombies that he could find and pack in. The Soldier Zombies weren't worth bothering with, but he had taken two of the more powerful zombies with them. Specifically the bodies of the samurai Ryuuma, and the body of Perona's favorite zombie and the closes thing she had to a General zombie under her control, the teddy bear looking creature which she called Bearsy. The thing was actually a doll she had as a child, sized up and given immense strength and speed, it wasn't to be underestimated.

That creature aside, the body of the samurai was more important. It had been badly damaged but over time Hogback had made it useful again it was quite simple, the thing was not the most powerful of the General Zombies for nothing. He had even retrieved his original sword from the grave of Roranora Zoro, the black blade Shuusui, which was a blade of immense quality, surpassing most modern day blades such as the Kusanagi or the Raijin. That was the body he had granted Zaraki Kenpachi. The insane mind and incredible style, jutsu and insanity of Zaraki Kenpachi, combined with the immensely powerful body of the legendary samurai Ryuuma, and wielding the black sword Shuusui which was one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, sword in the world. It was definitely the most powerful sword in the Elemental Countries. All of that added up to an absolute badass rivaling the Raiga Niidaime combo. He had some great fun training with him, with all of the General Zombies.

However, all good things come to an end. In the last month before his return he had made accommodations for his group during his absence. Absalom lived in the mountains with Hogback, assisting him in the creation of the zombies with his insight into what tactical value certain things would have in a fight. Yukino and Haruka had to go into hiding since they were too vital to send wandering around. As a result he had them join the two members of the Three Enigmas in the mountain caves, and he had increased the rations in the caves to mirror the growing population. Perona however would be living with him in Konoha. She wouldn't be seen by anyone, he would make sure of that. Normally he wouldn't allow it, but she was quite possessive of him, always calling him Naruto-kun and always acting strangely when he was around. Quite frankly, he was afraid of being raped one day by the girl. She absolutely refused to stay in the caves so he had to let her stay with him. When he told her that she was absolutely overjoyed.

In the last week before his return, he had gone to the cave where he was supposed to be all this time and had returned his shadow to its normal place. It had been training a lot in the last year, studiously reading the scrolls that he had obtained and training its body, even though its strength could not be increased through such methods. His shadow grew stronger as he grew stronger, not the other way around. He DID however learn what it learned, and it had read about a hundred pounds worth of books and scrolls on all things ninja. It was a lot like releasing about ten thousand Kage Bunshin at once. Normally this experience would blow his mind more effectively than a fifty caliber bullet at point blank range, but thank god he had Kyuubi. She could slow the intake of the memories so that he could absorb them at a survivable and comfortable rate, a little each day. He wouldn't absorb the entire thing for about six months, but that was better than becoming a vegetable or worse. He had spent the time before his return resting and meditating in the cave to help speed up the process.

Now the day had come, his return to the days of pretending to be what he was not, an innocent careless boy with some amazing abilities. Mind you, he could act quite a bit colder than he had before. A year of training in solitude would naturally force one to grow more contemplative and wary so he could drop the idiot persona around the old man and adopt a more mature one instead, no longer rushing through things with reckless abandon when the goat was around and slowly let the methodical genius peek through. Not the evil though, no that would be well hidden but he no longer had to play the fool, now he could play the much more enjoyable role of the detached, serious, and skilled. He wouldn't be an emo by any means, he did have a sense of humor, albeit twisted, he could be enjoyable to be around, but you wouldn't hear him screaming something like 'dattebayo' in this lifetime.

When he passed through the gates, the gatekeepers looked at him with scorn, not that he cared; he just flashed the letter the Sandaime had given him to allow him back into the village on this specific day, and went to the library to return copies of the books and scrolls that he had borrowed. The real manuscripts he was keeping in the caves. The ones he stole from the ninja only libraries were in the caves as well. He made his way to the Hokage tower, steadying himself to not kill the old goat when he saw that smiling face that he wanted nothing more than to beat to a no longer living pulp. It wouldn't do well to break cover now, the hidden knife kills the foe, not the one they saw coming.

When he made his way to the Hokage tower he got plenty of mutters from the assembled crowd. 'Damn, I thought he was dead' 'Why did he have to come back, can't he tell he isn't wanted?' and other such things were heard if you listened hard enough. Only one guy had the balls to come forward and yell "Why the hell did you have to come back you hell spawn?" Naruto just continued onward, giving him the bird and saying "Love you too, but I love your daughter even more." As he continued into the building. The man in question would be irritable and humiliated for the rest of the day as his daughter, well she wasn't what you would call a pure virgin.

He got more or less the same treatment from the people inside the building, including the secretary, who attempted to bar his access to the Hogake's office. He just tossed the letter saying that he should come straight to the old man's office when he returned on the woman's desk and pushed past her without giving her a second glance. He knocked once on the door and continued in when he heard the aged ninja say in a voice that sounded like he was bored to tears 'enter'.

Naruto entered the decent sized office and saw the Sandaime at his desk furiously combating a tower of paperwork as high as he was tall sitting on his desk. A more caring or empathetic person would have told the old man the possible benefits of Kage Bunshin in such a situation but he just really couldn't be bothered. He watched the man fight the flat white menace that threatened all things useful and efficient. Eventually the man noticed that it was Naruto in his office instead of the usual Chuunin there to assist his hated enemy, and immediately rose to greet the boy. "Naruto-kun! How have you been my boy? I was expecting you to be here a little earlier."

Naruto just looked at him and let a small, if fake, smile grace his lips before saying "I'm great Ojii-san! I've gotten a lot stronger than I was when I left. I have also gained a lot of control over my abilities, and a lot of insight into how the world works. I've never felt better!"

Old Sarutobi sat down again and smiled at the boy. He was a bit colder than he expected but the innocence that the boy once brimmed with could not truly co-exist with experience; it was one or the other. He sounded a lot more confident and he had grown a bit too and not just in body. Unsurprising since he was now nine years old, and had been fending for himself for quite a while. The Academy started the year yesterday and Naruto was finally old enough to enroll, albeit a little late. He would have started last year, at eight, but he wanted to leave for that trip and the Sandaime, seeing how the teachers would probably treat him, had to agree that training on his own would be best. Now he knew how to train himself and any corrupt teachers wouldn't be able to sabotage the delicate early education that, if denied him, would probably ruin his career before it really began. He would be a little older than his peers, but that was okay.

He told the boy "I am glad that you are okay Naruto, I worried a bit about what kind of things you might find out there, but my worries had no basis it seems." Naruto just nodded and he continued on "So, the Academy started up yesterday, so you will have a little catching up to do under normal circumstances, but I think you learned more than what they already know during the last year. You might even teach them a few things, Naruto-kun. Here, take this and give it to the woman at the Academy's front desk tomorrow at 8 AM, when classes start. Make me proud my boy!"

Naruto took the paper that the aged ninja offered him and smiled saying "I will Ojii-san!" before leaving the room. He looked at the paper that he was given. I had the address of the Academy on it and the notice that he was to join a specific class, nothing special. He got out of the tower, inwardly gagging from the tone and the smile he had used in that accursed old man's presence.

The Sandaime smiled as the boy left. He would make a good ninja, and maybe, one day, a fine successor to his father. In the meantime, he had THIS monstrosity to face. He sat down and took up a pen and the topmost file of the pile of paperwork that had grown a few inches while he wasn't looking. He put pen to paper before blaring at the large stack and said "Bring it on motherfucker, round two!"

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Naruto's home AKA Demon House AKA Lair of the Beast and all sorts of other good names given by the kind populace of Konoha, those loving souls

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Naruto finally got to his house and found it in much better condition than he had left it. The rotting wood was no more, the broken windows were replaced, the lawn was trimmed, and the place looked livable. The only thing that turned it away from the populace was the fact that he lived there and the incinerating barrier around the fence. When he got to the front gate he found a large pile of ash in front of it, most likely the remains of at least three people who had walked into the field of deadly energy. 'Dumb bastards' Naruto muttered to himself as he dispelled the barrier in front of the gate and stepped through, blowing the ash away with a small Fuuton jutsu.

He walked up to the door and walked in, closing the door behind him and looked around. The place was in pristine condition. The portraits were newly polished and the place was in better shape than it had been in decades. Naruto looked through several rooms, empty but well cleaned. His own room was creepy as ever, no windows, large king size bed, pictures of horrible atrocities, same as he left it. The only question was where the hell all the zombies were. No one ever came to his house unless they were the Sandaime, or they were there to kill him. As a result they usually roamed the halls, looking to sate their boredom, but he hadn't seen hide or hair of the undead since he got there, except the portrait zombies, they were still there. He descended to the basement, looking for his creations, and he inevitably found them.

They were all in the basement, hopelessly drunk. Even if they were undead, they could still get absolutely sloshed apparently. He noticed that Hildon had a bottle of red wine almost as big as he was strapped to his back. Something told him he would see that bottle of wine a lot more often. Rei was sleeping in her lingerie near the back, and they were all passed out. 'Oh well' he thought 'at least they didn't make a mess.'

Naruto examined his basement freezers and laboratories. They were all in spotless condition. He decided that he would send some of the bodies to Hogback later, he was running out of them since it took several human corpses to create one Soldier Zombie, and dozens more to create a General Zombie, unless the base was of great power, such as the Niidaime's or the Shodaime's were.

Naruto stepped into a nearby shadow and entered the caves via a Kage Hokou. When he returned a minute later he had Perona and the recently resurrected Bearsy with him. Perona loved the thing, and he could kind of understand that. A six foot tall awkward looking teddy bear with an immense hat, a doctor's mask, eyes out of the Simpson's, and devil's horns, completely lovable.

She was currently hanging onto Naruto's left arm. "Umm, you can let go now Perona-chan."

She rubbed against his arm and said "Oh, but I don't want to, Naruto-kun is so warm, I could stay here all day."

'Oh jeez' He put a hand on Perona's chin and lifted her head up to meet his eyes and said to her "Now, now Perona-chan, we can't pick out your room if you're clinging to me like this, besides I kind of like circulation in that arm."

She sighed dramatically and reluctantly let go. "Okay Naruto-kun, you win this time. Let's go pick out my room then, shall we?" He nodded and she went upstairs, looking around, and the silent Bearsy following her. She apparently really liked the portraits.

Perona was a rather strange person in Naruto's opinion. She was one of the more dangerous people alive in a fight given time to get going, yet can be incredibly childish. She had been alive for centuries and was obsessed by things that were, in her opinion, 'cute'. She acted exactly like she did way back during the age of pirates, when she assisted in the running of Thriller Bark, despite centuries having passed since then. She was also very strict with those placed under her and a harsh disciplinarian to the same. She would have been a good sensei for that one Jounin, Hatake Kakashi; she wouldn't have let him be late, ever.

However, despite her looks, she had never had a boyfriend before, or a significant other. She lived alone for most of her life, especially once consuming one of the Devil Fruits and gaining her powers. Ever since then she lived alone until she was eleven when she met Moria and helped establish Thriller Bark. After their defeat at the hands of the Straw Hat pirates she lived as a spirit. As a result she had very little experience in such a relationship, although it was not a relationship. She basically relied on him for emotional comfort, and was very clingy, never letting him be alone with another woman if she could prevent it.

He had no doubt that this would eventually grow into something more… physical once he had aged sufficiently, but he couldn't complain. Her body would never age from its current beauty and perfection, and her abilities were terrifying since her ghosts made anyone a living target, could decimate rock and buildings, and she could see, hear, and communicate using them. She was a scout and a demolitionist all in one. He would live for a very long time, and he didn't mind her being at his side. She wouldn't be the only one and she knew it. When she found out she confronted him on it and her exact words were 'I don't care if you're somebody else's too, but you are still MY Naruto-kun.' She was a real paradox, childish at one moment, mature and serious the next. She was willing to share him with others, but more than willing to make it hard as hell for any woman to get that close. It was a strange thing.

Regardless of his current affairs regarding women, he had work to do. He went up to his room and prepared a few things. He had the Academy in the morning.

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The next morning

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Naruto awoke in his King sized bed under the black quilt on blood red silk sheets. The reason was his own biological clock waking him at exactly 8 AM. There was however a strange lump under the bedspread. 'Don't tell me' He thought as he looked under the covers and saw none other than the Ghost Princess grabbing him around the midsection, sound asleep and wearing nothing more than a pink silk nightgown. This was actually the first time he had seen her without her crown, which was odd since she had slept with it before. It couldn't have been far. He looked up and saw it there on the bedside table next to his top hat.

He tried to break away from her vice grip, but she just held on tighter. 'I'm going to have to get used to this aren't I?' he thought and as thought she could read his thoughts, Perona's head nodded once despite being totally out of it. He sighed and got to work on extricating himself from the bear hug.

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Thirty minutes later, the ninja Academy

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Naruto was walking down the hall to his class. He had managed to somehow escape Perona's grasp, despite her warmth and lack of clothing under her nightgown. After that he had shunshined to the academy and after giving the note to the Kyuubi hating bitch of a secretary, he had gone to the room she directed him to. He idly thought 'my emo senses are tingling' as he neared the appropriate door. He entered the room and saw the rather rotund man teaching the class.

The man saw him and said "Ah, this must be the new student I told you all about. Come in and introduce yourself."

Naruto stepped in front of the room and said "My name is Uzumaki Naruto; I would say that it was nice to meet you all and it will be pleasant learning with you, but it would be a horrific lie."

About three quarters of the class erupted into laughter. Naruto focused on those who didn't, they were the ones who would be making it to Gennin more likely than not. There were a few but three in particular stood out. One of them was a girl with her hair in two buns, the second was a strange looking boy with large eyebrows and eyes that were a male version of Perona's and the third was a long-haired Hyuuga in the back that reeked of angst, arrogance, and other things that would likely be beaten out of him eventually, with any luck.

The man who was teaching the class stopped chuckling and said "Very funny, Uzumaki-san. Just sit wherever you want. I am Funeno Daikoku by the way, Daikoku-sensei to you."

Naruto nodded and took a seat near the back, yet away from the rest and rested his head on one hand. This was going to be a boring three years, good thing he brought plenty of chocolate.

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That will be the end of the chapter. Now then, I have some explaining to do don't I? The reason I placed Naruto in the same class as Neji, Tenten, and Lee is simple. It is because of a particular time ambiguity that many authors on this sight have overlooked. Naruto failed the Gennin exam twice and passed the third time right? Now then since he failed twice, doesn't that mean that he is in fact two years older than Sasuke, Sakura and the rest and one year older than Neji, Lee and Team Gai? Going by that logic, one year late would be in the same class that Team Gai was in, and that is my reason.

Right, I have nothing more to say here except to review my story, review my new story, and enjoy your lives if you do both of these.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	12. Chapter 12

Welcome lovers of excellent Naruto fanfiction

Welcome lovers of excellent Naruto fanfiction! I am here to deliver an excellent message to the public and that is that chapter twelve of Kage no Naruto has finally been posted! REJOICE! Break out the liquor and expensive cigars! Review at the end!

Oh, I have finally come up with a system when it comes to updating two stories. I will do it in a pattern, updating this one twice, the other one once. So after this chapter I will update the challenge story. I mainly am doing this because that is a hard story to write. Do you have ANY idea how hard it is to write people like Light and Diva and keep them in character? It isn't easy people, Light's so smart and comes up with ingenious plots that I will have trouble keeping up with and Diva is just plain insane. It is fucking hard, but if it was easy it wouldn't be a challenge would it?

I got a surprising amount of possible theories behind Naruto's failing twice and found a large bit of evidence against my theory. After hearing it all, I think that Kishimoto just forgot that Naruto had failed twice already when he gave the official ages. There were some good theories given but they all have flaws, such as one guy said theorized that it was possible that they could try the exam before the end of the year, the flaws behind that one are that if Naruto could do so, anyone else could too, and Sasuke, despite the fact that he is an absolute douche, he could have done a Bunshin Kawarimi and Henge easily enough. There are also the team issues since everyone has to be on a three man team. My current belief is that either Naruto joined the Academy early or Kishimoto just forgot about it and made Naruto the same age as everyone else. I think that one is just as likely as the other, but my money is that Kishimoto fucked up.

Okay, now that I have given that tidbit of information to you all, enjoy this chapter, enjoy the chapter that I will be posting for the other story (READ AND REVIEW IT DAMN YOU), and enjoy life in its entirety.

Disclaimer: How many times do you want me to say the same damn thing?

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto had spent the last few months of his 'training trip' actually training with the powerful General Zombies that he had in the hidden caves. He also traveled several countries collecting bodies and powerful shadows to turn into marionettes and animate them.

When he finally returned to Konoha, he brought Perona with him using a Kage Hokou, along with the zombie teddy bear Bearsy, who despite his bizarre appearance is quite powerful. After escaping Perona's death grip in bed he traveled to his first day in the ninja Academy, meeting his classmates, among them a strange boy with large eyebrows, a girl with her hair in two buns, and a Hyuuga with a stick so far up his ass it is probably poking the top of his skull. What shall happen in this chapter? Read the damn thing and find out.

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Ninja Academy, class (insert random number here), 8:30 AM

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Naruto sat in the same spot that he had sat for the last three years or so, near the back of the class, idly trying to pay attention to the boring as hell lecture as he drank a cup of Earl Grey, no cream and five tablespoons of sugar. After the first year and a half of the teacher asking him random questions and him getting them exactly right every time, the teacher eventually stopped commenting on him and let him be.

Needless to say the class was amazed. There were a whole bunch of them who never even heard of advanced sealing theory, but when the teacher asked him about it and he gave a perfect answer, they started to realize that there was something odd about it all.

Three years had passed since the day Naruto returned and he was always bored as hell. He knew more about the way of the Shinobi than this Chuunin did and yet he was stuck here listening to him babble for six to seven hours a day. He understood the need to keep his cover, but this was getting beyond tedious for him, thank god it was almost over. The Gennin exams were today and after that he might learn something from his Jounin sensei, with any luck.

Naruto had changed in the last three years. He had grown a bit taller, now standing at five feet, four inches tall. With his growth, his sweet-tooth had grown with him, and he gorged more and more on various sweets each day yet never gained an ounce due to constant exercise. If he ever gained a bit, he burned it away with a bit of demonic chakra. He had access to most of Kyuubi's chakra now; his transformation from man to half-demon was almost complete. His whisker marks had deepened, giving him a feral look and his teeth had grown into fangs that poked below his lip if he smiled, which was rare. He could also call upon six tails worth of Kyuubi's chakra if he wanted; though controlling it was something else entirely. He could keep his mind and use at most one tail worth of the chakra, beyond that he couldn't control it at all, and Kyuubi told him that he never would. His control was as good as it was going to get. One tail of demonic chakra he could use, but beyond that it would damage him badly and he would go wild.

Going wild wasn't unheard of, even for demons. Demonic chakra constantly hurt anything it came in contact with, even demons, and though they housed a lot of it, they couldn't really control their own energies. Hell the reason that the Ichibi went insane was because he drew upon more chakra than he could control, same went for the Sanbi; he lost his mind because he tried to use too much power at once and lost control. When Kyuubi was free she had to keep her power under strict control at all times, it was the main reason why she slept so much back then, because she couldn't stay aware of her surroundings and keep her power under control at the same time for very long, a year or so at most. Naruto couldn't use much of Kyuubi's chakra and keep his mind, so he decided never to use the stuff in battle unless he absolutely had to.

People found it surprising that although the blonde had never got anything lower than top marks in anything physical, and never lost a single spar, he was in the middle of the class. He always seemed to do horribly or average on tests and bookwork, nobody could understand it. They didn't know it, but this was because Naruto wanted it that way. He COULD have aced all of those tests and exams, but he didn't really want to. If he did than he would become the Rookie of the Year, and when the Gennin teams were chosen he would end up with someone from the middle of the class and the Dobe, the dead last. This was something he didn't want; he wanted to at least have a competent team for the duration of his Gennin days. He was more than willing to wait anywhere up to fifty years to destroy Konoha, he didn't mind waiting that long if that was how long all of his preparations for this initial goal took, but that didn't mean he had to be stuck with an idiot and someone barely useful during that wait.

So, he decided to take the middle spot on the top team. The thought of becoming the Dobe on purpose was out of the question, but being in the middle was pretty good. As a result he had researched the past teams to evaluate exactly where that middle position most likely was. When he found the exact spot he would have to be in to be on the team with the Rookie of the Year and the Dobe, he carefully sculpted his performance so that he would be in that particular spot. It was obvious to everyone that he could have aced all of the exams so far and take the top spot, but the reason why nobody knew for sure, everyone just attributed it to the fact that his laziness could rival any Nara's with ease.

Naturally he had made some enemies over the years. Mostly people whose parents told them to stay away from him and make his life hell that he had hung up from a tall pole by their underwear or put Madagascar hissing cockroaches in their lunchbox… every day for several years. There were also the people whose personality simply clashed with his. Among these were that strange boy Lee whose 'work hard' personality was his direct antithesis and Hyuuga Neji whose arrogance and foolish pride caused him to begin to dislike him after he effortlessly beat him without even moving from his spot in the ring. They never said anything but Neji was always especially cold to him, and Lee just got more determined to defeat him one day. Naruto actually encouraged this, if Lee trained his body well, he would make an excellent marionette someday.

He mostly acted cold, did his work somewhat well, aced everything that had any sort of practical test, never lost a single spar even to the Chuunin examiners, and pissed off people who in his opinion deserved it, especially that Neji guy, he had the equivalent of the Sandaime's adamantine staff rammed up his ass.

He knew why he was like that though, and he couldn't blame him. He knew of the incident between the Kumo ambassador and Hyuuga Hinata, the heiress of the clan and the outcome that was the death of Neji's father. He couldn't blame him for hating an innocent girl. Hell, it almost made him feel a bit guilty for convincing that Kumo Shinobi to kidnap her in the first place, almost but not quite. The possibility of obtaining a Hyuuga as one of his marionettes was too great but that bastard clan head Hiashi got to the kidnapper before he did. Oh well, lost opportunity, but he did almost start a war and made hell for the Sandaime along with scarring several people for life, theses gains made it worth the effort in the end.

Right now was the day of the Gennin exams, the final hurdle for them to become Gennin. Well, Gennin initiates, but Gennin is still in the title damn it.

The written portion was already done with. Naruto knew all of the questions and answered the number he needed to guarantee his final placement, he had already calculated his score and it was perfect for his purposes. Now all he had to do was get a hundred percent on the practical exams and he would be put on the team with the Rookie of the Year, and the Dobe. One supposed genius, one idiot who needs a lot of work with an excellent Jounin sensei; it was the best outcome of the exams.

The proctor for the exam, a new guy called Iruka, brought everyone out to the academy's training ground for the Taijutsu exam, to the sparring ring to be specific. It would normally be Daikoku who would proctor the exam but he retired from the Academy, returning to service as an active Shinobi again.

"Okay everybody!" the pine-apple haired sensei called "Your Taijutsu exam is to see how long you can stay in the arena with my assistant Mizuki. If you can last longer than two minutes you will get top marks. If you can't even last forty five seconds, you will fail. You can only use Taijutsu, no Genjutsu Ninjutsu, or weapons are allowed at all. Understand?" There was a chorus of 'Yes, Iruka-sensei' from everyone other than Naruto and he started reading off names of people who, when called, would go into the ring and face the white haired Chuunin.

Naruto watched as various people walked into the arena and did their best to fend off the more experienced ninja. He held back since these were children, but he still had to make this as hard as possible so he was going at about forty percent of his maximum speed and strength for the exam. Naruto noticed that he was wearing weights specifically for the occasion.

Naruto paid attention to the Chuunin's pattern. He would go very light, guarding and throwing some punches and kicks with the occasional grapple to attempt to get the student out of the ring for the first thirty seconds, but after that he started to really try to win, doing his best in his weighted condition. Most students got knocked out of the ring or were knocked out at about thirty five to forty seconds. There were not many that succeeded, making it to forty five seconds. Then that girl with the bun style hair, Tenten he recalled her name was, was called, she walked into the ring and took a stance.

Mizuki stayed in place, waiting for her to come to him after Iruka called to begin. She stayed still and forced Mizuki to come after her at fifteen seconds. He tossed a quick punch to the jaw which was avoided and sent a kick to the older man's knee which he avoided, only to send a blow into her stomach at thirty one seconds. She gasped loudly, the wind knocked out of her and Mizuki finished the match by grabbing her shoulders and tossing her roughly out of the ring. Iruka stopped the timer and yelled out "Forty six seconds" before scribbling something down onto a clipboard. The girl was seen to by a medical ninja that was there for any injuries during the exam.

The exam went on with similar lack luster performances until another was called up by the name of Rock Lee. The boy stepped into the ring and took the Academy Taijutsu stance. Naruto knew that the boy was the dead last; he didn't have any talent in anything. He couldn't perform any sort of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, so he would have to be spot on perfect in the Taijutsu exam and the weapons proficiency exam to have a chance. He had some book smarts and that was keeping him alive in the academy right now.

Mizuki dashed forward and engaged in the first thirty seconds of mock battle, throwing punches and kicks which were avoided and dodging most of the return strikes though one or two got through his guard. At thirty one seconds, Mizuki started laying on the pressure, throwing his strikes faster and harder, doing more painful combos that although most were blocked or avoided, they still took their toll on the boy. Lee managed to avoid any bad situations and was doing quite well, avoiding the worst of the assault and hanging in there longer than anyone else had thus far. Eventually it was all for naught though, as at one minute and twenty seconds Mizuki stepped back and removed his weights, becoming faster once more and Lee was knocked out of the ring from a powerful blow at one minute and thirty nine seconds, doing better than anyone else at the exam.

There were only two students left, himself and Neji. Neji was called into the arena and he stood before Mizuki who was putting the weights back on. Since Iruka didn't have any look of surprise or shock on his face at what Mizuki had done Naruto guessed that Mizuki was probably allowed to take off the weights or required to at a certain time. Most likely during the last fifteen to twenty seconds the Chuunin would be giving the battle his all.

Neji slipped into the familiar Hyuuga Taijutsu stance, the Jyuuken, the Gentle Fist as Mizuki removed his weights upon seeing who his opponent was. Young or not, a user of the Jyuuken was not to be taken lightly.

Neji charged toward the Chuunin, Byakugan activated and targeted the Tenketsu in his arms, looking to take him down rather than outlast him. Mizuki must have realized what the young Hyuuga was trying to do because he did his best to avoid the chakra powered strikes, returning with a jab to the ribs which was avoided by the Jyuuken's fluid movement. Neji dominated his opponent, he was very strong for a person his age and managed to keep Mizuki on the defensive until one minute and five seconds had passed and Mizuki stopped screwing around. Mizuki started flooding his fists and feet with chakra to give them extra power and attempted to disarm the young boy.

Neji, with his fluid style, managed to avoid the powerful blows until one minute and thirty five seconds had passed, when the Chuunin pulled out all the stops and landed a hard punch to the abdomen. Neji's eyes went wide and blank at the strike and he was pushed back several feet by the force of the blow. When he stopped moving, he clutched his stomach, dry heaved for a moment or two before falling to his knees and collapsed, out cold. Neji clocked in at one minute and forty one seconds and was treated by the medical ninja. He was back on his feet within two minutes but he had some bad bruises on his stomach and the doctor told him not to eat too much for the next few hours.

Now the time had come and Naruto stood before the examiner. Mizuki didn't put his weights on for the fight; he was taking him as serious as he did Neji, which was probably a smart move. Iruka started the clock and Naruto didn't waste any time, rushing the older ninja with frightening speed. Mizuki was caught off guard at the speed and Naruto grabbed the Chuunin's shoulders and sent a kick towards his left knee, landing it at an oblique angle to the knee cap. It came disjointed with a sickening pop and Mizuki howled in pain. Naruto forced the man to one knee, not the injured one, and quickly hooked one hand under the man's ribcage and grabbed the lowest protrusion of bone, yanking it out of place with a nasty crunch, and when he did Mizuki's world went white with the pain before he blacked out. He let the man drop to the ground and he said "How long did it take me Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka stopped the clock out of muscle memory as everyone looked on in a combination of awe and horror. One of the more squeamish girls emptied her stomach in the nearby bushes. Iruka stammered out "N-Naruto defeated Mizuki in fourteen seconds." And marked down something on the clipboard. Naruto was fairly proud of himself.

Iruka said "O-okay class, now that the Taijutsu portion of the exam is complete, we move onto the weapons proficiency exam. If you will follow me we have preparations already set up." He led them to the next part of the exam while the medial ninja tended to Mizuki's injuries.

Iruka led them to a part of the training ground near the forest. There was a large array of weapons on a nearby table, and a large amount of targets in the trees, the targets varied in size and distance, and each had small numbers inscribed on it in various parts. The closer to the center, the farther away the target, and the smaller the target, the larger the number was. The largest number was one thousand and it was at the farthest target, dead center, and the target itself was about half as large as a tea saucer.

The scarred Chuunin smiled and said "You each get ten kunai and ten shuriken, and do your best to rack up points. The highest score you can get for each test is ten thousand and the two numbers combined will determine your score. The maximum combined is twenty thousand, but a five thousand five hundred combined is enough to pass, barely. Okay first up is…."

It went on like that for a while. It was the same thing, a student would throw a weapon, and it would miss entirely or hit a target. If it hit, a Chuunin in the woods already would go over and pull it out, and tell Iruka the number before repairing the ceramic targets with a Doton jutsu. The usual combined score was between twenty two hundred and twelve thousand. The highest score thus far was achieved by Hyuuga Neji who had achieved the twelve thousand combined score. This was followed by Lee who marked in at ten thousand four hundred combined. Now that Tenten girl from before was going up.

She took a kunai from the table and after a moment of consideration threw it as hard as she could. It hit the target without a sound. The Chuunin pulled out the knife and yelled out "Eight hundred!" The class was impressed, that was the highest score thus far with a single target. No one had hit higher than six hundred and fifty before then. It went on similar to that for both the kunai and shuriken tests. Her eventual combined score was seventeen thousand nine hundred. She missed only once and that knife hit about an inch away from that one thousand point target.

Now it was Naruto's turn. He popped a peppermint into his mouth before taking up one of the knives. He was fighting the urge to smile, he really was. He had been doing stuff like this for years, this test would be easy. He waited until the wind was right, and the angle was absolutely perfect before throwing the knife with deadly accuracy. It landed with a loud crack in the middle of the one thousand point mark. The Chuunin who yanked out the knife verified it by pulling out the knife and yelling 'One thousand!', and the class and the proctor were amazed. No one had hit that target before now, in the history of the course. The Sannin didn't even manage it, well not when they took the Gennin exams, they could do it now of course, easily, but no one at that age had hit it. Regardless, everyone decided to call it a fluke, though no one said anything save the Neji fangirls who yelled it quite loudly. 'You could NEVER compare to Neji-kun!' Naruto took up the next knife and did the same thing again, and again, and again. The total score for the kunai test was ten thousand, the maximum score, and a new Academy Record. Naruto did the exact same with the shuriken test, to achieve a record breaking score of a perfect twenty thousand points. The highest score up until now was set by Orochimaru at eighteen thousand seven hundred.

An arrogant bastard would smirk, so Naruto didn't, but he didn't know what the big deal was, of course he was going to hit the targets. Each and every throw was perfectly timed, precisely calibrated to fly and exact distance at an exact speed. Once you did that the only trick was learning how to do the same thing ten times since it required an entirely new calibration for shuriken due to the fact that they spun in the air. It was simple mathematics as far as he was concerned. Regardless of his understanding, or lack thereof, of his classmates' amazement, they moved onto the third part of the practical exams, the Genjutsu test.

They were to put a Chuunin by the name of Izumo under a Genjutsu and he would do his best to break it. The longer it took him to break the illusion, the higher your score for Genjutsu casting was. The highest score was one minute; a passing score was fifteen seconds. So it went on like the other tests thus far, Iruka would call out names, children would go up and cast their illusions. Usually the Chuunin would break it in around nine to ten seconds. There were a few exceptions though, such as Neji whose illusion took the man twenty three seconds to break and Rock Lee whose illusion was literally nonexistent since he could not cast Genjutsu. When Naruto went up, he didn't screw around, he went through five quick handseals and muttered "Kokuangyou no jutsu". Izumo looked around a lot, unsure of what was happening, and desperately trying to break the powerful illusion. When the time exceeded one minute, Naruto let the poor man go. Top marks were his once more when it came to all things practical.

The second part of the Genjutsu exam was the Genjutsu breaking portion. As though in an act of revenge, the same Chuunin that they were casting illusions at got to return the favor, one by one, and they were to escape, a passing time was under one minute; top marks went to someone who broke free in less than five seconds. Lee was actually very good at breaking Genjutsu, just not casting them, it took the bushy browed boy thirty five seconds to get free, it took Neji fifteen, and Tenten forty nine seconds. Many were put over the one minute mark, though a good deal got loose at around forty five to fifty five seconds. When Naruto got put under the illusion he just pulsed his chakra to shatter the illusion of being naked that was put over him. He got his time down at two seconds. He was doing the best in the class hands down.

Last but not least came the Ninjutsu exam; they had to show the three academy jutsu and a jutsu of their choice. There was some system based on how many clones were created from the Bunshin no jutsu, and how fast the three jutsu were performed along with the power of the optional jutsu that determined their score. Most students did rather well, showing off the academy jutsu easily enough for the most part, and showing off jutsu of D and C rank with difficulty. Hell, one person even used a B rank jutsu, but that was just Neji. Lee was left with nothing but a big fat zero for this portion of the exam. As each ninja completed the exam, they were evaluated over their entire written and physical exam and if they passed, they were given a Hitai-ate, if they failed they were given that 'see you next year and good luck then' speech. Not a lot of people got their headbands that day, though some did, Neji, Tenten, and Lee included, there were only eight who passed so far, simply not enough points overall. Alas Naruto was the last to be called and everyone still there watched, eager to see what he would do this time.

When he was asked to do the Bunshin no jutsu, Naruto did so and created twenty absolutely useless clones. He had more powerful versions such as the Kage Bunshin, Mizu Bunshin, and Tsuchi Bunshin, but he didn't feel like showing off too much. When it came to Kawarimi, he replaced himself with Iruka's desk, surprising the scarred Chuunin as the larger or smaller the object, the harder to replace with it was, since larger objects were harder to move and smaller objects were harder to use the correct amount of chakra. Naruto moved it back for him though and he was ordered to Henge into Iruka, which he did with no flaws whatsoever. Now came the final test, the optional jutsu. He was to use a Ninjutsu of his choice, the higher the rank the better it would score. Naruto knew that he would be too suspicious if he used any S-class jutsu, of which he only had a few, but he still wanted to beat Neji out of pure spite, so he decided to go with an A-class jutsu instead. He performed a single handseal and muttered "Kage Bunshin" and a single solid clone joined the class. Iruka clapped and said "Well done Uzumaki-san"

Naruto looked at him and said "What are you talking about? I haven't even done my jutsu yet." He made the clone go into the far corner of the room before saying so that the entire room could hear "Bunshin Daibakuha!" The clone exploded, nothing more to say. The chakra creation left as a parting memento, a new door into the hallway specially made for Akimichi using their clan jutsu at the time. In other words, the wall between the room and the hall was missing about three feet of stone. Iruka looked on shocked, as did the entire class. They knew that he was good, but not THAT good. Naruto took the band of metal and cloth and said "NOW, you can clap Iruka-san." Before vanishing via a shunshin.

The rest of the class, well those that graduated, which weren't many, they were told to show up tomorrow at 8 AM to hear the Gennin teams and then they were dismissed. Some went home to their parents; proud and happy, most however went home with nothing but shame. The sons and daughters of many councilmen failed that day and although anyone in the system would deny that the two events had any connection, the next year the Gennin Exam's difficulty went down drastically.

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Naruto's home, 4 PM

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Naruto returned home, new headband stashed inside his trench coat. He really liked the place. At first it was a horrifying shithole of an apartment. Now it was the home of ghosts, the undead and a soon-to-be-half-demon. A marked improvement as far as he was concerned. He had heard a lot of stories about the place, such as the demon tortured humans and kept frozen corpses in his basement. The undead stalked the halls and that it was plagued by spirits called forth by the Kyuubi to terrify his enemies. Honestly, when he first heard the stories he searched for a security breach somewhere, a spy or something, but it turned out to be nothing but propaganda, eerily accurate propaganda, but propaganda nonetheless and also there was no proof behind it.

When he walked in the door and closed it behind him, he was immediately glomped from behind by Perona who was hiding near the entrance where he couldn't see her. He wasn't surprised though, she had done this about every day for about two and a half years. It wasn't made easier by the fact that she wasn't much taller than him at five, seven, and could latch onto him more effectively than a starving tick. "So how were the exams Naruto-kun?" she cooed into his ear.

"Eh, difficult but not impossible. I crippled some Chuunin for quite some time, and got perfect marks on the practical exams, a first in the history of the exam mind you. Though it won't be unrivaled for long. Judging by how many children whose parents have powerful friends or are powerful councilmen that are going to be doing this again next year, odds are the difficulty will be reduced to the levels of stupidly easy. They will probably add in a more difficult Jounin test as a result of it. I can't believe how badly that old goat is running this village. If he showed some backbone, he could just kill off his competition but no, he decides to be nice and let idiots like Danzou walk all over him. Mark my words Perona-chan, at the rate he's going, the council will have more power than the Hokage someday and the office will be nothing more than a figurehead."

It was true, the village council and the Hokage had been vying for power in the village for some time now. They couldn't overrule the man, he was still the Hokage, but they were a poisonous thorn in his side that was sucking away at his control in the village. If he didn't take control NOW, odds are that when he died, the council would delay selecting a Godaime long enough to guarantee that whoever got the job would be nothing but either a puppet or a figurehead. The Shodaime, Niidaime, and Yondaime never let such things happen, but the Sandaime was foolish enough to give them the power they had now by not being more assertive when it came to Koharu, Homura, and Danzou. He could stop it if he wanted to, but he was too stupid and naive to see what was going to happen if this continued on, and too cowardly of the people's reaction should he disband them.

Naruto had managed to make his way to the living room, where after finally managing to dislodge Perona, he sat down. Perona immediately sat down next to him. "So Naruto-kun, who do you think will be put on your team tomorrow?"

Naruto inhaled deeply and said after a moment "Judging from the grades over the last three years and the exam scores of those who passed, I am guaranteed to be placed with the Rookie of the Year and the Dobe, the dead last of the class. More than likely my teammates will be Hyuuga Neji, and Rock Lee. Neji has held the top spot for three years because I let him, and with Lee's barely passing score in the exam, he is almost guaranteed to be the Dobe this year. Mind you, I am not out of the woods yet with the tests since there is still the Jounin's examination. I'm not too worried though, it's usually extremely easy if you know what you're doing. I'm more worried about next year's Gennin exam. If my prediction about the difficulty decrease is correct than the quality of ninja that this village will produce will go down in quality severely."

Perona looked a bit puzzled "I thought you hated this village, and wanted to destroy it. Wouldn't a decrease in quality be a good thing?"

Naruto smiled a bit "Yes and no. It's a good thing because it makes annihilating the place easier. It's a bad thing because it makes the shadows and bodies to be gained from the village almost useless. You see?"

Perona nodded, understanding the point in that. What more effective way to destroy your enemy than make them an ally? Well, slave but the concept is mostly the same. She asked "So, how long do you think it will be before we're finally ready to make our move?"

Naruto thought for a moment "Maybe a year, maybe a little longer. I had Absalom go on a body catching campaign to help boost our numbers and the number of marionettes Hogback is making is going up with the new material. What bothers me is the lack of General Zombies. They will be the most important pieces on the board and we have very few of them. I have heard rumor though of a few people in Konoha who would be very useful to us. Such as people from the Hyuuga clan, they would be excellent marionettes, people of the Nara clan would be good shadows to take and I have even heard of a man capable of using the Shodaime Hokage's Mokuton jutsu. If I can obtain his shadow, he would be an excellent match for the Shodaime's body, don't you think?"

Perona nodded before saying "What about that other one? You know that General Zombie that you made before you met Hogback? Do you know who would be a good match for him?"

Naruto chuckled at that. Perona knew that the thing she was talking about was meant to receive a very specific shadow and she had been dying to find out whose it was. He had decided to tease her for around three years by not telling her yet mentioning the zombie every now and then. Her reactions were very funny as long as you steered clear of the ghosts.

He stood up and said "Sorry Perona-chan, but you won't find out who it is until I find him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will get Rei-chan to start dinner." He walked off toward the area that Rei was usually cleaning at this time of day, leaving a somewhat irritated girl behind him. While Naruto had changed a bit, she hadn't changed at all, physically or otherwise.

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The next morning, 7:30 AM

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Naruto woke up on the day of the team assignments to feel the telltale warmth and see the telltale bump of Perona wandering in there during the night and using him as a teddy bear. He lifted the sheets and there she was, clad in naught but a nightgown, arms around his torso, one leg wrapped around his, and her mid C-cup breasts poking into his side.

As much as he liked being there, he had somewhere to be so he created a Kage Bunshin and replaced himself with it before hurriedly getting into his normal garb and leaving via a shunshin after grabbing his hat, hoping that he could get back into that position after the teams were decided.

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Ninja Academy, 8 AM

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Naruto walked in just before the bell rang, teacup in one hand, bagel in the other. Naruto had come up with a pretty good idea regarding his favorite beverage when he was insanely bored one day. He had filled a large vat that held about twenty gallons with Earl Grey tea and with a combination of freezing units and flamethrowers had managed to keep it at a constant near-boiling temperature. He had dumped about fifty pounds of sugar into the mix and had applied a complex seal to the whole contraption. He had affixed a matching seal the bottom of his favorite teacup so that by charging the seal with a modicum of chakra, it would act as a summoning jutsu, filling his cup with near boiling, sugar filled tea. Now wherever he went he had a large supply of his favorite beverage on tap. Not bad for a few hours work, if he did say so himself.

Naruto sat down in his normal nonchalant fashion and ate his bagel in peace. There were nine people there, and of them, five were nervous, three didn't talk much and one was obsessed with defeating Neji and Naruto, there wasn't much to talk about.

That Iruka guy from the other day appeared in front of them and said "Congratulations on passing the exam! Now then, I will simply read off the teams, few of them though there be. Hmhm, Team One is L. Lawliet, Nate River, and Mihael Keehl under Yagami Raito. Team Two is Higurashi Kagome, Inukami Inuyasha, and Salome Tenten under Hatake Kakashi and Team Three is Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Uzumaki Naruto under Maito Gai. Prove yourselves to be excellent Shinobi and work hard. Let us hope that the next time we meet, that instead of being teacher and student, we will be colleagues." With that he vanished.

About twenty minutes later a brown haired, mild-mannered man showed up and called for team one and a white haired boy, a boy with a nasty burn and a regular freakshow, albeit an intelligent freakshow, left with him.

About ten minutes after that a somewhat tall man appeared from nowhere on top of an enormous turtle and struck a pose. The man was wearing a green spandex bodysuit and had bowl-cut hair and eyebrows as thick as your arm. He yelled out in an insanely loud voice "TEAM THREE I AM YOUR SENSEI, MAITO GAI! LET US EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF YOUTH TOGETHER!"

Lee looked enraptured, Neji looked mortified, and Naruto just sat there thinking 'You have got to be fucking kidding me'.

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And that will be the end of the chapter. I actually think that this is the longest chapter in the story so far. Anyway, if you're wondering why I improved the Gennin test, it's because it just didn't sit well with me that the test was so fucking easy in the canon. Also when I said passing score, I meant that that was the bare minimum that you could do and slide by. Alas, I have nothing more to say except that you guys should be considerate and review and that I will update as soon as I can. See you eventually!

Oh and anyone who recognized the characters from Team One, the reason I put that certain character as the sensei is that it reflects just who I thought should have come out on top in the end. KIRA FOREVER!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	13. Chapter 13

I am here today in order to give you some wonderful news; I am willing to wait a moment for the Times to get here

I am here today in order to give you some wonderful news; I am willing to wait a moment for the _Times_ to get here. Okay I'm done waiting, if they wanted their exclusive they should have got here faster. Kage no Naruto chapter thirteen is here! To be honest, I am scared of what will happen after I post this, last time I posted a thirteenth chapter I came about two feet from getting hit by a bus, no joke. Oh well, I already risked my mind by watching Naruto filler to write the Umi no Kuni bit a few chapters ago, compared to that a bus isn't so scary I guess.

Also, several people have asked about a possible lemon in the story. My answer to that is that I am not sure yet. I might do one, I might not, I am fairly nervous about such a thing, so I am still debating it with myself. Eh, we'll see what my demented mind decides later.

Oh, and the characters I used for Teams one and two last chapter, with the exception of Kakashi and Tenten, are all pointless cameos, nothing more. Mind you Light offered to write down Kishimoto's name in exchange for the part, but I couldn't bring myself to take payment from Kira himself.

Note: Sorry, but I fucked up like Kishimoto did, well not that bad but I still screwed up, thanks go to Narutomaniac whose PM inadvertently pointed out my mistake. I said that Naruto was eleven last chapter, even though he was nine before the three year time skip. I said eleven when it was twelve, going on thirteen, so sorry.

Disclaimer: I have said it enough times already, no more

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto passed the Gennin exams with flying colors. He along with eight other students passed and they were split into two teams. Naruto, Neji, and Lee were teamed together under Gai, while Tenten along with two others were put under Kakashi. What insanity shall ensue with Naruto forced to endure the youth of Gai? Read and find out!

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Classroom, 8:35 AM

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It was about five minutes after Gai introduced himself. Lee was still enraptured, Neji was still mortified, Naruto was still cursing in his head, and Gai was still posing.

Eventually Gai decided that it was time to get started on the Jounin exam so he called out "Okay, Team three, you are going to meet me at training ground seventeen in ten minutes. Bring anything you think you might need and don't be late!" With that, the unbelievably eccentric, oh hell who am I kidding, downright crazy ninja vanished as he appeared, turtle and all.

Naruto, knowing that he had everything he might need, just shunshined to the training ground, leaving his two soon to be teammates to walk, or run since training ground seventeen was on the other side of the village from the Academy. They left Tenten and her chosen teammates waiting for the notoriously late porn reading copy ninja.

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Training ground seventeen, 8:45 AM  
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Lee and Neji made it to the training ground at eight forty four. What they found was Gai doing a lot of pushups and Naruto sitting in a nearby tree, drinking from his never ending teacup.

Gai looked up and noticed the two of them as a nearby alarm clock went off. He rose from the ground and yelled in his normal extremely loud tone "Well done my youthful students! Now for the second portion of my Jounin exam!"

Lee raised his hand and asked "Gai-sensei, what do you mean by Jounin exam?"

Naruto looked down from the tree and said "It's the test that each individual Jounin gives his students before they become real Gennin. It was put in place in the old days so that they would be able to weed out the few weaklings that had managed to slip through the Academy's dragnet, yet weren't really ready for what being a ninja entails. I can't believe you didn't know about it, all you had to do was ask, well anybody, and they would probably tell you about it."

Lee looked abashed and Neji looked, well emo. Gai nodded and said "Excellent recitation my soon to be student! You are correct! The Jounin exam is meant to weed out those not ready in mind and spirit to become Gennin, even though they are ready in body. The first part was getting here in the time limit I specified, which is highly difficult for such young ninja! Just so you know, if any of you fail any portion of the exam, all three of you go back to the Academy for another year, so you had best be prepared!"

The two Gennin to be on the ground nodded, the one in the tree just eyed the man strangely. This was going to take some getting used to on Naruto's part.

Gai suddenly struck another pose, pointing into the distance "Now, the stage for the second portion of the Jounin exam is set! Come my young pupils, to training ground eighteen where my youthful test awaits your strength and cunning!" he dashed off into the forest, the three graduates following him at varying speeds.

When they got to the specified training ground, they found Gai in front of some sort of monstrosity. Neji and Naruto stayed silent while Lee asked "Ooh, what is that Gai sensei?"

Gai cracked a wide smile and said "That Lee is the second and final portion of the Jounin exam that I have devised. Behold the mighty, youthful, and unstoppable obstacle course of MAITO GAI!"

Gai struck yet another pose in front of the thing. It was a large circular course, meaning that when you finished it you ended up back where you began. There was a lot of metal to be seen. Starting at the course's starting line there was a pole vault that ended at the top of a large circular metal platform, upon which was the rest of the course. Immediately after the small area upon which you were supposed to land there were three large metal slabs, one after the other, blocking the way with about two feet of space between them. According to Gai they each weighed one hundred and eighty pounds and that they had to lift them out of the way and get through before they dropped down.

After the three doors was a large hole in the platform, the only path across this gap was a very small ledge on one side that couldn't had been more than and inch wide. They were meant to move across about thirty feet of space on their fingertips.

Not too far after the pit was a series of upright boards. These boards were planted into the ground and served as stepping stones across the gap. These boards were rounded at the top, of varying height, and highly unstable, a single wrong step would send them toppling to the ground, and failure.

The next obstacle was the second to last. Another large gap broke the platform and between one side and the other were two glass panes, stretching horizontally from one side to the other. They had to plant their hands and feet onto the two panes and support their weight on either one or the other as they moved the other forward. For example, they would press their feet against the glass and hold their weight as they moved their hands forward and vice-versa.

The final obstacle was a single balance beam not even two inches wide. There were mechanisms launching blunted kunai, shuriken, and senbon across the balance beam at random intervals. These weapons were also painted so that if you got hit, it would show. If you got hit or fell off, you failed. After the balance beam was a large drop onto a large trampoline meant to catch the fall, and the finish line about ten feet beyond that.

The thing was monstrous. "My students, this is your final obstacle to becoming Gennin! If you fall from the platform, you fail, and your teammates with you. And should you fail to complete the course in under five minutes, you also fail, YOU!" He pointed to Neji "You are first. Prepare to face the course!"

He gave Neji a moment to overcome his shock and get into position before saying "The time starts when you touch the pole, begin when ready." Neji waited a moment, sizing up the movement before grabbing the pole and after a moment's jog launched himself onto the platform. Gai had already started the timer.

Neji worked quickly as the seconds ticked down, seizing the handles on the first door, hauling it above his head and sliding underneath before letting go and quickly bringing his arm through before it got crushed. He did the same for the second door and the third.

Neji didn't stop at all putting fingers to metal strip and shimmying down the line, silently grateful that his Jyuuken training strengthened his fingers and hands all the while. He did not stop for a moment; already a minute and a half had gone by. He ran to the boards and quickly ran across them. Dangerous, but fast, he was lucky that the Jyuuken required a lot of agility and balance to perform correctly otherwise the wobbling boards would have sent him to the ground.

Neji didn't waste a second, moving across the gap between the two panes of glass, alternately putting the full force of his weight onto each set of limbs as he moved forward, his muscles burning as he traversed the obstacle.

Neji stood before the balance beam with one minute and thirty seconds left on the clock. He had very little time to cross the fifty foot long beam, so he spent five seconds scanning the pattern of the projectiles before dashing across at his top speed, hoping that he didn't get hit, though coming close a few times.

Neji jumped from the last five feet of beam to the trampoline, losing his balance as he bounced and finally managing to dash across the finish line with a time of four minutes and forty eight seconds. He just collapsed there on the grass, Hyuuga pride be damned.

Next up to the challenge was Rock Lee. He vaulted onto the platform with haste and began the course with vigor. He hauled the metal slabs out of his path and sped across the finger tip beam. He almost fell on the boards, but he made it through, and he managed to get across the glass without much difficulty, albeit slowly to not break the panes of melted glass.

He finally stood at the beginning of the balance beam at three minutes, forty seven seconds. Then he leapt onto the metal beam and ran across it, going as fast as he could without falling off and having more than one close encounter with a painted weapon.

He finally managed to jump off and cross the finish line at four minutes, forty two seconds, coming dangerously close to the time limit but managing the task nonetheless. He collapsed beside Neji, exhausted after the course.

Gai turned to tell Naruto that it was his turn, only to find that the Gennin was standing before the pole already. Naruto unclasped his jacket, and removed his hat and prepared to grab the pole as they fell to the ground.

He waited one moment, timing the jump and Gai started the timer as he leapt to the platform on the pole.

He didn't waste a second, hauling the slabs of metal out of his way and jumping onto the ledge, catching himself half way across and using his momentum to assist his crossing.

He didn't stop for an instant before the boards, making his way along quickly and dangerously. They shifted a lot during Naruto's crossing and one or two even fell as he crossed them near the end.

With great strain and effort he managed to pull himself between the glass panes, and stood before the balance beam with two minutes left and about fifty feet of beam to cross.

He crouched before he began. Not good for balance, but it guaranteed that he wouldn't be hit by any flying weapons. He had difficulty keeping his balance the entire way, but he didn't come close to getting hit even once. At the last few feet he jumped off of the platform early, landing upon the trampoline on his hands and bounding over the finish line at three minutes, fifty nine seconds. Gai was very impressed.

"AMAZING MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS! I actually never thought that you would all be able to do it, if one of you didn't there would have been a moral test to give you but you have managed to circumvent this. This is unbelievable; I am truly impressed by you all!"

Gai took a moment from his rant to see that no one was paying attention to him. Neji and Lee were still on the ground panting like mad, and Naruto just took a moment to gather himself and regain his breath before retrieving his coat and hat before watching the birds in a nearby tree.

Gai cleared his throat and then shouted "Now, you have passed my test so you are all officially Gennin of Konoha! Be proud of yourselves! Now then, gather round, I think that we should learn a bit about each other since we will be working together until you all become Chuunin." Gai went and sat down on the edge of the trampoline and motioned for his other students to sit in front of him, which after a moment, they did. Lee and Neji had managed to recover for the most part.

Gai smiled and said "Now, I want you to tell me your name, your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, your shoe size, your dreams for the future, your best time on the one hundred meter dash, and your maximum weight on the bench press! I shall go first! My name is Maito Gai, I like Taijutsu and besting my eternal rival, I dislike those that give up, my hobbies are Taijutsu and running on the beach at sunset and sunrise, my shoe size is thirteen, my best time is six seconds, my maximum weight is eight hundred and fifty pounds, and my dreams for the future are to prove once and for all that I am better than my rival, Taijutsu is the most powerful of the three ninja arts, that spandex is not horrendous, and to spread the power of youth to all of Konoha!"

Neji and Naruto looked at him like he had a few screws loose, while Lee just looked like he had found religion. Gai smiled, pointed to Lee and said "Now you my youthful student! Tell me about yourself!"

Lee immediately began "My name is Rock Lee, I enjoy improving myself and my techniques, I dislike those who look down on others and those that are known and revered as geniuses without putting any hard work into it, my hobbies are training, my dreams for the future are to best my two rivals Neji and Naruto who are luckily on my team as well as proving that I can be a splendid ninja without Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. My best time is one minute and fourteen seconds, my maximum weight is one hundred and twenty pounds and my shoe size is nine, sir!"

Neji and Naruto looked at the strange boy as they looked at their mentor. Naruto just said "Uh, Lee, I think that the shoe size thing was just a joke, same goes for the dash time and the bench press weight. Regardless, I think that it is time that Neji von Emo told us about himself, don't you Gai-sensei?" Gai just nodded and Neji sighed in that way that only a stuck up douche really can.

He began "My name is Hyuuga Neji, I enjoy beating hopeless fools into the ground, I dislike the Hyuuga main branch, especially that weakling of an heiress and Kumogakure, my hobbies are training to prove that the main branch is inferior and meditation, and my dreams for the future don't matter, all is already decided by fate, and nobody has any say in what she has written."

Gai looked a little unnerved, but nodded nonetheless. Then he turned to Naruto and yelled "Now, it is your turn my most youthful student! Tell us about yourself!"

Naruto sighed lightly, not believing that of all the possible senseis he got stuck with one of the two worst. Then he began "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, my likes are darkness and shadow, anyplace out of the sun and beating down those who deserve it, my dislikes are bigoted morons and people who get incredibly stuck up just because someone died at some point, they act like it was never going to happen eventually. My hobbies are no one's concern, and my dreams for the future are immaterial until I achieve them, when I complete those goals I will tell you all about them." Gai looked happy, if a bit confused.

He yelled "Excellent my students! We are now officially team three! We will meet in training ground three every day at ten AM to receive our first mission. Dismissed!" Lee and Neji got up and left, with Lee talking about Gai in an inspired sort of voice. Naruto however stayed behind.

Gai asked him "Yes, what is it Naruto-kun? Do you have a question?"

Naruto stood and looked at the spandex clad man. He just said "You know who I am, and what I can do, along with what I contain, correct?" Gai suddenly got a bit more serious, knowing that this was probably important. He knew all about Naruto's shadow abilities, a lot of people did. The ability to bring one's own shadow to life in addition to manipulating darkness and shadow like it was a living thing; they even protected him so effectively that he had never felt physical pain in his life. Oh yes, his abilities had become well known in Konoha. Gai just nodded in response to Naruto's question.

Naruto smiled a bit and said "I would like to have a spar with you Gai-sensei."

Gai looked a bit surprised. "A spar? I would be most willing Naruto-kun, to match my power of youth against yours, but aren't you tired from the course?"

Naruto smirked a bit and said "You believed that? Yes, I did give the course my all, but I recover quickly. I would like to spar against you Gai-sensei, to find out just how great my abilities are, what my limit is. I really need to find this out and you are the strongest person I know aside from Hokage-sama himself. You see?"

Gai nodded, understanding the point. He stood up and smiled "Very well Naruto-kun, I accept your challenge! I shall do my best to defeat you! Now come, we shall return to training ground seventeen, it should be vacant and should be an excellent ground for us to fight!" Gai dashed off to the field where the team met earlier, Naruto following him at a slower, more mundane pace.

When they stood across from each other on the field, Gai took the normal stance for the 'Iron fist' style of fighting that he always used. Naruto smiled and said "Before we begin, take off your weights Gai-sensei."

Gai looked puzzled "Are you sure Naruto-kun? The battle probably won't last long if I am using my full speed and strength."

Naruto shook his head slightly and said "I don't care about the length of the fight, but the quality of it and the quality of it goes down tremendously f you are limiting yourself. I don't want you to hold back at all."

Gai got out of his stance and took off his weights, tossing them to the side where they made large impact craters. "If you are sure Naruto-kun. Are you ready?"

Naruto's shadow came to life, becoming a solid black version of Naruto with bright white eyes. Naruto nodded and Gai vanished. A moment later a large impact against a wall of darkness moved Naruto several feet to the side. Gai had already vanished again, but Naruto knew what was happening, Gai was moving faster than he could see, but not faster than the shadow could move. Gai was still obedient to laws of gravity and forces such as inertia, while darkness wasn't so it could still move faster than all but the very fastest physical matter.

This sudden impact happened several more times, both Naruto and his shadow looking for the fast Taijutsu master. Eventually Gai reappeared some few feet away, panting lightly as he said "Well, Naruto-kun, your defense is quite impressive. At my current maximum speed I am unable to penetrate it. If your offense is as good as your defense, I may even lose."

Naruto smiled at the slightly winded Jounin and said "That's the plan Gai-sensei. Now this fight gets interesting."

He pointed one hand at Gai, palm facing the Taijutsu master as the shadows all around the clearing suddenly began to move. Wisps of darkness were emitted from Naruto's hands and body which floated into the air and the clearing suddenly got a lot darker, like it was twilight instead of noon. Darkness formed and swirled around Naruto's hand in a circle as Naruto only said one word "Kurouzu!"

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Half an hour later

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The three Jounin senseis were reporting to the Hokage on the status of the Jounin Exams, or at least they were. Only two of them had shown up. Both of them had the same message, their teams failed. Sarutobi was actually expecting this; neither of the two Jounin really wanted a team so any team they were given were doomed to receive very difficult tests. The only one who hadn't shown up yet was Gai, he was strangely absent.

A few minutes after he dismissed the other two, Gai stumbled into the room, heavily bruised, and the spandex torn in several places. There was some blood dripping from his mouth.

The Sandaime got up immediately and went to the Jounin "Gai! What the hell happened to you?"

Gai smiled and waved the old man off "It is nothing much Hokage-sama, I just came to tell you that team three has passed their exam, and they are now officially Gennin."

The Hokage took a moment to jot that down before he returned to his questions "Yes, yes, but seriously Gai, what happened? You are one of the most powerful Jounin in the village. The only ones that could compare to you are Kakashi, myself, and Asuma on a good day."

Gai coughed up a bit of blood before saying "It happened during a spar with Naruto Hokage-sama."

"A spar?" The Sandaime was a bit skeptical, he knew the boy was well ahead of the others his age, but not by this much."

Gai nodded and said "Yes, he requested one from me after the exam was over; he said that he wanted to find out his limit, where he stood in the terms of the ninja hierarchy of strength in the village, how much his defenses protected him from attack. He also had me remove my weights before the battle. It was the best spar I have had in years!"

The Sandaime was quite surprised "And he did THIS to you? Just how strong is the boy? Wait, you didn't hurt him too badly did you?"

Gai shook his head and said "Yes, he did this to me, and I didn't manage to hurt him at all, at least not directly. I never managed to penetrate his defenses; they're incredibly difficult to pierce, especially combined with his techniques. As for how strong the boy is Hokage-sama, it's incredible. I don't think that anyone in the world could take him down without help. His techniques and abilities make it impossible to stand any real chance unless you are able to be in two places at once. It really is amazing Hokage-sama, his abilities are so fluid, so lacking form or law that the limits of his powers are more mental than physical, bound only by his own ingenuity. We eventually decided to call it a draw since I could not pierce his defenses and he could not hold me down long enough to strike a finishing blow. I didn't even hurt him, at least not really. The worst he has are a couple of bruises from when I almost went through the shield. Now then, by your leave Hokage-sama, I need to get to the hospital about these broken ribs."

As the Jounin vanished, the Hokage returned to his paperwork. He put in the information for the new Gennin team, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji, and Rock Lee, under Maito Gai. 'Naruto' he thought 'just how strong ARE you?'

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Naruto's house, about the same time

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Naruto walked in like it was ordinary having a bit of blood coming out of the corner of your mouth and some rather nasty bruises on one arm. Perona, who was waiting for his return was shocked. "N-Naruto-kun! What happened to you?" She rushed over and looked at his injuries. She hurried him over to the couch where he sat down.

He waved her away after a moment and said "Don't worry Perona-chan, I'm fine. I managed to pass those Jounin tests by the way. They were hard as hell but I managed. After that I managed to convince Gai to have a spar with me, I wanted to find out how strong he was and perhaps even find out exactly how strong my defenses are. I have been physically hurt for the first time in my life, but it wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. I actually think that it was a good thing that I was injured today, if I ever get hurt in battle, the shock won't affect me as it did in the fight today. It was a very enlightening experience for me."

Perona just sighed and said "Well, I suppose that it was going to happen eventually, but you're sure you're okay?" He just nodded and she hugged him "Then I'm glad." All Naruto could say was that when she was scared for herself, or anyone, her grip got about five times stronger.

He eventually managed to pry her off of him and went down to the lab. His wounds would heal, Kyuubi would see to that. In the meantime he had to go see Hogback; the doctor had sent him a message that something was wrong.

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Hokage mountain caves

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Naruto emerged in his usual spot and started looking for them all. The caves were quite extensive and they could be almost anywhere. He eventually stumbled upon three of the four residents near Hogback's main lab.

"Where's Hogback, he said something was wrong." The three were however oblivious to him and his questions, they were currently reading books of their choice. Out of mid curiosity and potential blackmail material, Naruto checked the covers. Absalom was reading the first volume of Icha Icha, big shock, apparently the moniker 'Pervsalom' was well earned.

Yukino was reading the Kannazuki no Miko manga. Given her personality and ehem, preferences, he wasn't too shocked. What actually surprised him was what Haruka was reading.

'Revolutionary girl Utena, I am seeing a pattern here.' He looked over to the blushing beast man and yelled in his ear "OI PERVSALOM, WHERE'S THE DOC?" The beast man jumped and almost turned invisible on reflex.

"Oh, Naruto-sama, I didn't know you were here. Um, yeah Hogback has found something really interesting and he wants you to find out the cause of it, something about one of the shadows. He said that he would be in one of the examination rooms."

Naruto frowned and nodded. If this turned out to be a real problem, it could be bad, especially if it got to the Generals. He made his way through the caves, and eventually found the rotund doctor and his pale assistant looking over the bound form of Ryuuma, the General Zombie that possessed the shadow of Zaraki Kenpachi.

He walked over to the bound corpse and asked "What's the problem?"

Hogback looked up and said "Naruto-sama, thank goodness you've arrived, Ryuuma has been acting strangely lately, a lot different than he did with the shadow you gave him."

Naruto looked at the zombie, and then at the doctor "What do you mean by 'strangely'?"

Hogback stepped back and gestured at the corpse, saying "He used moves that Zaraki Kenpachi did not know, which is supposed to be impossible. Where would he have learned them? Then he asked if he could see Haruka's panties for some reason, which the original Zaraki showed no sort of attraction toward anyone. I just don't understand it."

Naruto frowned and put his hand into the shadow, there was some possibility that he had attached the shadow incorrectly when he rushed the animation of the body. Unlikely, but there was a chance. What he found wasn't an incorrect bonding however, it was something else entirely.

"What the hell? How can there be two?" He asked himself.

"Hmm, two what Naruto-sama?" Hogback looked at the zombie, looking for anything that wasn't supposed to be there.

"Two shadows, somehow, there are two shadows inside of this body. I don't understand it, though one shadow seems to be a lot smaller than the other…." Naruto removed his hands from the shadow, pondering this anomaly. "Wait, the way he was supposedly acting, it couldn't be… Hogback!"

"Hmm, did you find something Naruto-sama?"

"I think so, yes. The original shadow that was given to him by Gecko Moria, he was that near immortal skeleton Brook, right?"

Hogback suddenly realized what must have happened "Yes, actually now that I think about it, Ryuuma has been acting a lot like the Ryuuma way back then, if there's two shadows than the other shadow must be the shadow of Brook! But, how did that shadow get into the body?"

Naruto looked at the body and said "It must have been during one of the fights between Brook and his zombie, Ryuuma. If anything was removed from him, a lock of hair, a tooth, some bone fragments, the shadow of the lost pieces wouldn't have returned to Brook when Ryuuma was defeated. Those fragments of shadow must have remained within Ryuuma all this time, unable to move the body, but still carrying a small portion of Brook's soul. When I put the second shadow in there, they must have combined at some level, giving it the combined techniques of Zaraki and Brook, and also giving it the mind of Brook. I don't understand how the weaker shadow could have come up on top but somehow it did. Short of purifying the body, there's no way to separate the two shadows from the strange combination that they are now."

Hogback looked at the body and said "The techniques of Zaraki Kenpachi and Skeleton Brook, the black sword Shuusui, and the body of the legendary samurai Ryuuma. This zombie is incredible."

Naruto nodded and said "It is as though he is a combination of the old and the new Ryuuma. Overall I think that this change is a good thing. Zaraki was brilliant, but he sought out too many fights, and was always very serious. However his techniques lacked finesse, it was all power. A combination of Zaraki's sheer power and the tactical mind and techniques of Brook. It really is a terrifying thought to have to fight an enemy like this one." Hogback only nodded.

Naruto turned to leave and said "Right, well that's that cleared up. Now if you'll excuse me doctor, I have to get home, I have my first 'mission' tomorrow after all.

Hogback nodded and went to release and awaken Ryuuma. Naruto would need all of his strength and patience to put up with both tedious missions and the madness of Gai the next morning.

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And that my readers is the end of the chapter. Let's hope that I don't get hit by a bus after posting this. As for the obstacle course, I just came up with the most demented yet nonfatal thing I could come up with. You guys probably hate me for not showing the fight between Naruto and Gai, but I just love stringing you along.

Now then, in the next chapter, I am going to skip time again, going to the Gennin exams of next year, in other words, the exams that have Sakura, Sasuke and the rest in them. Why you ask? Because I don't think that anyone is really interested to hear about Gai going on about youth and tempting Lee to the dark side of spandex and bowl cuts. Now then, review and I shall see you all next time.

Also, a cookie goes to the first person that can tell what the two mentioned manga titles that Haruka and Yukino were reading have in common.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	14. Chapter 14

He walks to the people and kneels before them

He walks to the people and kneels before them

He holds a plate of stone above his head

Upon the plate reads the holy message

'Kage no Naruto chapter fourteen is here'

The people cheer and rejoice

Disclaimer: Why do you all want to see this more than seven times?

Note: For those who were wondering, the two mangas mentioned in the last chapter 'Kannazuki no Miko' and 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' are both yuri/shojo-ai manga. I can't remember the first person who got it right, so in that case COOKIES FOR ALL! Brings out a huge box and puts it where people can get to it Now only take one each.

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NARUTO MANGA SPOILERS BELOW  
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In the latest manga, Naruto finally heads to the toad's homeland, some wandering mountain that's almost impossible to find. Anyway, Naruto is supposed to learn these 'Sage arts'. Their basically Ninjutsu using a special chakra that is created through making it with physical and spiritual energy like the normal kind in addition to a third component, natural energy, which is the energy around them all. That old toad guy demonstrated the strength that could be gained by lifting a statue about twenty times Naruto's size with one arm. Personally I think that these 'Sage arts' are going to be the most overpowered thing since the introduction of the Sharingan. Also Naruto has to become one with nature to be able to feel and use natural energy, and in order to do that he has to die, he will be presumably revived.

Who wants to bet that Naruto dies, the toads are unable to revive him as they planned so he's gone for good, then Sasuke will beat the Hachibi Jinchuuriki and that will be the end of Shippuden? Then we have another time skip where the third part begins, titled 'Sasuke'. To be honest, I wouldn't put it past Kishimoto to do that, I really wouldn't be too surprised.

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Summary of the last chapter

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Naruto fought his way through the Jounin exams and succeeded with flying colors, literally if you count the paint on the kunai and shuriken on the course.

He fought Gai in a spar and both ended up injured, Naruto for the first time. Along with that there has been an oddity with the shadow animating Ryuuma, one of the two most powerful Generals, affecting his personality and techniques, making him stronger than he was before in either of his previous incarnations. And now the chapter begins

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Team Gai's training ground

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It had been one year since Team Gai was formed. Neji was still emo, though he had gotten stronger, even managing to teach himself the Kaiten over the past year just by watching the Main Branch of the Hyuuga. Naruto had changed the least; add a few inches and he was at a solid 6'0 in height. Other than that he was exactly the same, still devious, still powerful, still scoffing tea and candy. Though he had changed little, he had gotten much stronger with Taijutsu training from Gai, and had intimate knowledge of several dozen different styles; he had also increased his repertoire of Ninjutsu. He didn't like using them, they were too flashy for his style more often than not, but you never knew when something could come in handy in a weird situation.

Of the three, Lee had changed the most. He had gone from a pathetic loser of a Shinobi with no talent whatsoever at anything to a miniature Maito Gai with gigantic bug eyes. He had managed to master the Gouken style of Taijutsu, even managing to open the first five of the Hachimon, the eight inner gates. Only Gai knew his full strength, but he was a long way from the loser that the Academy scathingly called the Dobe. He also wore incredibly heavy weights, the same weights that Gai wore when he sparred against Naruto that one time, Gai himself had moved onto far heavier weights in the year since.

The three had been going on D-rank missions for the first three months of their apprenticeship under Gai, since then they had been intermixed with the occasional C-rank mission. Those missions steadily increased until they handled nothing but C-rank missions and they had even gone on a total of three B-rank missions, a very rare privilege for mere Gennin. Naruto's presence on their team had doubtless helped them obtain jobs of such difficulty.

Right now the group was training in their usual way. Gai would oversee Lee's high level training while Neji read Hyuuga Taijutsu scrolls. Naruto would plot and scheme and watch the other two with slight disdain. Lee would always challenge Neji at the end of every training day, only to hold back by not removing his weights and therefore get himself beaten into the ground. If he removed his weights, he would have had a chance but with them he had less than a five percent chance of winning. Lee had, only once, challenged Naruto to a fight and Naruto's response was 'If you can't beat Neji, you can't beat me. Win against him and I might think about it.'

Ever since then Lee has been trying his hardest to defeat Neji, rarely getting closer to victory than he did the day before since Neji got stronger every day as well. Still, Naruto found his entertainment in watching them fight. It was more about scouting out people that would have good potential as marionettes, but it was still entertaining.

Speaking of marionettes, his store of them had grown. Absalom, Yukino, and Haruka had been sent out to outlying villages of Hi no Kuni and the surrounding countries, massacring the populations and bringing back the bodies. They never left any witnesses and with Yukino's abilities and Genjutsu they managed to get away without getting spotted by any ninja that were sent. The storerooms of the caves were lined with coffins bearing the bodies of Soldier Zombies, creatures sewn together from the body parts of dozens of men and animals, creating a streamlined warrior. Only a small percentage of them were alive however as Naruto hadn't gotten many chances to steal shadows that he needed to bring the creatures to life but he had a large store of powerful Soldier-class marionettes. He hadn't been able to create any new General-class marionettes yet though, those required a strong frame originally and high quality parts to make an extremely powerful body and he was lacking powerful frames.

He had also made a lot of money with the combined payment of one and a half million Ryo a month from the five businessmen he had lent some of his soldiers to. That amount of money over the course of the four years of his academy days and Jounin training really added up. Since he had so much, he had relayed orders to the rented soldiers of four of the five businessmen. 'Kill them and escape, take as much money as you can with you'.

As a result, he had regained his lost soldiers, and made a lot of money as well. Since everyone who knew of the zombies was dead, everyone thought that it must have been bandits or missing-nin. The only one left of the five was the first person he had lent them to, Gatou. He had put them to good use in the domination of Nami no Kuni, and he was the most trustworthy of the five so he decided to let the short man live a while longer.

The last year had gone extremely well for him, all things considered. The only low point was that during one of the B-rank missions his axe was broken by an enemy ninja. He wasn't too surprised, the thing was very old, but he required a new weapon. He had a good idea where to get it, but he would have to get away from Konoha for a while to get there, but aside from his weapon's destruction, things were looking rosy.

Naruto also had been collecting information lately, specifically on the group known as Akatsuki, and the new village, Otogakure, created by Orochimaru.

He had learned as much about the two groups as possible, he knew that the Akatsuki planned to capture Jinchuuriki like himself and he was going to use that to his advantage. The one he sought was in the group after all, the one needed to complete one of the Generals, and in addition to that, all nine of the members were powerful, they would make excellent marionettes or shadows.

What he was most interested in though was Orochimaru. His Curse Seal was a work of genius that he wanted his hands on. Since the zombies couldn't die, if he could somehow use the Curse Seal upon them than he would drastically increase the power of his followers. Also, there was the man himself. Orochimaru's shadow was right up there on his wish list. He may have been vile, pedophilic and repulsive overall, but he was devious and cunning as well as a scientific genius. The shadow of Orochimaru himself would be a valuable asset if he could get it. But more importantly was the plan he had to destroy Konoha in a few months, during the Chuunin selection exams. He had looked over the idea and had realized that his plan had a very good chance of destroying Konoha.

This would bother most people, but not Naruto. A lot of people in his situation would oppose Orochimaru, wanting to destroy Konoha themselves, but Naruto had no problems with allowing Orochimaru to annihilate the place. Yes, he would have had more satisfaction doing it himself, but he wasn't in this for satisfaction, he was in it for results and at the moment Orochimaru's plan to assassinate the Sandaime and destroy the village with the Ichibi no Tanuki had the best possible success rate of any course of action that he had considered. All Naruto would do was watch the show, get out of the way and make sure that his plan worked, acting as Orochimaru's guardian devil.

No one would know that he had played a part in Konoha's destruction and he had no problem with that, he preferred to remain anonymous anyway. But he had some plans today. Today was the Gennin exam for the new guys, the next generation of Gennin and he wanted to see the show. That girl from last year, Tenten, would be taking part in them too since she failed her Jounin exam last year. Aside from that, there would be a lot of clan heirs in this batch and he wanted to see how strong they were.

As a result the training day ended with Neji beating the crap out of Lee again when the spandex clad Gennin challenged him and they went their separate ways. Neji headed home, Gai and Lee went wherever the hell they went after training, probably home, and Naruto went to the Academy to watch the clown show begin.

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Konoha Ninja Academy, noon

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The class began as it normally did that day, with most of the students talking about virtually nothing or trying to practice some chakra control for the graduation exam later on.

None of them but Tenten knew this, but the exam had really gone down in difficulty. It had gone from very difficult Taijutsu, weapons proficiency, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu exams, along with a one thousand question written exam, to a fifty question multiple choice test, a Taijutsu exam requiring them to score a hit on a Chuunin when he was going at barely twenty percent, no Genjutsu exam whatsoever, a weapons proficiency test requiring somebody to hit one bullseye once and having ten chances to do it, and a Ninjutsu exam requiring a mediocre knowledge of the three academy jutsu. It was pathetic.

What Tenten found even more pathetic was that some of these supposed ninja actually found the entire thing difficult. They made fun of her for not passing the year before, but she just shrugged them off. She knew that in a fight, she was definitely the most powerful Kunoichi; the only people in the room that could defeat her would be Shino, Shikamaru if he tried, and maybe Sasuke if she was having an off-day. What she found hilarious was that the little brat actually thought that he was the best just because he was at the top of the class. She knew for certain that Shino, Shikamaru, or herself could have taken the top spot if they wanted to, but Shikamaru was too lazy and the remaining two didn't want everyone to know how strong they really were. If it weren't for that Jounin giving them an impossible exam she would have passed last year, but of all the possible tests, the one that her team last year got was to make it through the forest of death to the tower and back five times in five minutes. It just wasn't possible and she knew that the Jounin Hatake Kakashi knew it too.

Alas, she was forced to fail, and now she was stuck in a class full of fangirls and brats who thought that they were real ninja with a few exceptions. There were plenty with real potential but none of them could compare to some of the powerhouses she had in her class last year. There were some strong Gennin, but they were no Neji, and no sign of ANY of them coming even close to Naruto's level. She had seen the spar between Gai and Naruto when she left a clone behind in the classroom and followed Gai's team, hoping to see what she might be facing, and she followed the two of them after they left. The fight that she saw was unreal. Before that day training ground seventeen was a decent sized clearing with a heavily forested area around it. Ever since that day it was nothing more than a slightly grassy plain.

Now she was stuck in this pathetic excuse of an exam, bored rigid, and forced to put up with a bunch of wannabe ninjas. At least her boredom was somewhat relieved when super fangirls one and two, Haruno Sakura, and Yamanaka Ino, respectively barged through the door at the same time and each declared that they got there first. She honestly thought that it was people like that which gave Kunoichi a bad name. Then they proceeded to fight over which of them would sit next to Sasuke, despite the fact that there were two seats next to him. She was about to either kill the pair of them or leave the room when Iruka and Mizuki showed up at the door and began the exam. Tenten noticed that Mizuki was still walking with a cane. Naruto really screwed up his knee last year and he hadn't been able to walk without support ever since. He had retired from being an active Shinobi and took up a permanent job at the Academy, which is very rare. Still though, nobody believed her when she said that she knew the guy that did that to him.

What she didn't notice was Naruto hiding behind a Genjutsu watching the young idiots go up, do a couple of E-Class Ninjutsu and act like they accomplished something. He looked over them all, the only ones of any use were Shikamaru, for his mind, and maybe Shino for the same. Still though, he was embarrassed at how far the exam had fallen in terms of difficulty. The time was not too long ago when the thought of the exam would terrify those soon to take it, but that time had evidently passed. Supposedly the age of potent Shinobi had passed too. He was sitting on the corner of Iruka's desk for god's sake and nobody had noticed him yet. He was sure Iruka did, he was actually pretty sharp, but not one of the students had noticed the Genjutsu, much less pierced it despite its low quality. He wasn't surprised that Tenten didn't manage it, she sucked at Genjutsu for the most part, but the Hyuuga, and the Uchiha too? That was just pitiful, if it were Neji or Itachi, he would have been noticed within a minute.

Eventually, as the last few were being tested, the Aburame's insects detected him. Shino noticed it and immediately knew what had been going on, his bugs told him something was off but he couldn't figure it out until now. He went through several handseals and mumbled 'Kai', and the attention of the entire room was drawn to the strangely clad man sitting on Iruka's desk.

Sakura, the loudest fangirl on this side of the country immediately pointed at him and yelled "Who are you!?"

Naruto looked at the pathetic girl's actions and chuckled lightly. He turned and said to Iruka "My, my, the quality of this year's ninja is atrocious compared to last year's Iruka-san. You don't even have a difficult exam to weed out most of the trash anymore. I really feel sorry for you." He took a sip of his tea as Iruka recognized who the person was.

The fangirl yelled again "Who the hell are you!?"

Naruto looked at her and frowned "I believe that it is only polite to introduce yourself before demanding the name of others. There are proprieties to be observed young woman. Honestly, this year's Shinobi have not only gone down in strength but also in manners, is there anything else that has decreased which I should know about?"

The students in the room looked, as a whole, pissed. There were a few who didn't show it like Shino and Shikamaru, and then there was Tenten who knew what was going on. He was just trying to piss them all off, and she knew that he wasn't referring to her when he said such things.

Sakura yelled "I'm Haruno Sakura, most beautiful ninja in Konoha, now who are you!?"

Iruka decided to end Naruto's little game and said "Sit down Sakura, he's not an enemy. This is Uzumaki Naruto, the most powerful Gennin from last year's class and currently the strongest Gennin in Konoha. Hell, he's stronger than most of, if not all, of us Chuunin." The class looked at Naruto with newfound respect with one exception. After all, if he was respected so much by Iruka then he must really be something.

Naruto continued on "Thank you Iruka for the introduction, but that doesn't change how disappointed I am in this year's batch of Gennin. None of them look anywhere near ready for what they have coming. Well, aside from Tenten, she knows the business pretty well but aside from her…."

The class looked at Tenten before returning their gaze to the strange person among them. Naruto continued on "Honestly, I have been sitting here all day watching them all make fools of themselves, pretending that they are ninja, treating this pathetic exam like it was something difficult. It took the lot of them an entire day to locate and dispel the weak Genjutsu I put over myself. No offense Iruka, but I think you might have fucked up with this batch or something, how could they all be so weak otherwise? I mean come on, the rookie of the year would lose a match to last year's Dobe for god's sake!"

The class looked at Sasuke, waiting to see what he would do. He got up, looking slightly pissed, walked over to the blonde and said "Fight me, now."

Naruto smirked into his teacup as he took another sip and said "You aren't worth my time, kid."

Then Sasuke did what no one else had the balls to do, ever. He smacked the cup away from Naruto and everyone watched as it fell to the floor with a slight crack. Naruto looked the angry Uchiha in the eyes and Sasuke, just then, realized that he fucked up, big time.

He got up and walked over to the cup, picked it up, and gave it a once over. He just said "You took a chip out of the handle, you cocksure guttersnipe. Fine then, you want a fight? You've got one, follow me." Naruto put the cup back into his coat and left the room, a smirking Sasuke following him. The rest of the class followed them all, wanting to see the fight between the rookie of the year, and last year's model of perfection. They followed the two out of the building, onto the training grounds near the forest.

Naruto leaned against one of the trees, folded his arms and said "Come on, if you think you can take me." Sasuke blindly rushed forward.

Sakura and Ino were yelling "Yeah! Go Sasuke! Kick that loser's butt!" Tenten just chuckled lightly. Ino asked "What's so funny Tenten?"

Tenten looked at the pair before saying "It's funny that you think Sasuke has the slightest chance of winning this fight. Hell, I bet you a thousand Ryo that Sasuke doesn't even touch him."

Sakura looked pissed and said "What, are you saying that Sasuke will LOSE? Are you nuts? That's impossible, he's the rookie of the year AND an Uchiha, he's invincible!"

Tenten smirked as Sasuke got closer to his opponent, rearing his fist back. She said "Oh no, Sasuke is far from invincible. The only person I know that is even close to invincibility is leaning against that tree. Sasuke is about to get a long overdue lesson in humility. Until Gai, one of the village's strongest Jounin, took him on in a spar he had never even been injured. Sasuke doesn't have a chance." The two girls looked on, hoping that Tenten was wrong. After all, Sasuke was invincible, right?

Sasuke got to Naruto and threw a punch right into his face. Sakura cheered, thinking that it was a direct hit, only for everyone to see a moment later that Sasuke's attack was blocked by a wall of solid black. Sasuke jumped back and threw several shuriken, all of which were blocked by the same wall which had emerged from the shadow of a nearby tree. Naruto was smirking at Sasuke's obvious frustration. He called over to Sasuke "Come on Uchiha, I thought you would be a challenge, after all you're the tragic hero of the Uchiha Massacre, the only survivor of your brother's rampage. Stop fooling around and attack me already!"

Sasuke's anger was boiling over at this person treating him like nothing when he was the last Uchiha. He went through a series of quick handseals and yelled "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" as he blew out a large ball of flame.

Naruto smirked as the shadow automatically blocked the weak attack. "Is that all a pathetic Uchiha like yourself can do? I mean I wasn't expecting much but come on, this is ridiculous."

Sasuke grew even angrier if that was possible and yelled "SHUT UP!" as he threw a dozen kunai, only to have them blocked by the same defense as all of his other attacks. He ground his teeth in frustration, to Naruto's delight.

Naruto just said "Come on Uchiha, I thought this was supposed to be a spar, not us fooling around. But if you don't want to attack me for some reason, than I will attack you." He gestured with his hand and a tendril of shadow rushed from the surrounding darkness and wrapped around Sasuke's ankles. It pulled his feet out from under him, hauling him into the sky before slamming him down, hard, onto the ground. "Are you done playing around yet or do you need more motivation?"

Needless to say the crowd was shocked. They never expected Sasuke to lose. Well no one except Shino, Shikamaru, and Tenten, they expected to see Sasuke get his ass handed to him and they weren't disappointed. The only one who was really taking this positively was that girl Hinata; she was looking at the older ninja and blushing slightly.

Naruto had the shadow let Sasuke go and he yelled to him "Have you had enough yet? I thought that one of the _great_ Uchiha could do way better than this. Honestly you're nothing like Itachi was at your age, he would have gotten back up and kept fighting." At the mention of his brother's name, Sasuke stirred and began to stand.

Naruto shook his head and said "Honestly, is this the best you can do? One pathetic assault and a low level Ninjutsu? I really am disappointed. I was expecting an incredible battle that would leave the area in ruins, not some weakling whose all talk."

Sasuke looked pissed off at the black clad blonde before going through several handseals and using the Goukakyuu no jutsu again, only to have it blocked.

"Come on Uchiha, I've barely moved this entire fight and you can't hit me? And you keep using those weak Ninjutsu too, it's pathetic. If you want to use a Ninjutsu, it should be something like THIS. He went through several handseals before yelling "Doton: Doryuu Dango!" He slammed the ground and hauled up a large sphere of earth twice as big as he was which he threw at Sasuke. The black haired ninja to be tried to dodge, but got caught on the edge and it dislocated his left shoulder. Sasuke grabbed the wounded joint, glaring at his enemy.

"You see Uchiha? If you're going to use Ninjutsu, make sure that you can damage your target with them. If I wanted to I could have made that attack more than large enough to kill you, but I am in a good mood so I didn't. Honestly, now I know why your brother left you alive, it was because you're so weak and pathetic that you aren't worth the time it would take to regain the chakra I put into the attack. Itachi doubtless thought that you were so pathetic that you weren't worth the time it would have taken to wipe your blood off of his sword. I can't believe that you actually think that you are anywhere close to strong. This match is over; you can't possibly fight with that arm. Good day to you Iruka." Then Naruto left as mysteriously as he appeared, simply vanishing.

Iruka called in a medical ninja while most of the crowd looked on in awe at the struck down Uchiha. None of them had any idea that there was someone their age more or less that was THAT strong. Tenten smiled while Sakura and Ino fumed over the fact that somebody hurt 'their' Sasuke. Sasuke just looked pissed, both at his defeat and what his enemy said. He would prove that person wrong. He would defeat Itachi and he would defeat HIM.

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And that is the end of the chapter. A lot of people were clamoring for a fight with Sasuke so I eventually decided to cave to the pressure and do it. I can say that I enjoyed it. Anyway, read review and enjoy life in general.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	15. Chapter 15

Greetings to all to bothered to show up, and welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter fifteen

Greetings to all to bothered to show up, and welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter fifteen, now with forty percent more Sasuke bashing! It's good for the soul, the box says so.

Disclaimer: God damn you bastards are persistent with this thing aren't you?

Note: Kage no Naruto is written before a live studio audience, maybe

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Summary of last chapter

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More or less, Naruto watched the now pathetically easy Gennin exam and once detected got into a fight with Sasuke. Guess how that one turned out.

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Naruto's home

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Naruto went home after beating the hell out of the Uchiha. He didn't really have much planned beyond that. He was more or less waiting out the clock until the Chuunin exams. After that was when things would get REALLY fun.

For once, he actually wasn't glomped by Perona immediately after walking in the door. Finding this odd, he searched around the house for her, if she wasn't trying to get as close to him as possible, something was probably wrong.

Or not, he found her in his bedroom, fast asleep. He knew that he had no shot in hell of waking her up, so he just left. He had that latest soldier model to complete after all. The only question that was really plaguing his mind was 'where the hell did she get a plushie of me? I've only seen Neji and Sasuke plushies like that one before now and those were made by… oh no. Fuck, if that thing were of the same design that means I've, gulp, I've got fangirls. FUCK!'

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Ninja Academy

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The students weren't really reacting that well to Sasuke getting the shit kicked out of him. The guys, with the exception of Shino and Shikamaru, laughed at the Uchiha's misfortune. The girls, with the exception of Tenten and Hinata, all cried that his opponent cheated, otherwise he never would have beaten their 'Sasuke-kun'.

Sasuke himself was fucking pissed. 'I'm an Uchiha, I'm the best! How could I possibly lose against some commoner like that! Oh well, it doesn't really matter. Once I get a real sensei and my Sharingan, I'll beat the hell out of that hat-wearing weirdo, and after that I'll kill Itachi! The Sharingan is invincible, I'll copy his jutsu and he won't stand a chance! After all, the only one who could possibly stand a chance against an Uchiha is another Uchiha.'

Sasuke's mental ravings aside, Sakura was asking Tenten a rather interesting question. "Hey, Tenten you said you know that guy? What's his secret? How could he of beat Sasuke-kun? He cheated somehow but what's his trick?"

Tenten looked at her and smirked a bit "It's nothing major, he has complete control over darkness. It will rise to defend him against any kind of attack without him having to lift a finger, or do anything. You could attack him from total ambush and you wouldn't get close to him. I told you already, Sasuke doesn't stand a chance against him, and from what I saw of his abilities when he fought Gai, no one really does. Not alone at least."

Sakura looked enraged and shouted "What, you think he's the strongest in the world or something!?"

Tenten closed her eyes and sighed "It's not that Sakura, he's nowhere near being the strongest in the world, it's just his techniques and strategy. His unique abilities and the way he uses them make it almost impossible for a single person to win. You need at least two people to have a real chance."

Sakura looked puzzled and curious "What do you mean? What are his techniques?"

Images of battle flashed into the brunette's mind. The images of a man clad in green spandex running from tendrils of darkness and creatures made of nothing but darkness, and Tenten running for her life as the entire forest around her was crushed by seemingly nothing as it sank into the ground covered in darkness resembling heatless black flames so black that it could be mistaken for a hole in the ground which spread all across the training ground from its epicenter, Naruto, who was coated in an aura of shadow as more darkness emanated from his body, expanding around him and rising into the sky like a column of black smoke. "Sorry Sakura, it's hard to explain. For you to understand, you would have to see him fight for real. It's just something that you have to see yourself to really grasp. Now if you'll excuse me."

Tenten got up and left, the exams were almost over so the two senseis didn't mind. She didn't like talking about that day too much, the techniques she saw that day, the possibilities they posed, and the sheer malice and confidence with which they were used still terrified the girl, so she just left Sakura there in confusion.

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Team Gai's training ground

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It had been one week since Naruto kicked Sasuke's ass and things were doing good. The final three Gennin teams had been decided. They were Teams 7, 8, and 10. Consisting of Sasuke, Sakura, and Tenten, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino, and Ino, Shoji, and Shikamaru respectively. Tenten was pissed when she got the same Jounin sensei twice, especially after seeing how easy the test was compared to the first one she got from him. Something just told her and Naruto that the only reason that team passed was because the Uchiha was on the squad. Not that there was any proof of that of course, but it was pretty strange how they were the first team in Kakashi's history to get a passable examination.

The poor bastards had been stuck doing D-rank missions nonstop for a week and judging by how things normally worked they would be doing it until the Chuunin exams were here. By that time they would probably get to do a C-rank. Naruto knew that D-ranks were fucking irritating, and that was why he joined in. Naruto regularly disguised himself and hired ninja for D-rank missions, always coming up for the most disgusting and horrible stuff for them to do that he could imagine. He also kept setting the Daimyo's wife's cat free, forcing the fat broad to hire ninja to catch the little monstrosity. Mind you the thing really liked him, setting it free about twenty times gets you on someone's good side, I guess.

But more important was that his calculations on the likelihood of a C-rank were wrong. He heard just today that team seven, Sasuke's team led by Hatake Kakashi, was heading out of the village on a C-rank.

Normally this wouldn't bother him much, what was concerning him was the fact that it was to Nami no Kuni and the client of the mission, Tazuna. He knew of Tazuna's efforts to build a bridge connecting Nami no Kuni and Hi no Kuni in order to break Gatou's monopoly, and that wasn't something he wanted. If Gatou is threatened, he'll bring out the zombie squad that he sold the businessman. They were good but their bodies were older models so someone like Kakashi might be able to beat them. If that happened than the whole zombie business would be put under a fucking microscope and that was something that he couldn't let happen.

So Naruto devised a plan to get to Nami no Kuni before the zombies were brought out and monitor the situation. With any luck Gatou would hire a Nuke-nin strong enough to take down Kakashi and nip the problem in the bud, but there was a possibility that that plan wouldn't work and Kakashi would go up against his undead. If that happened he would just destroy the zombies, it wouldn't be too hard, but it wouldn't change the fact that Kakashi saw them and if he reported what he saw, which he would, investigations would be launched.

So Naruto would go to Nami no Kuni for a week or so and finally tie up loose ends with Gatou. If he had some spare time he might even be able to get the replacement weapon that he had in mind. The situation could get really bad if he was found, so it would have to be a stealth mission.

After training, Naruto packed a bag and prepared for his temporary escape. Since Gai knew that his shadow didn't have a shadow, and neither did he when they were separated, he couldn't use the trick that he did with the Sandaime four years ago. He would have to rely on a Tsuchi Bunshin instead. The trouble was that the clone didn't have his abilities with shadows.

The clone would call in sick and lie in bed for a week while he left the country for a little while. When he got back it would be almost time for the Chuunin exams so it worked out. He would have to get there first but thanks to the Kage Hokou that would be no problem at all.

He had prepared everything he needed and was about to leave when Perona showed up. "So Naruto, heading off to Nami no Kuni already?"

He just looked at the ghost girl in a bit of surprise "Y-yes, um how did you know that?"

Perona looked at him, smiled and said "I know a lot more than most people give me credit for. My ghosts can hear you know. So let's get going."

"What?" He didn't really intend to take Perona with him. Sure he had been teaching her the ninja basics, but he had no specific need for her particular skills.

Perona looked at him and said "I want to go too; ever since we got here I've left the house fewer than five times. I need to get outside, plus I don't want to stay too far away from you Naruto-kun." She smiled as she said that last sentence.

Naruto sighed, he knew that once she had her mind set on something, it would be hard as hell to talk her out of it, and you never really know when her techniques would come in handy, so he assented. Perona cheered and Naruto grabbed her shoulder before vanishing from the house.

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Nami no Kuni, Naruto's camp

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Naruto had watched as the newly formed team seven entered the country. It wasn't long after that before they were attacked by Momochi Zabuza, a member of the Seven Swordsmen. He would have been killed by Kakashi if he didn't have an accomplice waiting in the wings to save him. At the same time, Kakashi was extremely drained of chakra during the fight.

To be honest, Naruto was more than a little disappointed in the cycloptic Jounin. He was famed and revered for being one of the most powerful Jounin of Konoha, and yet he is out of commission for a week after a single fight when he barely took any injuries? Sure, he knew a lot of Ninjutsu, but that was because of the Sharingan. Hell, he was known as 'Copy ninja Kakashi'. The only reason he was famous was because of his ill-gotten Sharingan eye. If his teammate Obito never died, he wouldn't even have a Bingo Book entry, hell it was possible that he wouldn't even be a Jounin. It didn't help Naruto's opinion of him that Kakashi was one of the foremost Kyuubi haters, he longed for the day that Kakashi was stupid enough to try and take him out.

Still, Zabuza was out of action for a week and Kakashi was out for about as long. Zabuza and his unnamed accomplice caught Naruto's interest. Since Zabuza was here, he could easily attain his body if he died same goes with the apprentice. He could have the original frames for two new General Zombies by the end of this mission, three if Kakashi died. Mind you, he really wanted to get some information out of Kakashi regarding his father's sword, the chakra fang. After all, it was only right for Hatake Sakumo to wield the sword he wielded in life, was it not? While Hatake Kakashi was a poor example of a ninja, his father was a totally different matter. All he needed was a powerful shadow for that particular corpse.

Alas, he had a week to kill before Zabuza made his entrance again. Under normal circumstances he would have to sit there bored, but in this case he had another goal, the attainment of the perfect weapon.

As he prepped to leave, Perona asked him "I thought you didn't fight close range. Why do you need a weapon anyway?"

He looked at the girl and smiled "You never know when something may come in handy Perona-chan. I am actually well versed in Kenjutsu; I just need a powerful sword to wield. Through Yukino-chan's abilities, I have managed to locate a very powerful sword, the most powerful sword ever made."

Perona asked him "Really, where is it? What's its name?"

Naruto looked toward the sea and said "In all of history, there have been twenty one swords of immense power. These swords were made by an unknown master at an unknown time, but it is guaranteed to be over a thousand years ago. These swords were of unsurpassed quality and have been featured in many legends. Excalibur was one such blade. These swords have passed through time, unblemished for most of it. However, these swords have been, for the most part, destroyed. It is unknown how it was done, but most of them were collected and erased from existence."

He took a breath before continuing "Replacements have been attempted, such as the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the Raijin sword, the chakra fang of the Hatake clan, the swords wielded by the Seven Swordsmen such as Zangetsu or Samehada, but these are all fakes, cheap imitations of the twenty one great swords. Of the original twenty one great swords, only three still remain. The blade wielded by Ryuuma, the ebony blade Shuusui, is one of them. The second was wielded by a man called Roronoa Zoro, the demon sword Sandai Kitetsu, this sword is located in the man's grave, Hogback didn't know of the sword's greatness otherwise he would have taken it too when he recovered Shuusui. The third is the one I want, and is the most powerful of the twenty one great swords, the unknown master's guaranteed masterpiece. A blade of unsurpassed quality and power. This sword is the dark blade Zanmato, and it is located in yet another grave, the grave of its previous wielder who died over eight hundred years ago. I have recently learned of its location and that is where I am going now. It actually isn't too far, so I should be back before the week is up. So I shall trust you to keep an eye on things while I am gone. If Zabuza shows up before I return, let me know. I will see you when I return Perona-chan and whatever you do, stay unnoticed." Then before she could respond he picked up his bag, leaned over and kissed the girl right on the lips before vanishing, leaving her in a slight daze.

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Small unnamed island, the ocean, three days later

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Naruto reached the rocky shore and put his hands on his knees, panting. Running across water for three days straight can really take it out of a guy. All he could say was thank god for soldier pills.

Naruto recovered himself and examined the terrain. It wasn't a large place, little more than an outcropping of rock with a cave really. The rocks near the shore were sharp and dangerous and the waves crashed hard against them. The place was overall very bleak. He guessed that it was an appropriate place for a grave. After all, if it were highly noticeable than people would have found and invaded the place years ago.

Naruto traversed the rocky ground carefully, the ground was treacherous and a misstep could lead to something like a twisted ankle and that would really suck. He made it to the narrow cave entrance and passed through, emerging in a decent sized tunnel. He had barely gone three steps down it when a volley of darts went whizzing through the air towards his face. They were stopped instantly of course, but Naruto really had to be amazed. This guy died over eight hundred years ago and these traps were guaranteed to be at least that old. The fact that they still worked was nothing less than astounding.

Naruto continued through the rocky tunnels, occasionally besieged by various traps which were effortlessly blocked. They ranged from poisoned darts to three axes that swung out of hidden recesses in the rock at neck, waist, and knee level at the same time. Any normal person would have been long dead by now. The greatest defense of the island was that it actually moved. It never stayed in the same place for more than a few days, it just drifted along the ocean, but the traps were there to stop anyone who managed to find the place from looting the grave that was located here.

Before long, Naruto stood at the grave. It was in a single room on its own, a single stone sarcophagus. The lid must have weighed at least five hundred pounds. There was a marble slab at the head of the gigantic coffin bearing the name of the deceased person who resided here, but Naruto didn't even glance at it, he already knew who was here. He strode over to the coffin lid and after a moment to set his feet, he put both hands on the lid and heaved. He pushed as hard as he could but after a moment he grunted with the great effort and ceased in his struggling. Naruto took a moment to recover his breath. The thing was heavier than he thought.

After a moment, he snapped his fingers and his shadow came to life. He looked at the thing and said "Move this", the shadow nodded and pressed itself against the slab of rock. It pushed hard against the stone and after a moment, the rock began to shift and grind to the other side, revealing the interior of the coffin. A few seconds later, the stone slab fell against the ground with a large CRACK.

Naruto smiled and his shadow returned to its normal place at his feet. Nine months of searching, all for this moment, his mouth was watering with anticipation of the sight and power of the legendary blade and maybe more.

He looked into the coffin and saw nothing inside but a solid two inches of dust and a large sword. He sifted his hand through the dust. 'Hmm, I guess even the greatest swordsman of all time could not stand against father time, the old man with the hourglass is patient.'

Then he turned his attentions to the sword. It was a gorgeous piece of work, you could feel the power running through its length. It was six feet long, with a one foot long handle. The blade was straight but with a curve near the end. The entire length of the blade was solid black, so dark that it would be invisible in a dark room. The hilt was of solid gold and it was quite large, easily reaching four feet wide, from side to side. If you looked at the sword from the bottom, from the tip of the blade to the handle, it actually looked a lot like a cross. Despite the eight hundred years of captivity in a stone box, it had lost none of its luster, none of its power; it truly was the greatest of the twenty one great swords.

Naruto reached into the coffin and tentatively touched the handle of the sword, it was very cold, but he tried to lift it. He struggled with the blade, it was extremely heavy. He could feel the sword rejecting his attempt to wield it. Regardless of that he struggled on to lift the blade and brought it into a guard position. He fed his chakra into the sword, attuning it to his energies, forcing it to accept him as its new master. He felt immense resistance from the blade itself pressing the chakra away and rejecting him as an individual, like a wild horse that refused to be mounted, seeing no human as its master.

He continued regardless and he could feel his own power, slowly but surely, overwhelming that of the sword, his chakra pressing against and subduing that aura of power around the blade, it was difficult to press his chakra into such a resilient thing. The sword was almost alive in its own right, and it refused to see someone as its master without a fight, pressing his chakra away and turning its handle red hot in an attempt to force him to let go.

The battle of will took hours before a winner was decided. Naruto stood fast constantly, not even thinking of allowing a length of metal to best him, constantly feeding his chakra into the sword, attempting to subdue the blade, while it did all it could to break his grasp of the blade, to break his concentration so that it could free itself. Despite the efforts of the black steel, Naruto won out, pouring his chakra into the sword, subduing it, forcing it to see him as its master. As suddenly as it began, the constant pressure against his chakra stopped, the immense heat pouring through the hilt of the blade ceased, becoming a gentle warmth, the weight ceased to be so fearsome, becoming light as a normal kunai, it was official, he had bested the mind of the sword and it saw him as a worthy wielder, a worthy master. Naruto let out a breath, he had been constantly pouring his chakra into the thing for six hours straight. He knew that the obtaining of one of the great swords would not be easy but that was still far more difficult than he had anticipated. He placed the newly submissive sword in the same sealing area that he had placed his axe in before, in the shadow pressed into his right sleeve. The blade vanished and he went to the entrance of the room, pausing only to look back at the pillaged coffin.

He just said four words before departing the tomb, beginning his journey home. Those four words were "Thank you, Dracule Mihawk."

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Naruto's camp, Nami no Kuni, three days later

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Naruto managed to get back to the camp in roughly the same amount of time that it took him to get to Mihawk's grave. The sword was sealed into his sleeve, and he was fucking exhausted.

Perona looked up from the fire and said "Naruto-kun! I'm so glad you're back! How was the trip? Did you get what you were looking for?"

Naruto just staggered to the bedroll and mumbled "Found sword, tired, need sleep." Before collapsing onto the portable sleeping apparatus. Perona just smiled and put a blanket over him. Then after a while she snuggled up next to him and fell asleep as well.

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About twelve hours later

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Naruto struggled back to the world of the awake and immediately shut his eyes. It was at least noon and the sun was blinding. He woke up Perona after waking up fully.

"Hmm, Naruto-kun? What time is it?" Perona slowly rose and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Naruto got up and looked around the campsite.

He said "Around noon, judging by the sun. So what happened while I was gone? Did Zabuza make his second appearance yet?"

Perona got up and yawned before replying "No, he's still hiding, though by that Cyclops' judgment he should be showing up today. All those four have been doing is training to climb up trees, it was boring as hell. I mean, they took a week to master it. I managed to master it in an hour and that was about ten minutes after you unlocked my chakra and explained what it was and what I could do with it. How long did it take you?"

Naruto looked away from the surrounding forest; he was quite paranoid at times. "Tree climbing? Uh, about two hours. So those idiots are that lame huh? Jeez, if Itachi heard that his brother took a week to master tree climbing he would have a stroke. The rest of the clan is probably rolling in their graves. Well, today the boredom is over Perona-chan, we finally get to have some fun."

Perona put out what remained of the fire with a small Suiton jutsu before she realized something. "Wait, two hours? That means I mastered it faster than you!"

Naruto smiled a bit before approaching her "Yes, you did, you are quite the little genius." He kissed her right on the lips before saying "Now come on, it would be best to pack up camp now so that no one finds it later. After today we finally go back home. I need you to check out the bridge and let me know when Zabuza makes his move and more importantly, when Gatou shows up." He went and started to pack up the tents, sealing them into scrolls before returning them to his jacket. Perona just nodded and made her way to the bridge, doing her best to fight off the large blush that had adorned her cheeks.

Naruto sat down on a nearby fallen log after packing everything away, taking a short rest. Twelve hours of sleep helped a lot, but he was still pretty tired after running as fast as he could at a dead sprint for about six days straight over water. Over ten thousand miles covered in six days, it really took more out of him than he thought. 'I'll have to step up my training again. My body needs to be as strong as possible to use _those_ techniques. But I'm a lot closer to that goal than I was. Ten years of extreme Taijutsu training is finally showing some real results, but I still can't use them freely. I'll have to work hard to master them before the Chuunin exams come around, but I think I can do it. No I KNOW I can do it. The ultimate style of Taijutsu mastered only by a few in all of history. I've said it before but I'll say it again, thank god for Kyuubi and the Yondaime's stupidity.' He wasn't sure but he could feel that Kyuubi was rather amused at his little mental speech.

He was shook from his musings by a small ghost, no larger than his hand, which floated down from the trees. It stayed in place about two feet in front of him before Perona's voice came through "Naruto-kun, Zabuza has made his move, he and his apprentice are fighting Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura. That other girl, Tenten, hasn't shown up yet. Gatou hasn't made an appearance but I'm keeping about forty eyes out for him."

Naruto nodded and the ghost dissipated, Perona's recon abilities weren't nearly as good as Yukino's but they were still pretty good, more like a dozen invincible Kage Bunshins that constantly transmitted information rather than Yukino's endless army of invisible living cameras. Still very useful for mid or long range though. Naruto got up and got moving to the ghost girl's location.

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Small cliff overlooking the bridge

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Naruto emerged from the forest and looked around. Perona chose a pretty good spot, it was a ridge that had an excellent view of everything around and had a good view of the bridge. He saw that a thick mist had taken up the southern half of the nearly completed bridge. He also saw a dome of mirrors that contained Sasuke. He shook his head in disdain, that boy was truly a disappointment.

Perona was sitting nearby with her eyes closed. Forming and maintaining that many ghosts really took a lot of concentration. He left her to her meditation and reconnaissance; she already knew that he was there. He just watched the fight, and paid close attention to the two missing-nin.

About ten minutes later, Perona opened her eyes "I've found them. Gatou and the ten zombies you lent him are currently boarding a boat about five miles away, heading toward the bridge."

Naruto smiled and said "Let's go." Perona nodded and they vanished.

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About five minutes later

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Naruto and Perona watched as the boat made its way to the bridge. It wasn't much, a wooden boat meant to carry people from point A to point B, nothing special. Gatou and the ten zombies were riding it, and one of the zombies was driving the craft. Naruto motioned for Perona to stay where she was before he jumped down.

Gatou had been doing great. Ever since that guy showed up years ago his takeover of Nami had gone without a hitch. He had to be careful not to let anybody see the zombies and live, but it wasn't too hard. Sure the rent was quite large but it was more than worth it compared to how much money he was making off of the deal. He was just about to go and take care of that naïve idiot Zabuza and that bitch of an apprentice of his when a cloaked figure dropped onto the boat from nowhere. The man looked up slightly, but he couldn't make out any features. He just said in an eerily familiar voice "It has been a while Gatou."

"Who the hell are you!? Did you come to try and kill me? Who sent you?" Gatou was in a fair bit of panic at the moment, I mean how often does a guy show up out of nowhere like that? Okay dumb question, how often does that happen for a civilian?

The figure placed one hand over its heart before the voice said "Oh Gatou, I'm hurt. You don't remember me? You've only been paying me every month for about four years in exchange for these beauties here." The figure motioned toward the zombies as he did so and as he did, Gatou finally recognized him.

"Oh it's you! It's been a while hasn't it? Forgive me for my rudeness, but it has been a long time and I didn't recognize you immediately, I'm so sorry." Gatou didn't normally behave like this but the last time the man appeared, he made Gatou insanely rich and powerful, practically handing him a country and he was eager to find out what he was here to offer this time around.

The figure chuckled before saying "Oh, its no problem Gatou, no problem at all believe me I understand. Now then, as to why I am here, I am here to give you the greatest gift you could imagine."

Gatou looked up at this and his eyes sparkled as the figure continued "Oh yes, it is the greatest gift anyone could receive. That gift is…freedom from all worldly attachment." Before Gatou could do anything more than look confused a large black blade appeared in the man's hand and lopped off the businessman's head.

He swung the massive blade once to shed the blood from the black steel before it vanished, sealed once more. He muttered to himself "Idiot, thinking that a demon would keep you alive once you were no longer useful." Then he looked around and said "You know who I am?"

The zombies gathered in front of him and knelt at his feet as the boat came to a stop, they said at the same time "Yes, master"

Naruto smiled before saying "Good, then prepare to return home. Your job here is done." He willed the shadows to surround them and the zombies sank into that darkness, returning to Hogback's cave system. He would know what to do with them; this was standard procedure after all. He rifled through Gatou's pockets and took his wallet and after removing the money from it, jumped back up to where Perona was watching. He smiled at her and said "Let's get back to the bridge, our job here is almost finished."

They watched as the battle reached its conclusion, Haku abandoning her fight with Sasuke and the returned Tenten and jumping into the way of the Raikiri that would slay her master and Zabuza attacking the tired Kakashi immediately after wards, the jutsu used blasting the pair of Kiri ninja into the sea as a small army arrived at the bridge too late to do anything except cheer at the defeat of the Kiri no Oni and escort the ninjas to where they could rest. For them, the day was won.

Naruto on the other hand sent his shadow to retrieve the corpses. Within a minute it returned bearing the bodies of the man and his apprentice, even brining Zabuza's sword along as well. He laid the bodies out and proceeded to remove the water from the lungs of the pair as he assessed the damage to the two. He had the bodies of two more General Zombies on his hands; he wanted to know how much work he and Hogback had to do. He was the most surprised when the girl, Haku, gasped loudly.

"Holy shit, we have a live one!" Naruto cried as he looked over the Hyouton user. The Raikiri missed her heart but nailed her in one of her lungs pretty well. Without some quick treatment she wouldn't last long. He knew that the ice elemental Kekkei Genkai that she had was unique, that was one of the reasons he wanted her body, it was powerful and he knew that for sure after seeing her in combat. However, it required training and knowledge to use, that was training and studying that the shadow he used to animate the corpse would have to do in order to use the techniques effectively. If he could get her to serve him willingly, he wouldn't have to zombify her and waste time in order to obtain the Hyouton. As a result, he would do his best to make sure she lived. So he used one of the more unknown powers of his shadow.

He had the shadow manifest itself and conform to the wounded portion of her body. It would change into the flesh that she had lost, attaching itself to her seamlessly. It would take the form of the ruined lung, allowing her to breathe, taking the shape of the pierced arteries, veins, and ruined flesh, keeping her alive. Not healing her injuries, but replacing what she had lost temporarily. If Naruto wanted he could have it remain that way for the rest of the girl's life and it would have no ill effects, but he wanted the shadow back at some point so it would act as a patch until they got the girl to Hogback. He may have been creepy, but he was at least as good as Tsunade when it came to medicine and healing.

As Perona watched in awe of her master's hitherto unseen ability, he looked over Zabuza. He got nailed with a Raikiri in the heart and was long gone. After knocking Haku unconscious once more, he beckoned Perona closer and Naruto used the Kage Hokou to travel back to the caves.

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Hidden caves, Hokage Monument interior

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Naruto arrived in the usual room and yelled out "HOGBACK! Get your ass in here! We've got two bodies, one General class frame and a live one needing treatment!"

Within a minute Hogback, Absalom, Haruka, and Yukino had entered the room. He told them "Absalom, bring in the dude with sword to Hogback's lab. This one is going to be a General so he takes priority over any current projects. Hogback, the girl needs treatment, she got nailed in the lung with Kakashi's Raikiri, but I'm keeping her stable. Help me get her to where you need her to perform surgery. Haruka and Yukino, get out of the way." The beast man picked up the deceased demon of the mist and his sword and carried them off while Hogback and Naruto carried in Haku on a stretcher made of darkness.

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Two hours later

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Naruto walked out of the medical room with a bloody mask and smock which he removed. Hogback was taking care of some last details, such as the bandaging and sleeping drugs to keep her zonked out for a while. The surgery had been a success and Haku, while guaranteed to be sore and weak for a while, was going to be okay with a new lung and replaced flesh. He had ordered the group to take care of the ice girl until he got a chance to talk to her which wouldn't be for a while.

After getting everything together, he called to Perona and they went back to the house. They had had quite a day, so Naruto decided to call it a night, and Perona did too soon after. Naruto had roughly a month until the Chuunin exams and he had some techniques to master before then, a lot of training to be done and a new General Zombie to prepare.

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End of chapter. I made it a bit of a long one since it has been a while since I last updated, by my standards, so I decided to give you guys that little something extra.

In the next chapter, the beginning of the Chuunin exams! Meeting Gaara and his siblings along with the other teams, seeing Lee kick the shit out of Sasuke and character bashing galore! Well until next time, read review (NOW) and enjoy! See ya. And for your decision, do you want the female Haku to join the harem of four? Yes or no, you decide, I listen, maybe.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	16. Chapter 16

Greetings to all who have read up till this point

Greetings to all who have read up till this point. I don't really have much to say except WELCOME TO THE CHUUNIN EXAMS! This is where the story will start to get really interesting. Sorry that it took sixteen chapters to get here, but it will be worth it. All I can say is to read the chapter and review at the end.

Note: One dude mentioned this, can't remember who, but I know that Mihawk's sword was never named in the canon thus far. As a result I gave it the name of one of the most badass attacks in videogame history. Who hasn't seen Yojimbo's Zanmato in action and thought 'awesome'?

Second note: Thanks go to Narutomaniac for pointing this out. Apparently he could have used Kage Hokou to transport back from Mihawk's grave rather than run back. I have no excuse for this mistake so I humbly apologize. Anyway, moving on.

Third note: I put it to a vote and the results are in, as is Haku. The current members of the harem are Perona and Haku, with two more spots to fill. I'll give you potential choices at the end of the chapter.

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NARUTO SPOILERS  
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Apparently taking in that 'natural energy' to perform sage techniques is difficult. If you take in too little you won't get anywhere but if you take in too much you'll turn into a fucking frog! Even Jiraiya never got it down perfectly since he always turned into a frog a bit when he used it, hence the sage mode transformation.

On the Sasuke front, we haven't actually seen what the Hachibi Jinchuuriki can do but he kicked the asses of Jugo and Suigetsu easily. Now Jugo's out of it, Suigetsu's amazed and Sasuke is stepping in all dramatically. Personally I hope the Hachibi will kick Sasuke's ass since he beat those other two without breaking a sweat or using the Bijuu's chakra. Hell he was singing and dancing the entire fight, making fun of them! Or at least it was heavily implied, you have to see the chapter to know what I mean. GO HACHIBI JINCHUURIKI! SAVE THE SERIES FROM SASGAY!

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SPOILERS OVER  
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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, there I said it. Happy?

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto obtained a new weapon, the black sword Zanmato, and killed Gatou, taking back the zombies he lent the man long ago. He obtained the corpse and the sword of Zabuza and a possible new subordinate in the injured but alive Haku. Now Naruto has prepared and the Chuunin exams are upon us. What will happen in this confrontation of young ninja? Naruto will kick some ass of course, but watch how awesome it looks in text. Enjoy!

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Naruto's home, a few days before the first exam

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Naruto's day started out like it normally did. In other words, waking up with Perona wrapped around him like he was a gigantic teddy bear. With the usual Kage Bunshin switch he evaded her grasp and got prepared. The Chuunin exams were in three days so the various Jounin senseis were going to be deciding who would be taking the test. He didn't have any doubt that his team would be entering the exam, but he was more interested in who else would be taking it. He was about ninety percent sure that Kakashi would nominate his team so that Konoha could show off the Sharingan as well as give Kakashi a chance to upstage Gai, so he would have more fun in tormenting the spoiled brat.

There was a chance that the other two rookie teams would be participating, but he wouldn't bet on it. Unless those two teams really improved since he last saw them they would be eaten alive by the exams themselves and those taking it beside them. In other words him, but there was a chance that someone else would get to them first.

What really interested him though were the teams arriving from other villages. Most of them would be nothing special, tough for Gennin but nothing compared to the other levels and most likely going to fail the exams, but there would be others out there that would interest him. He knew for sure that Sabaku no Gaara and his sibling Kankurou and Temari would be joining the exam, and that would be interesting to say the least. He was hoping for other big names but most villages didn't send their very best to other villages, too many chances to be abducted. They usually waited to host the exams themselves before showing off a bit so that they could flash the merchandise without having to worry about possible kidnappings.

He dressed in his usual garb, normal black Shinobi pants, form fitting, and showing, black spandex shirt that covered his arms to the wrist, black trench-coat with the inside covered in storage shadows secured around his neck and his normal top-hat. He decided to add one thing though. He carried his new sword on his back, parallel to his spine. It was secured by a small seal applied to his coat that acted as a medium strength adhesive that came loose with a good amount of force. The extremely large handle stretched past his shoulders and the handle rose above his head while the blade rested near his calves. He normally wouldn't carry it like this, preferring to carry it in the seal on his sleeve, but it was an exam, he wanted to make an impression. Fear would defeat more enemies than the mightiest weapon, and he would use that to his advantage. Leaving a sleeping girl and a happy Kage Bunshin behind, he left the house.

He made quite the impression upon the populace which is what he wanted. He didn't mind being feared by the men or ogled by the female populace. It was as he feared, despite his demonic reputation he had acquired a fangirl squad, the most powerful enemy any badass could possibly face. Carrying around a huge weapon only served to make them go nuts even more, and truth be told he didn't really mind, he had plenty of anti-fangirl maneuvers to make use of if he needed to. The village only had a month or so left if Orochimaru's plan worked so he decided to indulge himself in the finer things that came with being a badass.

Just because he carried a huge sword didn't mean that he didn't know how to use it. He had been training hard with the large blade and was highly proficient with it. The sword had several special qualities to make use of that would be useful in battle so he did his best to master it. He had also completed his Taijutsu training. Doing that and mastering Zanmato in a month wasn't easy but he managed to accomplish it by training himself into the ground and then getting up and doing it again. His training surpassed even Lee's insane schedule.

His team meeting wasn't for two hours, so he decided to take a stroll around the city. It was actually quite a beautiful place and very tranquil, the only real downside was the people. Such a shame that such a gorgeous location had to be ruined by the rude and irritating populace, it was like Paris, but worse. It was made better by the fact that it was in the early afternoon so most people were at their jobs so he could enjoy the scenery without the constant glares.

His tour of the place was interrupted when he heard a loud scream coming from nearby. Somewhat irritated that something decided to ruin the moment for him, he decided to go take a look at what was going on.

What he found was a small child with a strange helmet being held up by his collar by a larger individual wearing black clothes and purple face paint that made his look like a kabuki actor. He had a large bandaged object tied to his back and there were two other children and that pathetic excuse for a ninja Sakura trying to get him to let go. There was also a rather pretty blonde girl nearby looking irritated at the foolishness. He also noticed that other girl, Tenten, was coming toward the scene.

The boy in black just said in a growl to the child "That hurt kid, you should really look where you're going before you run into somebody." The boy replied with a smartass remark so he said "Well, I guess I'll have to teach you some manners then, won't I?" He raised his hand to punch the kid but his hand was stopped by a few rocks.

He looked over and saw what he already knew was there, Uchiha Sasuke sitting in the tree, looking cool or trying too. He said in as smug a voice as he could "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" To make his point he tossed a second rock, caught it again and then crushed it like it was something impressive. Naruto mentally sighed at what a drama queen the guy was.

The guy let the kid go and took the package off of his back saying "Oh, really? Point me to somebody like that because all I see around here are small fry like you? What's your name anyway? I try to remember the names of arrogant morons who I gave what they deserve."

Sasuke jumped down and took a stance before he said "Uchiha Sasuke, best Gennin in Konoha, and you are?"

The guy prepared to unleash whatever was in the wrappings as he said "Sabaku no Kankurou, Gennin of Sunagakure."

The girl said "Wait Kankurou! You aren't going to use Karasu here are you? It isn't worth it!"

Naruto recognized the name. 'So this is Sabaku no Kankurou, middle child of the Yondaime Kazekage huh? A bit arrogant, but he probably has some skills judging by his attitude. The girl must be Sabaku no Temari, his older sister. Not bad looking by all accounts. Note to self, look her up later. But the question is, where is the youngest child Sabaku no Gaara? The Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Tanuki? Oh wait, there he is.'

Sure enough a strong killing intent flooded the alleyway, focusing on the pair of Suna ninja and Kankurou's face went white. A gravelly voice rang out from where Sasuke was before "Kankurou you're a disgrace to our village." There was a small redheaded boy with a large gourd tied to his back standing where Sasuke was before.

Kankurou immediately put the bandaged object back on his back and said "But Gaara, these guys were asking for it and I…."

"Shut up!" Gaara interrupted his older brother "If you disgrace our village again, I will kill you." Then he vanished and reappeared near his teammates. Kankurou just nodded, not trusting his voice or his bladder. "Now come on." He led his elder siblings away.

"Hold on, who are you?" Sasuke asked, irritated that he was no longer the center of attention in front of young children and girls roughly his age.

Temari looked back and jokingly said "You mean me?"

Sasuke frowned and said "No, the freak with the gourd. I don't care about you." Naruto frowned at this.

The redhead turned back and said "I am Sabaku no Gaara, who are you?"

Sasuke smirked like an arrogant douche and said "Uchiha Sasuke, strongest Gennin in…."

He would have continued on but he was interrupted by a voice sounding from the trees "Yes, yes we all know, you're Uchiha Sasuke strongest Gennin in your own mind, we've heard it already." As the voice rang out, a figure clad in black descended from the trees near where Gaara was. Sasuke recognized the figure, as did Tenten and Sakura.

Sakura pointed at him and yelled "You're that freak who hurt Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto sighed and said "Yes, yes, if you don't want a repeat demonstration performed upon YOU than shut your mouth, whore." Sakura looked pissed but thankfully shut up.

Naruto continued on "Honestly Uchiha, I am disappointed in you, saying such things to such a beautiful young lady; you should be ashamed of yourself. You should be honored to even have a woman speak to you rather than the men you always prefer." Now it was Sasuke's turn to look pissed off. Tenten just looked like she was about to either going to pull a Hinata and feint or have an orgasm from looking at Naruto's sword.

Naruto said "I, on the other hand, would be happy to learn your name miss."

Temari blushed slightly at such a good looking guy asking her name but she managed to stammer out "U-um, Sabaku no Temari."

Naruto smiled and said "I am pleased to meet you Temari-chan; I am Uzumaki Naruto, the REAL strongest Gennin in Konoha." He bowed slightly as he said this, making Temari blush even more to Naruto's delight.

Sakura managed to reclaim her voice and said "Hold on, you guys are from Sunagakure, right? Even though Konoha and Suna are allies you can't just walk into our village without a reason. State your purpose."

Naruto rose from his slight bow while Temari looked at her and said "Isn't it obvious?"

Sakura shook her head and said "No, now what's your purpose here?"

Naruto sighed and said "They're obviously here for the Chuunin exams you ignorant bitch."

Sakura looked pissed again but Naruto didn't care. He looked at Temari and said "Excuse the whore's ignorance, she's a fangirl, I'm sure you know the type. If it doesn't have something to do with her 'precious Sasuke-kun' than it can go pound sand for all she cares." Temari nodded, having met several people in her Academy days, they rarely lasted long but this one must have been an exception.

Sasuke looked up and said "Chuunin exams?"

Temari looked at him and said "They're the tests that Gennin take to be promoted to Chuunin of course. Don't tell me you haven't heard of them."

Naruto sighed and said "It doesn't matter if people like him know of them or not. They're rookies, straight out of the academy who still believe in childish fantasies and delusions of power. I personally thank the gods that idiots like them won't enter the exams, otherwise they'll give the entire village a bad name." Temari nodded, understanding the point.

Temari looked and realized that he brothers left her behind. She turned to leave and said "I have to catch up with my brothers before they get into some kind of trouble, so I'll see you later Naruto-san." Then she ran off to catch the other two.

Naruto waved and turned to the group of inexperienced ninja. "Now then, what were you all saying?"

Sasuke and Sakura looked pissed while Tenten rushed over to him with hearts in her eyes and asked "CanIlookatyoursword?"

Naruto eyed the girl strangely and said "Umm, I'm sorry?"

Tenten took a breath and calmed down a little before saying "Can I look at your sword?"

Naruto smiled a bit before saying "Sure, why not?" before reaching back and taking the sword from its place, holding it horizontally in front of him for the girl to admire.

Tenten looked at the sword from every angle, loving it more and more every second. The blade was the finest she had ever seen. There wasn't a single flaw to be found anywhere on the steel. The hilt was crafted exquisitely from gold and saw not a single scratch upon it and the small gems that were embedded in the metal were bright and lustrous. The large sapphire set in the pommel was of the same bright blue as Naruto's eyes she noticed and couldn't help but admire the work of art that was this enormous sword. She just managed to say "Oh my god, this is the best sword I've ever seen. Where did you get this?" She looked up expectantly.

Naruto just smiled as he placed the blade upon his back before saying "I forged it myself. Now if you'll excuse me Tenten, emo, whore." He vanished leaving one enamored ninja and two pissed off wannabes.

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Team Gai training ground

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Naruto arrived at the training ground for the first time in a while. He had managed it by giving Gai the story that he was going to be training on his own, which wasn't really a lie. The spandex clad Jounin yelled out "Hello Naruto-kun! It has been a while my ever-youthful student! How did your private training go? Did you master any powerful Taijutsu?"

Naruto said "Hey Gai-sensei, sorry I couldn't be here sooner, but my training just took that long. As for the new Taijutsu, I actually did. I managed to complete my new style. I can proudly claim that when it comes to Taijutsu I am a match for anyone except maybe you."

Gai laughed and said "Good to hear my student! Now work even harder to surpass me!" He gave him the dreaded 'Nice Guy Pose' before continuing "I also notice that you're carrying a rather fine sword Naruto-kun. Where did you get it?"

Naruto smirked and said "I made it myself of course. You'd be surprise what kind of stuff you come up with to occupy free space in your house. And before you even ask, yes I can use it quite well despite its size it is actually very light."

Gai did another pose before saying "Excellent my eternally youthful student! Now that you are all here, I can give you what I hope will make your day!" He took out three pieces of paper and handed one to each of the three "These my youthful students are applications for the Chuunin selection exams in three days! If you want to enter, simply sign your form and turn it in at room 301 in the Academy three days from now. However, if you don't want to enter, you don't have to. Think carefully before taking the exams as…."

He stopped in mid-sentence as he saw that Naruto took up a pen and signed his form before handing it to Lee who did the same before passing the pen to Neji who signed his form before giving it to Naruto who made it vanish into his coat. "Do you actually think that we would pass this up Gai-sensei? If you did than you are crazier than you look. We'll take the exams and we'll all pass effortlessly."

Gai broke out into anime-style tears and yelled "THAT IS GREAT TO HEAR MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS! DO YOUR BEST AND SHOW THE WORLD WHAT YOU HAVE TO OFFER!" Then he managed to recover himself and said in his normal tone "If you accept than I will see you all in three days at the Academy. Remember, you have to have your applications turned in by 3 PM. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go rub this in Kakashi's face." Then the Jounin vanished.

Lee looked over to his newly arrived teammate and said "So, how difficult was your private training Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked at the spandex clad, over hyperactive Gennin and said "The training I underwent was about ten times more difficult than yours. I hope to meet you in combat during the exam Lee so that I can show you my new style. But you'll have to wait until then. Excuse me." Then he vanished, leaving a newly determined Rock Lee shouting that he will redouble his training to catch up and a stoic Neji who decided to go home.

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Hidden caves

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Naruto went back home and from there to the caves. Haku was supposed to wake up today. He didn't expect her to sleep for this long but the massive shock of being nearly killed, the close call with hypothermia from the cold water, and a number of other factors added up and her body needed rest to sort everything out. He decided to take Perona along too since she was getting bored with being stuck in the house most days. The best entertainment she got was letting a ghost outside and watching as the people freaked out. No one actually believed that it was a real ghost, mind you. Everyone thought that it was Naruto casting a Genjutsu because he was bored, well everyone sane at least. As for the Kyuubi haters, well take your pick of nasty rumors.

When they got there it seemed deserted as it always seemed. Most of the zombies stayed dormant in coffins until they were needed so the only people around were Haruka, Yukino, Absalom, and Hogback. Absalom was reading his pornography; Haruka and Yukino basically did whatever they did to relieve the boredom, usually reading manga of some kind. And Hogback had zombies to design and then build with the help of his assistant, the zombified Kagerou.

After a while they found the doctor working on Zabuza's body. There was already a new heart in his chest and it was operational. There were also several limb and organ transplants and other surgeries that made the body more powerful than it was in life. Hogback told them that the other three were asleep and that Haku should be waking up any minute. They left and Hogback got back to work.

Perona decided to go take a look around since it had been a while since she had been there while Naruto went into the room. He had barely approached the bed before the supposedly sleeping girl went for his throat with a scalpel she had gotten from somewhere and kept hidden under the sheets. He grabbed the small yet sharp knife with ease and pushed her down onto the bed. She yelled "Where is he!?"

Naruto pocketed the scalpel before saying "Where's who?"

Haku looked at him saying "Where's Zabuza-sama? What have you Konoha bastards done to him!?"

Naruto looked at her saying "Konoha? Please, I'm no Konoha ninja. Well, I am, but I'm more of a traitor than a loyal subordinate. As for Zabuza, well I hate to tell you this Haku-san, but he is dead. He was killed by Hatake Kakashi using a Raikiri shortly after you sacrificed yourself."

Haku looked horrified at the news of Zabuza's death. "He's gone, no it can't be. I-I failed him, he's dead. I've got no one left, no one who cares. There's nothing left but to…." As she mumbled the end of the sentence she pulled a second scalpel from beneath the sheets and went for her own throat, only for Naruto to stop her again and take the knife again.

He pocketed it thinking 'Note to self: Tell Hogback to keep better track of these things.' Then he turned to the girl saying "Now do you really think that I would let you do that? I didn't save your life just for you to kill yourself you know."

Haku looked distraught and yelled "WHO CARES! He's gone, I failed him! He's the only one who has EVER cared, EVER! If he's gone what's the point of staying behind! If you've failed your precious people than there's no point to even trying to live! Even if you get somewhere it would be pointless, a meaningless shell of a life that no one would want! That's where I am now! If you have even the slightest bit of pity than give me that knife back."

Naruto knelt by the bed and said to her "You want to kill yourself because all of your precious people are gone and you wish to join them, correct?" She slowly nodded and he smiled gently "Then how about I become one of your precious people. Then you wouldn't have to die right? After all, I saved you when I had no reason to I think that helps me qualify as a precious person, don't you?"

She shook her head "No, there's no point. I failed Zabuza-sama, I would fail you too. I'm not worth the kindness that you're attempting to give me. Even if you took me in, all I would do is get in your way, whoever you are."

Naruto looked her in the eyes and said "Haku, you are not worthless. You did not fail Zabuza, you gave your all to save him and help him, to the very end. It is not your fault what happened when he wasted the chance that you gave him. But if you still wish to die than you should know something. The person who killed Zabuza is still alive, still out there, free and happy. I can give you the opportunity to avenge Zabuza, if that is what you wish."

She shook her head and said "No, Zabuza-sama taught me that revenge is pointless, and never makes anyone happy. And even if his death wasn't my fault, I still could have done more than I did!"

Naruto closed his eyes and said "No, you couldn't have. You did everything in your power to save Zabuza, but your power at the time was insufficient so you lost what was important to you. You have a choice, Haku-chan. You can give up and die, letting Zabuza's memory die with you, or you can take what he taught you and use it to become stronger, gain new precious people and use that new power to protect them. Which do you choose?" He looked her straight in the eyes.

Haku started to tear up, she was deeply touched by what this person was saying, it was like he knew just what to say to elicit a particular response from her. She wasn't sure what to say.

Naruto simply asked her "Which do you choose? Do you want to die, still? Or do you want to live?"

Haku couldn't help but be touched and somewhat afraid of the question. What would she do if she said she wanted to live? There were so many unknowns, so many possibilities, and so many things that she feared. She feared Zabuza's death more than anything else and now that it had happened, the pain she felt was so great that she never wanted to feel anything like it again. But she remembered what Zabuza once said to her. 'Haku, whatever you do in life, never regret it. Be decisive, never show fear or doubt, and things will turn out all right.'

She couldn't help it, she cried. She cried and grabbed the man's shoulder, whispering "I want to live, I want to live."

Naruto smiled, though she couldn't see it, and hugged her back whispering "I am glad to hear that, Haku-chan, very glad." The smile however wasn't a happy smile, it was a smile that reeked of malice and self-satisfaction.

After a moment he managed to dislodge himself and turned to leave when Haku cried out "Wait. Before you go, just who are you?"

Naruto turned and said "My name is Uzumaki Naruto." Before walking out the door, leaving Haku with her thoughts, and a small blush.

Perona was waiting outside the door when Naruto came out. She asked "So? How is she?"

Naruto smiled and said "She's going to be quite reliable, I think. Though she was a bit clingy near the end." Perona nodded, her thoughts guessable but not knowable.

He said "I need to go check on how Hogback is doing with that new General. So I'll be back in a minute or two." Perona nodded and waited until he left before entering the room.

Haku looked up and said "Naruto-kun?" as she heard the door open, only to see a strangely clad girl with pink hair instead.

Perona went over to the bed and asked "So, I hear you're going to be joining us?" Haku nodded and Perona asked "So, what do you think of Naruto-kun?" **(1)**

Haku smiled and said "He's wonderful. I don't know what it is about him, but something about him just calls to me. I just don't want to be away from him for very long, I just want to, need to stand by him and do my best to make him happy."

Perona frowned, that was more or less how she felt too. She looked over to her and asked "So, you want to be his wife? Have him make you scream his name as you do the same to him?"

Haku blushed so much she could have lit up the room if you turned off the light before shaking her head back and forth rigorously saying "NO! I wouldn't do something like that! Well…maybe I would try…NO!"

Perona REALLY didn't like that answer. She leaned in close and said to her in a sickly sweet voice "Right, well if that's how you feel, I am only going to say this once. Stay…away…from…Naruto-kun. He is MINE, and always will be, do you understand? I won't let him be taken away from me by ANYBODY. I hope for your sake that you understand." Then she left the room and the confused girl behind.

Haku wasn't really sure what to say. A few minutes ago she wanted to die and now she was besieged by sudden feelings for a mysterious blonde and warned by some pink haired girl to stay away from him not two minutes later. She was sure of one thing though. She wasn't sure if it was love or lust, but she wanted Naruto to be hers and she wasn't going to let some random pink haired girl stand in her way.

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Naruto's home, day of the Chuunin Exams

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Naruto woke up to find a rather unexpected sight. Perona was up before him. Finding this odd, he quickly got dressed, sword included, and went downstairs. He actually found Perona in the kitchen and cooking breakfast.

"Morning Naruto-kun! How do you like your eggs?" Naruto just stood there, stunned. As long as he knew her Perona had gotten up at least an hour later than him and here she was making breakfast. Why did he have the feeling that this was because of a certain ice-wielding ninja?

Regardless, he sat down and ate a simple breakfast of eggs and bacon, courtesy of the ghost princess. It was actually surprisingly good. He expected her to suck at domestic things such as cooking but apparently she never forgot what she learned when she lived alone before Moria found her.

He finished the meal and stood up saying "Thank you Perona-chan. It was delicious."

Perona smiled and said "My pleasure Naruto-kun. So, I'll see you in six days right?"

Naruto turned away from the door, surprised again by the strange girl "Um, yes. How did you know that?"

She giggled slightly before saying "You'll have to be in that Forest of Death for five days for the second exam. As to how I know…." Four ghosts appeared and put their hands to their ears "The walls have ears and so do my ghosts!" She put the plates in the sink and went back upstairs "Now then, I'm going back to bed."

Naruto smiled, she was powerful on the battlefield, useful in the house and gorgeous as well. Boy did he strike gold when it came to women. To add to it, she didn't even mind if she had to share him, it was crazy! Mind you she would make it hard as hell for any woman who tried but she would accept her if he did. He turned to go, hoping for something normal.

XXXXXXXXX

Ninja Academy, 2 PM

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Naruto stood near a door on the second floor of the Academy. Lee was trying to get into the fake door and getting beaten around by the guards who were actually Chuunin disguised as Gennin. This was part of Lee's plan to make the other teams underestimate them. Naruto said go ahead, and so he did. Mind you Naruto and Neji did no such thing, they weren't going to appear weak for a moment.

This had been going on for a while when Sasuke and his team made their entrance. He said to the two guards "Get out of our way, and drop that Genjutsu while you're at it. We're going to the third floor. I can't believe you thought for a second that we would fall for such a weak illusion. I'm sure that you saw through it instantly, right Sakura? After all you are the Genjutsu specialist on our team." Sakura looked up at Sasuke talking to her and nodded the affirmative while the illusion on the door number vanished, replacing the previous 301 with the real number 201.

Naruto just covered his mouth to try and keep himself from laughing, unable to believe what just happened. The Uchiha not only allowed at least thirty ninja to continue on to the real exams when they would have been stopped here, but he also revealed the specialty of one of his teammates. He just classified himself as an S-class moron. Did he even KNOW the meaning of trying to find out more about your opponent than they know about you? What were they TEACHING them in the Academy these days?

He then watched as Sasuke and one of the guards started to get into a fight only to have it stopped by Lee, saying that they shouldn't be fighting here.

Naruto just said "Nice job in hiding our real strength Lee. You just blew it, congrats."

Lee then turned to Naruto and apologized while Sasuke just glared at him. Neji came forward and asked "So, who are you?"

Before Sasuke could answer Naruto interjected "Don't bother with him Neji. He's a piece of trash ninja that will never amount to anything so don't waste you time trying to remember his name. Before long the only place you'll see his name would be on the memorial stone." Sasuke turned to him and looked ready to start a fight but both he and Tenten were dragged off by Sakura, saying that they didn't have time for this.

Lee watched them go and said to his teammates "You two go on ahead, you don't have to wait for me, I'll catch up later. There's something I have to do." Then he took off after the departed Team seven.

Neji turned to go but Naruto said "I'll catch up later too Neji. If Lee is going to do what I think, it will be pretty entertaining and I don't want to miss it." Neji shrugged and continued on while Naruto briskly walked after Lee.

XXXXXXXXX

Random room with a large expanse of floor

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Naruto hid himself with a Genjutsu and kept pace with Lee.

Lee entered the room through a balcony and yelled out "Hey you, with the attitude!" The three members of Team seven below looked up at where the voice was coming from as Lee jumped down to the floor and took his Taijutsu stance. Naruto just sat on the railing and settled in to watch the show, box of chocolate truffles in hand.

Sasuke looked back at him as Lee said "It is only polite to introduce yourself first before demanding the names of others, correct? I am Rock Lee, and I want to fight, right here, right now."

Sasuke turned to face him fully as Lee continued "I have heard many things about you Uchiha Sasuke, and the Uchiha clan. I want to see if it is true. I believe that you will be a good test for me. You see Sasuke, out of all of the top Konoha Gennin, I am the best. Fight me now and I will prove it. You cannot defeat me, your skills are inferior. Also…." He looked at Sakura "Will you please go out with me? I promise to protect you with my life!" Lee promptly got told to take a hike, which Lee could have taken better but returned his attention to Sasuke.

Sasuke said "You know about my clan and you still want to fight me? You must be dumber than you look. But this will be fun, to beat you around, let's do it." He took a Taijutsu stance as Sakura looked at the nearby, conveniently placed clock and said that they only had thirty minutes to get their applications in. Sasuke silenced the girl and said "Don't worry Sakura, thirty minutes is plenty of time, this will all be over in five seconds!" Then he charged forward.

Lee thought to himself 'Please forgive me Gai-sensei. I know that it is forbidden but I may have to use _that_ jutsu." Then Sasuke got in range and tried to punch Lee, only for the spandex-clad Gennin to vanish.

Lee appeared in the air behind Sasuke and yelled "Konoha Senpuu!" as he drove a kick toward Sasuke's head. He avoided it, but Lee landed on his hands and swept another kick towards the Uchiha, who put up his guard. Lee made half of a tiger sign, which Sasuke saw before the kick went straight through his guard and connected with Sasuke's face, sending him back towards his teammates. Lee got into his normal stance and Naruto stifled his laughter.

Sasuke mumbled to himself "What's going on?" as he started to get up. Meanwhile Sakura was wondering how that just happened since Sasuke had his guard up. Sasuke thought to himself 'He's using some technique to get to me, but which is it? Ninjutsu or Genjutsu?' He got up and faced Lee, who knew what Sasuke was planning to do. Sasuke thought to himself 'Okay, this is good, he's right where I want him. Whatever trick he's using I'LL SEE IT NOW!' He lowered his head and activated his newly found second level Sharingan.

Sasuke mumbled to himself "I've been waiting to try this out for a while now."

Sakura thought to herself 'Could it be? The Sharingan!' as Sasuke raised his head and showed his now red eyes. 'Sasuke's amazing! If it's like Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan, he'll be able to read this guy's jutsu, and nail him! You'll never know what he'll do next! He's getting stronger every day, just what you'd expect from an Uchiha! Sasuke would never lose to a guy like this, now way!' as Sasuke charged forward.

Lee thought to himself 'So that is the Sharingan, the supposedly all powerful Doujutsu.'

Naruto smiled as Sasuke charged forward, eyes wide open and ready to read any of Lee's Ninjutsu or Genjutsu techniques. Naruto thought to himself as he popped another ball of chocolate into his mouth 'That Sharingan won't help you here, little boy.'

Sakura looked on in shock as Sasuke got knocked back again with yet another kick to the face. Lee said "You see, my technique is neither Ninjutsu nor Genjutsu!" as he ran forward and engaged Sasuke in more close combat.

Sakura and Tenten looked on in shock and satisfaction respectively as Sasuke took another hit to the side of the head. Naruto smiled and ate another truffle.

Sasuke through a punch only to have Lee grab his arm, move it into the air and elbow him hard in the stomach, causing Sasuke's eyes to go wide with the sudden pain. Sasuke stumbled backward as Lee said "You get it now? I am using just Taijutsu, that means no tricks, Sasuke!" He vanished and reappeared behind the Uchiha "It is just straight martial arts, nothing more." Sasuke tried to hit him but Lee jumped back and resumed his normal stance.

Lee said "I know your technique, and you can forget it, it won't work, not on me! I know that you can see your opponent's jutsu. That Sharingan gives you the ability to read your opponents chakra and decipher his handseals and movements. Through this, you can guess what he is going to do almost before he knows himself. The problem with that is that Taijutsu is a little bit different. I do not try to hide or disguise my moves, I do not have to. Even if you can read them, you still cannot stop them, you are too slow."

Sasuke was getting pissed at this guy practically putting the weaknesses of his clan on display at this point but Lee continued on. "Your eyes may be quick enough to stay one step ahead of me, but if your body can not keep up what good does it do you? You know what? Here is what I believe; there are two types of ninja in the world. Those like you, who are born with natural talent and don't have to work at it to be good ninja." Sasuke gave into his anger and charged forward to throw a few punches, which Lee easily avoided "And those like me, who have to work hard and train every day of our lives! The fact is that your Sharingan is the worst possible match for my extreme Taijutsu! Here is what I mean!" Then he kicked Sasuke in the air and vanished, reappearing behind Sasuke in mid-air. His teammates looked on in horror, well Sakura did. Naruto prepared a kunai to throw at a moment's notice, loving the show.

Sasuke looked behind him, straight into Lee's determined eyes and said "Kage Buyo."

Lee said "Good eye, now I will prove my point. That hard work beats natural talent." The bandages on Lee's arms started to unravel. Sasuke was helpless, wondering what Lee's next move was. Lee just said "You're finished!" But a kunai came whizzing through the air and hit the tip of Lee's bandage, trapping it against the wall.

Naruto shouted "Lee, enough!" Tenten, Sakura, Sasuke, and Lee all looked up at the now visible ninja. He was standing on the rail and dropped down, approaching the spandex clad Shinobi. Lee landed gracefully, while Sasuke dropped like a rock, being caught by Sakura of all people. That alone should tell you how bad Sasuke is if SAKURA is saving his ass.

Naruto said to Lee "I thought you might do something stupid like that. Isn't that a Kinjutsu Lee? Forbidden to use except under special circumstances? You should be thankful that I stopped you otherwise Gai-sensei would have you running laps until you dropped from sheer exhaustion before telling you your punishment."

Lee bowed his head in shame "You're right Naruto, thank you for stopping me. I never intended to use that Kinjutsu, but the heat of the battle got to me."

Naruto sighed and said "Enough excuses Lee, we're Shinobi, we aren't supposed to let the heat of the battle get to us, we're supposed to think calmly and coolly at all times, otherwise the enemy would use that against us. Now come on, we have to catch up to Neji so we can register."

Lee said "Yes, I will be there in a minute." Naruto nodded and continued on, happy for the show. That easily made his day.

Before Naruto left though, he pierced Sasuke with a glance and said so the entire room could hear "It's exactly like I said when we met Uchiha. The Dobe from last year could beat you in a match, and he just did. You are pathetic." Then he continued on out of the room.

Lee started to retie his bandages and said to Sasuke "I am sorry, but I have not been entirely truthful with you. I said that I am the best but there are two others that I wish to defeat, my two teammates. You were just practice, but be warned, now you are a target! I will see you in the exams." Then he ran after his sword carrying teammate, leaving the Uchiha to lick his wounds.

Gai was watching the whole thing and thought 'I am proud of you Naruto, you are becoming a real leader and a good teammate to stop Lee from doing that. You would make a pretty good Sensei yourself one day.' Then he disappeared to meet his team. **(2)**

XXXXXXXXX

Ninja Academy, room 301

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto, Neji, and Lee were sitting in the room, waiting until three o'clock when the exam would begin. Naruto already knew what the tests would be from stealing a few files from the Hokage tower so he knew that all he had to do was play it cool, do what he always did and he would pass the first and second exams easy. He saw Temari in the crowd, who he threw a smile and a wink, causing the girl to blush and her brother Kankurou to throw him a glare.

Eventually team seven walked through the doors and was quickly joined by the other rookie teams, including Ino who latched onto Sasuke and immediately started an argument with Sakura over who would eventually be Sasuke's wife. Kiba acted arrogant and Shikamaru acted lazy, everyone was pretty much themselves. Naruto had to mentally laugh at the pure idiocy of the rookies, drawing attention to themselves like that.

Things started getting interesting when a guy with white hair walked over to them and said "You know, you shouldn't draw attention to yourselves like that, everyone is really tense because of the exam so you should try and keep a low profile. I'm Yakushi Kabuto by the way."

Kabuto continued to give them advice in the form of telling them to keep quiet and not try to piss everyone off before the thing even began. Naruto had to admit, it was good advice for rookies like that. What really got him interested was that he was on his seventh try on the exams. That had to be some kind of record. Either the guy was the definition of pathetic, he was extraordinarily unlucky, or he was up to something. What really caught his attention were Kabuto's Nin-info cards.

Kabuto took out one card and put it on the ground, charging it with his chakra to show a map of the elemental countries and how many applicants from each village there were in the exam. He proceeded to give the rookies a speech on how things worked with the Chuunin exams, fostering friendship between the different nations and keeping the balance of power stable between the various hidden villages so that one didn't get too tempted to declare war on someone else. It was actually a pretty good system, as far as war-prevention systems go.

Then things got really interesting when Sasuke asked "Do your cards have any information on the other candidates? Individually?"

Kabuto took up the deck of cards and said "They might. I can't promise that my information is anywhere close to complete or perfect but I have at least something on just about everybody, including all of you. Did you have anyone special in mind? A basic description, where they're from, hair color, any information at all and I'll try to track them down."

Sasuke said "Sabaku no Gaara, Rock Lee, and Uzumaki Naruto."

Kabuto looked crestfallen and said "Aww man, you know their names? That takes all the fun out of it." He quickly looked through the cards, selecting three specific pieces of cardboard. "Here they are." Naruto looked and listened carefully. If his suspicion was right and this Kabuto guy was Orochimaru's spy in the village then he would have more information than he should and he was rather interested in what this guy had on him. If his information gathering skills were good, he would try to acquire his shadow in the future; if not maybe his body would be useful as a marionette.

Kabuto put one card on the ground and said "First up is Sabaku no Gaara. He's from Sunagakure, and his teammates are Kankurou and Temari. I don't have anything on his particular skills and this is his first try at the exams. His mission history is twelve C-ranks and… whoa check this out, one B-rank mission. Aside from that he's pretty much an unknown; he doesn't have any known weapon though he is known to carry a large gourd wherever he goes. One bit of interesting information is that in all of his missions, he returned without getting so much as a scratch on him."

The lot of them were shocked and surprised by this information. Shikamaru said "Whoa, this guy has been on a B-rank mission and he's never gotten injured? That's crazy. This exam really is going to be difficult huh? How troublesome."

Kabuto put another card on top of Gaara's and it revealed Lee's picture. He said "Okay, next up is Rock Lee. He's one year older than you guys. His sensei is Maito Gai, and his teammates are Neji Hyuuga and Uzumaki Naruto. Mission history is twenty seven D-ranks, forty five C-ranks, and this is phenomenal, three B-rank missions! He hasn't had a failed mission so far. As for his skills, his Taijutsu has really improved lately but his other skills are pretty shaky, to say the least. This is his first attempt at the exam as well. He doesn't have any known weapon or special skills that I know of."

The rookies were amazed by this information. They weren't sure who to be more scared of, Gaara or Lee.

Then Kabuto set down the third card and said "Last but not least there's Uzumaki Naruto. Sensei is Maito Gai, and his teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee. Mission history is twenty seven D-ranks, forty five C-ranks and three B-rank missions with no failed missions recorded. Regarding his skills, he is supposedly pretty good at Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu, though he prefers to fight long range. When it comes to weaponry, he has a large black sword named Zanmato which he supposedly forged himself. He is a powerful individual and a good team leader. One major bit of information is that, like Gaara, he returned from all of his missions without a scratch on him. The only injuries that he has ever had are from when he and his sensei sparred soon after their team was formed. They called the match a draw and that was a year ago so he's probably gotten stronger since then. Another interesting tidbit is that the training ground where they fought was a large forested area, but ever since the fight nothing has grown there except some short grasses. Whatever happened there demolished the place."

Now the rookies were sure that they knew who to steer clear of in the exams if it ever came to combat and Naruto was positive that Yakushi Kabuto was a spy, most likely in the service of Orochimaru. He wouldn't do anything though, he would watch and wait.

Then the three Gennin from Otogakure attacked Kabuto. One of them used some weird sound device and caused Kabuto to vomit and his glasses to break.

It wasn't long after that that a large burst of smoke engulfed the front of the room which cleared revealing a scarred man in a bandana and trench-coat with a cadre of Chuunin. The scarred man called out "Okay you filthy degenerates, pipe down! Welcome to the Chuunin exams! I am Morino Ibiki, your proctor and from here on out, your worst nightmare!"

Something told Naruto that these exams would be REALLY fun.

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(1) If this isn't a loaded line, that Misashi Kishimoto is straight.

(2) I normally watch the show in Japanese, but there are some moments where the English dub is better. The Lee vs. Sasuke fight is one of these and I tried to do it justice.

Okay, that is the end of the chapter and I am proud to say that it is the longest chapter that I have ever done! I hope you guys enjoyed it and review after reading this.

Regarding the harem aspect, there are going to be a grand total of four, though if enough people want me to, I COULD be convinced to do five. Two are already selected, Perona and Fem.Haku, but there are 2-3 others to choose. Here are your choices and show which ones you want in a review. Normally I would have a poll but I can't be bothered at the moment. Your choices are:

Sabaku no Temari

Mitarashi Anko

Tenten

Tayuya

Hyuuga Hinata

Nii Yugito

Fem. Kyuubi

Make your choice of two or three in a review. If you want a harem of five instead of four, say so and I will take it into consideration. Aside from all of that, I hope you enjoyed the extremely long chapter, and review with your choices.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	17. Chapter 17

Hello, one and all, this is the moment you have all been waiting for THE FOREST OF DEATH

Hello, one and all, this is the moment you have all been waiting for THE FOREST OF DEATH! Or maybe I'll just cut the chapter at the end of the first exam just to be an absolute dick. I don't know myself yet.

The votes are in and those combined with perhaps a bit of author bias, maybe I changed some votes maybe I didn't you'll have to trust me, heh heh heh. Anyway the harem is of five members, the members being: Perona, Fem.Haku, and the ones you are waiting to hear, I am putting in random text to up the suspense. The final three members are, in order of number of votes from most to least: Anko with thirty five (I was actually surprised at how popular Anko was), then there is Temari with thirty three, and finally Tayuya at thirty two! It was really close with Yugito at thirty one, so close. For those who think that one of the characters won't work with him for some reason, I'll find a way to make it believably work. Trust in me my readers!

And now, with the pairing business out of the way, let the chapter begin in my normal way!

Disclaimer: Screw the disclaimers, I've got money! (Not much but some)

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto managed to convince Haku to join him in his ambitions, which have yet to be seen or determined. Perona has stepped up to seem more useful and that Haku isn't really necessary in her jealousy over the possibility of another girl in Naruto's life. Also Naruto and his team have started in the Chuunin exams. Sasuke got his ass kicked by Lee before the thing and Naruto intimidated people with a gigantic sword. With that information in hand and Kabuto's vomit on the floor, the first exam begins!

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Ninja Academy, room 301, 3PM

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The one hundred and something Gennin were sitting in room 301 for the first exam. The point was to answer ten questions that normal Gennin shouldn't have been capable of answering. Hence they would have to cheat in order to get the correct answers. The only problem with that was the numerous Chuunin sitting at the walls watching everyone like a hawk for cheating. If you got caught, you got marked down. If you got marked down five times, than YOU ARE OUTTA HERE! And if you go your teammates go with you.

Some people used their brains to answer their questions, such as Shikamaru and that pink haired banshee Sakura. Others used their clan jutsu, such as Ino. Others used more inconspicuous ways, relying on others such as Kiba working with Akamaru and Shino working with his insects. Others used their Kekkei Genkai if they had one such as Sasuke's Sharingan or Neji's Byakugan. Naruto, he just slept. He had stolen the plans for the Chuunin exams already so he knew just how things were going to go. The only thing he did was write down, in the tenth answer box which they weren't supposed to touch yet 'TOO FUCKING EASY IBIKI!' Then he was off to sleep.

When the last fifteen minutes came around Ibiki told everyone to stop as it was time to reveal the tenth question. He told them that they COULD skip the question if they wanted to, but if they did than they instantly failed and their teammates with them. If they took the question however and got it wrong then they would be stuck as Gennin the rest of their lives. Naruto knew that this was a crock of bull and anyone who thought about it for a second would realize that too. How can one man ban someone from being promoted? Especially Shinobi from other villages? They couldn't, it was as simple as that, but Ibiki screwed with their minds enough to make sure that no one was doing any heavy thinking, he had to give the guy credit he knew his job.

As a result those with weak wills raised their hands and quit in order to preserve their future chances. What was left wasn't much compared to how many there were in the beginning. An even sixty ninja from various villages. Twenty teams of Gennin grand total for the second exam. Naruto smiled at the thought. This was where it was really going to get fun. His team passed of course, as did that guy Kabuto's, along with the rookie nine and the Suna team. These exams were going to be really fun when this lot got set loose.

A black object appeared outside of the window and crashed into the room. It unfolded and four kunai pinned it to the four corners of the room, blocking Ibiki from view and presenting a woman in a trenchcoat, orange skirt, and a fishnet bodysuit with purple hair while the message on the cloth being held up behind her read: 'Proctor for the second exam, the sexy and single Mitarashi Anko!'

She yelled "Alright you weaklings! Now that you passed Ibiki's easy as hell exam, now we get into the real fun, the second exam!"

At that point Ibiki peeked around from the tarp and said "You jumped the gun Anko, you're early." Causing Anko to blush slightly out of embarrassment.

Anko took a second and counted just how many were left. "Ibiki, I think you're losing your touch. You let this many pass? Maybe you should retire if you couldn't scare a bunch of little Gennin."

Ibiki came out from behind the curtain and said "Or it's possible that we simply have a superior crop of Gennin this year." Sasuke smiled at that line, as did Naruto but for different reasons. **(1)**

Anko yelled out "Yeah right! Just because you're getting old doesn't mean they're good. I guarantee that before I'm done with them at least half of them will be eliminated!"

Sakura, in her usual fangirl form, nearly panicked at the thought of how difficult such an exam would have to be in order to guarantee the elimination of at least half of the remaining Gennin. Naruto smiled at the thought of it.

Anko turned to face the crowd and yelled "Okay weaklings, the second exam is this way, follow me!" Then she jumped out the window she broke coming in. The crowd of Gennin filtered out in haste, hoping to spot and keep up with the insane woman while Naruto just vanished, already knowing where the exams were going to be taking place.

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Entrance to the Forest of Death, roughly ten minutes later

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Anko stood before the crowd of Gennin that had somehow found their way there. She said to them all "Okay, this is the location of the second exam, training ground number forty four, lovingly called the Forest of Death." She smiled as she said those last few words.

She continued on to explain the exam, how each team was to be given either a Heaven scroll or an Earth scroll and they had to get the other scroll and make it to the tower in the middle of the forest in five days.

Naruto chuckled and said under his breath "This exam is going to be easier than I thought." That was apparently the wrong thing to say as Anko threw a kunai at him. Naruto leaned to the side as it sent by, only to feel a blade at his throat.

Anko purred into his ear "Such big tough guys are usually the first ones to die in my beautiful forest if they aren't careful." Then she felt a knife at her throat as the Naruto she was holding turned black with white eyes.

Naruto held a kunai to her throat from behind, hugging her arms to her sides with his other arm. He murmured into her ear "Yes and such beautiful women usually don't last long either do they? But apparently we are both exceptions Anko-chan." Then he nibbled on her earlobe slightly, making her blush and the nearby Temari frown in mild jealousy.

Anko regained her sense as Naruto let her go and moved back. A long tongue slithered in front of Anko with her kunai wrapped in it. She said to the Gennin that the tongue was attached to "I don't recommend you sneak up behind me Kusa ninja. People rarely survive when they do."

The creepy girl said "So sorry, but I felt that I should return your knife. I could hardly ignore it as it went whizzing through my beautiful hair." Anko took the knife with an obviously fake smile and thank you.

Naruto took one look at that Kusa ninja and thought 'I spy with my big anime eye, something starting with gay snake.' Anko returned to the front of the group with plenty of mutterings reaching her ears.

Chouji raised his hand and asked "Wait, what are we supposed to do about food during the five days?" Naruto saw an opportunity to freak people out and took it.

He vanished and reappeared behind Chouji and said so that everyone could hear. "Regarding food, you have a few choices Akimichi-san. Option one, you get to the tower and finish the exam so quickly that food doesn't become an issue. Option two; you eat rations that you keep upon your person in case of such an emergency. Option three, you find edible plants and animals. Or, my personal favorite, option four, you take a freshly dead opponent and have a nice big meal. Personally I am debating between options one and four. I really can't choose between the two."

Chouji was looking creeped out, as were Sakura and Ino and the other inexperience Gennin. Just about everyone made a mental note to stay far away from that guy during the exam.

As things went, this was pretty normal. Every team received a scroll. Naruto's team received an Earth scroll which he kept in his jacket. No one could get to it except him. They were directed to a certain gate. Naruto already had a fun target in mind, Uchiha Sasuke's team. He saw that they had a Heaven scroll and he felt like giving dear old Sasuke a rematch. The horn went off, the gates opened, and thirty teams of Gennin ran into the forest.

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Small clearing about ten minutes into the forest

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Naruto, Lee, and Neji were sitting near a large tree, waiting for nightfall before striking at the other teams. Normally he wouldn't mind but today Naruto had an agenda. He got up to leave when Neji said "Wait, where are you going?"

Naruto looked back and said "I'm going to get a Heaven scroll. If we wait too long then all the weak teams will be taken out, not that it matters. I say we each go and find a scroll, we meet back here in six hours, regardless if we found another scroll or not. Or you two can stay here, take your pick. Either way, I don't feel like sitting around." Then he vanished into the forest.

Lee stood up and said "I agree with Naruto. If we wait too long only the strongest teams will be left for us to attack. It won't take out opponents long to eliminate the weaker individuals so we must attack now. I am going with Naruto's plan." Then he turned and dashed away in the opposite direction that Naruto did. Neji sighed, realizing that he was outvoted, and dug a kunai into the tree to mark the spot before leaving in a third direction.

Lee was searching for another team but so far was having little, if any, luck. He continued on, determined to find what they needed.

Neji searched on as well, and for a good hour found nothing. He eventually came across the hidden team ten, whom he quickly located hidden in the bushes. The blonde one tried an amusing tactic of seduction, as though she had a chance, but was blown off. Neji just said "Please, the others would laugh at me if I took a scroll from a weak team like you." Before continuing on his search.

Naruto however was much more mellow in his search tactics, not as rushed as his other teammates. He knew that his target was the Uchiha's team, but he trusted the weakling to last long enough for him to get there. He was hoping to reach him before Orochimaru did. He knew the snake was in the forest, but he didn't want to encounter him. He was a Sannin and he wasn't sure if he could win. Plus Orochimaru was a necessary piece to the puzzle of Konoha's annihilation so he couldn't attack him now. He also knew that he would likely be after Sasuke as well. The snake coveted the Sharingan and Sasuke was his one chance to obtain it in the near future. Itachi was far too strong to fall to Orochimaru and he knew that neither of the Uchiha brothers would have children any time soon, if ever. His only chance was Sasuke.

The snake could have the brat for all Naruto cared, he just wanted to beat him up and take his scroll before Orochimaru found him.

Naruto ended up searching for a good three hours before eventually finding the team that he was looking for. He had encountered several teams and killed them easily, taking their scrolls just for the hell of it and to reduce competition. The fewer scrolls out there, the fewer that could be used in the end.

He found the team, but in a less than glamorous position. Tenten was unconscious and Sakura was useless as always, while Sasuke was fighting Orochimaru in a hopeless battle. He immediately moved to leave but the snake spotted him. Orochimaru hissed "So, the Jinchuuriki is here too. Excellent, both targets in the same place." Naruto widened his eyes at that. He didn't expect Orochimaru to come after him as well.

Naruto turned to face the snake while Sasuke got casually backhanded into Sakura who caught him easily enough, tending his minor injuries with what little medical skill she had.

Naruto faced the snake and put one hand on his sword. This wasn't what he wanted. If he and Orochimaru fought now, things could go badly. If he killed Orochimaru than the plans to destroy Konoha were down the drain and he couldn't let that happen. He needed Orochimaru in perfect health for at least another month. And there was the slight possibility that he would lose. It was a small possibility but it was still there. Then he eyed the Uchiha. 'Yes that could work.' He smiled at Orochimaru and said "If you want a fight Orochimaru, fine, I'll show you my absolute favorite jutsu."

While Orochimaru was keeping his eye on him, his shadow came to life and attacked the snake, tackling him from his position and slamming him into another branch. The Orochimaru clone turned to mud, but Naruto expected that. He raced toward Sasuke as another Orochimaru appeared and was attacked by his shadow. He took a kunai from his jacket and pushed Sakura out of the way. Before she could get up or do anything he just muttered "Give a friend some help Sasuke." Before cutting into the Uchiha, drawing blood. Sasuke screamed as Naruto put the knife away and got some of Sasuke's blood on one of his hands before jumping onto a nearby branch.

Naruto went through twenty handseals in quick succession as another Tsuchi Bunshin was destroyed and the real Orochimaru took the field. Naruto eyed the snake as he completed the final handseal and said "I said I would show you my favorite jutsu Orochimaru and here it is. Yamiton: Voodoo Doru no Tate!" **(2)**

From the shadows nearby something was growing. It was a black humanoid figure that was completely black and made of what looked like straw, then it gained color and grew solid. The final result was a human sized doll of wood and straw. It bore a crude resemblance to Sasuke with large black eyes and rough cloth for skin. Wood for bones and fingers and messy black straw hair. The feet were simply blocks of wood with two poles growing out of them that formed the doll's legs. It looked a lot like a cheap scarecrow version of the Uchiha.

Before any of the three ninja before him could interfere, Naruto dashed to the newly formed doll and put his hand on the doll's shoulder. The moment he did, the left arm of the doll wrapped around his right arm, with the hand resting at his shoulder before the fingers of the doll sank seamlessly into his flesh. The doll entered Naruto's body as though it were water, sliding into him rapidly until the doll was no more, leaving only Naruto behind.

Naruto smiled and said "Let's see if it works!" he took a kunai from his jacket and stabbed it into his own arm. When he took the knife out, there was no wound on his skin, it sank into the flesh easily enough but there was no injury, no blood on the knife. Sasuke however yelled out in pain as a hole opened in his arm and blood sprayed forth. Naruto looked at Orochimaru who looked stunned at the technique.

Naruto said "Curious, Orochimaru? I'll explain, why not? You couldn't duplicate the technique anyway, only someone like me can do it. This jutsu acts partially as a summoning jutsu, calling forth the doll like you saw. It also requires a blood sacrifice to work, but not the user's blood, the blood of someone else. The doll will take the appearance of the person whose blood was used in the doll's creation and anything that happens to the doll happens to the victim. The doll can also be absorbed into the user's body. The effect is that while the doll is inside my body, I cannot be injured; the doll will take any damage that I would normally take, no matter how insignificant or severe. And since whatever happens to the doll happens to the victim, I think you can see how it works. There are some flaws to the jutsu though. For starters the doll will only last for one hour before it is destroyed and ends the jutsu, leaving the victim alive, also the blood used must be fresh, less than two hours old, in order for the doll to be created correctly. But during that hour long time period, it grants complete invulnerability to the user at the victim's expense. Well, what do you think?" Orochimaru was stunned. He had never imagined such a jutsu could possibly exist. Sakura and Sasuke were stunned as well, though Sasuke was still holding onto his bleeding arm.

Naruto put the kunai to his own throat and said "Leave now, or I will kill him. You need him for your future plans so it will be very costly. You can't hurt me or stop me from doing it so it would be best to just give up."

Orochimaru was pissed. He never expected a situation like this, where he would actually be forced to retreat. He did one or two quick handseals and his neck stretched as he bit Sasuke on the neck before vanishing. Sasuke passed out shortly afterward.

Naruto looked at the unconscious Uchiha before he left. 'Hmm, so the Curse Seal is administered through a bite? That's an interesting and useful piece of information.' Then he vanished, leaving the fangirl to squeal over Sasuke, asking herself and Sasuke what she should do as though he would give a response. Sasuke had many new cuts over the next hour as Naruto fought more recklessly against anyone he found.

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Forest of Death tower, end of second exam

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It was the end of the second exam and seven teams stood before the proctors, the Hokage, and the sensei of each team who made it this far. Some of the teams made it there in the first day, i.e. Naruto's team, the Suna team. And others made it there just barely before time ran out, i.e. Sasuke's team. Naruto had been bored as hell for the last few days. There was absolutely nothing to do inside of the tower. He managed to talk to Temari a bit but her brother was very protective of her. Gaara really didn't care though he did say that he would kill him.

The Hokage was pretty much babbling on about how the Chuunin exams were meant to foster friendship between nations and allow the various villages to show what they had. This lasted for a few minutes before a sickly fellow who introduced himself as Gekko Hayate made himself known and interrupted the Hokage, politely asking to take the reigns so to speak, which the old leader allowed.

He coughed into his hand before saying "First off, congratulations on passing the second exam. Now then, I am sorry to say this but before the third exam can begin, we need to put you through a round of preliminaries first."

This was met with general outrage. The pink haired banshee screeched "What do you mean we have to go through preliminaries? We just went through that monstrous forest and now we have to go through preliminaries?"

Hayate coughed before saying "Yes, I understand that you just came out of the second exam, but it is possible that the first two exams were too easy. The third exam will be observed by royalty, noblemen and women, the Kazekage, and many other important people. We cannot afford to give them anything other than the best of the best, so we must slim down the remaining number of candidates. The preliminaries will be one on one matches. The matches will be continue until one of the two combatants gives up, is knocked out, or dies. If a battle seems hopeless than as referee I can step in, but other than that anything goes. Before we begin, would anybody consider forfeiting? If you want out, now's your chance."

Sakura actually tried to convince Sasuke to give up because of the mark on his neck but he declined. He said "Sakura, I could care less about being a Chuunin. That means nothing to me. What matters to me here is seeing how strong I am. I can only do that by fighting the strongest, the best and all of the best…." Images flashed through his mind, Gaara, Neji, Lee, Naruto "The best are right here in this room." Then he grabbed his neck again, ruining the moment.

After a moment Hayate said "Since no one will forfeit we have an uneven number of people. As a result someone will have to fight twice, would anyone like to volunteer?"

The words were barely out of his mouth before Naruto raised his hand and said "I volunteer. I've been doing nothing for the past four days except sit around this tower, bored rigid. I could use some combat to help knock off the rust."

Hayate nodded and said "Very well then. Uzumaki Naruto will fight twice. Now then, the first match will be…."

A panel opened up on the wall behind them revealing a black screen. Names flashed across the screen before settling on two in particular. 'Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi.'

The battle didn't last too long. Sasuke consistently tried to use his Sharingan to the point where his Curse Seal almost broke loose. It didn't take over but it gave him the strength he needed to best the superior Yoroi with a move that he stole from Lee and modified, the Shishi Rendan. Naruto just shook his head 'Can't this guy do anything that doesn't involve stealing someone else's hard work?' Then Kakashi took Sasuke away to get the mark sealed away. Naruto noticed that the sensei for the Sound trio left soon afterwards.

The next round was a lot faster. 'Yakushi Kabuto vs. Inuzuka Kiba' it didn't last long because Kabuto forfeited. He said "I'm sorry but I was hoping to be put against a weaker opponent. I am pretty exhausted from the second exam so I pretty much put my fate in the hands of luck, but she failed me and I was put against an opponent I couldn't possibly beat in my current state." Then they both went up to the stands. Naruto found himself slightly disappointed. He was hoping to see what Kabuto could do.

Naruto looked up at the board, hoping for his name next to that of somebody powerful. After a while his patience was rewarded and he made his way down to the arena.

The words on the board were 'Uzumaki Naruto vs. Sabaku no Gaara'

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(1) Animals were hurt during the making of this chapter. Every time Sasuke smiles, a puppy dies.

(2) This is translated to: Darkness release: voodoo doll shield

CLIFFHANGER! I am so fucked up in the head to do this to you guys! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter enough to review and thank you all for voting last chapter. For those who got who you wanted: Congratulations! For those who didn't: Better luck next time.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	18. Chapter 18

People of Earth, I bring you the ambrosia of the Gods

People of Earth, I bring you the ambrosia of the Gods! Yes, it is indeed Kage no Naruto chapter eighteen! Now, now, no need to cheer, you can thank me all you want in a review. Now comes the epic clash of the titans, the battle between two mighty beasts! Will it be a one sided slaughter or an epic battle that will be known for ages? How the fuck should I know? Read it and find out.

Disclaimer: You people never give up with this do you?

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto and co. traveled through the Forest of Death and passed the second exam. Now, in the third exam preliminaries Naruto must fight twice and his first opponent is Sabaku no Gaara! Who shall win in this mighty clash and who shall Naruto's second opponent be? Read on and find out!

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Forest Tower, preliminary arena

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The names on the board were bright and clear 'Sabaku no Gaara vs. Uzumaki Naruto'. Gaara vanished and reappeared in the arena in a gust of sand. Naruto decided to take the scenic route, casually walking down the walkway and down the steps.

Then up the steps on the opposite side. He went over to Temari of all people and said "Would you like to make a bet?"

Temari looked at him like he was crazy and he said "If I can beat your brother you have to go out on a date with me. What do you say?"

Temari figured that there was no way this guy could beat Gaara, even if he was the strongest Gennin in Konoha and good looking so she agreed and said "Fine, but what if you lose against Gaara?"

Naruto smirked and said "You'll think of something." Then he went over the side and down into the arena where he walked until he was facing Gaara.

Lee was yelling "Go Naruto, send him back to Suna in shame! Show no mercy!"

Gai was yelling "Go my mighty student! Show them the true power of youth!" Neji and just about everyone else was silent.

Hayate looked between Gaara and Naruto and in an instant a large cork flew through the air toward Naruto but was stopped by a wall of darkness. Gaara glared at him as sand slowly filtered out of his gourd. Naruto just said "Now, now Gaara, there's no need to be rude."

Hayate said "The third match, Uzumaki Naruto versus Sabaku no Gaara. BEGIN!" Then he jumped back.

Gaara didn't wait, a tendril of sand rocketed toward Naruto, only to impact against a wall of darkness that sprang from the nearby shadows. The shadows around the entire room moved and spears of darkness attacked Gaara from every direction. All were blocked but the spears left deep cracks in the wall that met them.

Naruto's shadow came to life and rushed toward Gaara, punching the sand shield hard enough to move Gaara back a little. Gaara's sand moved to crush the shadow only for it to avoid Gaara's attack, swerving out of the way of the snake like tendrils and moving at quick speeds to avoid the larger attacks.

Naruto played it light, attacking quickly with more darkness, seeking to engulf Gaara by spreading it all around him and boxing him in, but the Suna ninja concentrated his sand on repelling the attack and pressed the shadows back.

He sent blasts of sand to pound Naruto into the ground but they harmlessly hit a wall of darkness that defended him from such simple assaults. Naruto sighed; he was hoping that Gaara could do more with his sand than just blast him and hope for the best.

Gaara caught Naruto's attention when he started making handseals. Before long a massive wave of sand erupted from in front of Gaara and moved forward to sweep Naruto away, but the Jinchuuriki held his ground, showing no fear unlike the others who were afraid for him. Without any indication from him a great amount of darkness came forth, enough to match the wave of sand. The two intertwined, one seeking to overcome the other, neither side giving up, trying to crush or smother the other.

Naruto smiled. While Gaara had to divert his full attention to the battle of the elements, Naruto could do that and focus on manipulating other shadows as well. Solid lines of shadows attempted to pierce the shield, but only came in contact with hard sand. Eventually one pierced it however and from that weakness Naruto built an attack. In a split moment he fed numerous shadows into the sand that defended Gaara, slowing it down and making it more difficult to control before the tendril was sliced off by the sand. Gaara tried to remove the unknown substance from his sand but was having trouble doing so.

Naruto's own shadow attacked Gaara from behind but the punch was blocked. The shadow went into a large combination of Taijutsu attacks, combining forms from several different styles.

The spectators were all amazed at the battle. Lee had stopped cheering in order to stare. Kakashi just said "This is amazing. I didn't know Naruto's abilities were this advanced."

Gai chuckled and said "That's Naruto's Taijutsu knowledge put to work. While he has extensive knowledge of dozens of styles, he can barely use any of them. That knowledge has been used to teach the moves to his shadow which is physically stronger than he is. The two form an incredible team, the shadow becoming an immortal Taijutsu master that attacks at close range while Naruto provides ranged support with his shadows and jutsu. This is one of the reasons why a single person would have immense difficulty defeating Naruto. Because when you fight him you aren't fighting just one person, you're fighting two. He has a few jutsu and techniques that make it extremely difficult to hurt him if you're on your own as well, which makes a fight even more difficult."

The others were amazed at what Gai said. If he was right than it would be difficult for anyone to beat Naruto without help. If you were alone then you would be tag-teamed by Naruto and his shadow working flawlessly together. It would require two people to stand a real chance, one to hold off the shadow while the other attacks the real one. They watched on as the shadow continued its fast assault on Gaara's defenses.

Gaara was in trouble and he knew it. The shadow continued its attacks relentlessly, eventually it would get through and be able to attack him. He already had his Suna no Yoroi in place in preparation for that. His attention was split between trying to attack his opponent and defend himself from another enemy at the same time. It didn't help that no matter how many times he attacked the shadow, it just reformed. He caught in a Sabaku Kyuu followed by a Sabaku Soso, but it didn't do anything. The scattered pieces of darkness came together and the shadow continued its attacks like nothing happened. It was maddening.

Naruto smiled at Gaara's frustration. He wasn't using his full capabilities for this fight, limiting himself to about Gaara's level just to piss him off. Naruto could control a much larger amount of darkness than Gaara could control sand, as he was about to find out since Naruto was getting bored.

Then at that moment, Gaara managed to surprise Naruto. An amount of sand managed to sneak up on him without him realizing it and it wrapped around him tightly when Gaara yelled "Sabaku Kyuu!"

Naruto rose into the air, he just muttered "Oh shit, this isn't good."

Then Gaara closed his hand and yelled "Sabaku Soso!" as the sand crushed everything inside its earthen embrace.

Temari yelled out "Naruto-kun!" As black rained from the coffin of sand. But everyone looked on in shock as the darkness came together and bubbled from the ground, taking a humanoid form. It was Naruto's shadow. At that moment, a black blade cut through the Suna no Tate with ease and cut a deep gouge in Gaara's armor. It was Naruto smiling cheerfully.

The sand surged to reform the defense, but Naruto just said "Surprise" and where Naruto was an instant before, now there was Naruto's shadow who delivered a powerful strike to Gaara's midsection, sending him back several feet.

The onlookers were amazed. Sakura just asked "B-but how did he get out of that? There was no way he could have used a Kawarimi, but he managed to do it anyway. Was it a Kawarimi without handseals?"

Gai laughed and said "That's the second reason why a single person would have trouble defeating Naruto. It's a technique that he calls 'Kagemusha'. It doesn't any handseals to perform and requires a minimal amount of chakra. It allows him to switch places with his shadow instantaneously. It's much faster than a Kawarimi, and he can activate the ability just by thinking about switching places with it. The actual switch takes place just as fast as the Yondaime's Hiraishin no jutsu, and it doesn't have any limit on distance. An almost perfect escape technique."

Shikamaru listened to that and said "So you need two people at least, like you said. One to hold off the shadow and the other to actually attack Naruto himself. The first person would also serve to make sure that Naruto couldn't escape the battle with a Kagemusha if things got bad for him." Gai just nodded and Shikamaru just said "How troublesome"

The battle continued. The shadow continued its assault but now Naruto would switch in at the last second and slice into the shield before switching back with the shadow who would strike a powerful blow against Gaara. His shield couldn't stand up to Naruto's Zanmato, the blade went right through his defenses like they were nothing. Gaara could barely keep track of which one was attacking him, Naruto or the shadow, they interchanged so quickly. His armor was taking a real pounding, cracks showing up every few centimeters.

Naruto put his blade on his shoulder as he saw Gaara take another punishing punch. He just said "Wow, I am disappointed. I thought that you would be a lot stronger than this Gaara. I'm not even using my full abilities yet." Everyone looked on in shock that he wasn't even going all out yet. The only exceptions were Gai and Tenten, they both knew that Naruto could do far more than what he had shown. He had yet to show the third and final reason why a single person would barely have a snowball's chance in hell against him, and that third reason was one of his most deadly abilities, especially for someone like Gaara.

Gaara filled the arena with sand, trying to overwhelm Naruto, but an equal amount of darkness nullified the attack. Gaara just muttered "How, how do you do this? There isn't that much darkness in this room for you to match my sand!"

Naruto smiled and said "You're right Gaara, there's much more." Gaara and everyone else looked astounded so he continued "All darkness is connected, through one piece I can call more. Darkness is also infinite, it is everywhere from the shadows under our feet, to the darkness in man's heart, to the endless abyss in the night sky. While you are limited in the amount of your element that you can call upon, I am not. I could call enough darkness to fill this entire room in an instant if I wanted to. And there is much more to darkness than there is to sand. I am getting rather bored with this fight, so I might just show you what I mean. I shall show you the true capabilities of darkness!"

After Naruto said this, the room grew colder and darker. It wasn't gradual at all, it was like someone just flipped a switch and it happened. Darkness spread out from him in an oppressive aura, outlining him and filling the air around him with that malicious cold. It rose into the air from him and spread across the ground at his feet. Naruto's shadow returned to its master, no longer needed since Naruto wasn't fooling around anymore.

Naruto smiled and said "For one example Gaara, darkness isn't a solid like your sand. It is a unique form of matter, being a solid, a liquid, and a gas at the same time, taking characteristics of all three." A ball of that same black material appeared in his hand and he held it in front of him before squeezing it, causing it to rupture and split into five pieces that floated in midair before zooming forward and crashing hard into Gaara's shield, creating large dents.

Naruto continued in his explanation "Also, it grants more powers than simple darkness itself, from darkness comes cold so I can control that to an extent, also since darkness is infinite, its gravity is also infinite so I can control that as well. It is time that I finished this battle so I will show you. I gained these greater powers over darkness at a price, and you are the first to see this since Gai-sensei so you should be proud Gaara."

He held his hand out in front of him, pointing toward Gaara. Darkness swirled in his hand in a circle and his palm grew black as death as he said "Kurouzu!"

Sakura, ever the nosy one, looked up to Gai and asked "Gai-san, Naruto said that he gained these abilities at a price. What does he mean by that?"

Gai was focused on the fight, as was everyone else, but he said "He had to give something up in order to be able to control these greater abilities. He had to sacrifice the Ninjutsu of the elements closest to light, Katon and Raiton. Katon gives off light and Raiton for all purposes almost is light. Light and darkness cannot be present in the same vessel so to gain one he had to give up the other. But he gained great powers from sacrificing those two elements. As you will now see. This is the greatest reason why a single person wouldn't stand much of a chance against him."

They looked back to the battle only to see Gaara in Naruto's hand. He was gripping him hard on the upper arm. The sand was not moving, it was flat on the ground like sand normally was. Gaara's armor was losing its coloring and falling apart. Naruto smiled before punching Gaara hard in the stomach, causing Gaara to cough up blood and go flying back into the wall. When the dust cleared, Gaara was stunned. He wasn't unconscious so Shukaku was contained, but he wasn't conscious either. The battle was over.

Hayate coughed into his hand and said to the stunned room "The winner of the third match, Uzumaki Naruto." The darkness vanished, and Naruto was like he was beforehand. The oppressive cold was gone, as was the swirling darkness. The only thing that indicated a battle was the unconscious opponent, the cracks in the walls, and the sand on the floor.

He walked up the stairs to return to where his team was watching from.

Temari was shocked out of her mind as she jumped down to see to Gaara. She never thought for an instant that he would lose. Baki and Kankurou were just as amazed at Gaara's defeat.

As Naruto approached them Gai said to Sakura "The third reason why no one man can stand up to Naruto. With a single touch, he can lock off their chakra completely. He can only do it to a single person at once and it ends the moment he lets go but while he has a hold on you, you can't do anything if it requires chakra at all. It isn't like sealed Tenketsu, then you could feel the chakra but you can't move it. With him, it's like the chakra isn't even there to use. To someone like Gaara, who relies on chakra for every move, Naruto was the worst possible opponent. The moment he touched him, Gaara lost his ability to manipulate sand in any way, the moment Naruto touched him Gaara became helpless."

Then Naruto got to them and Lee shouted "An excellent victory my comrade!" Naruto just waved him off and settled in to watch the next fight.

The medics carried off Gaara on a stretcher. The shadow might have been physically stronger, but Naruto could still pack quite a punch and he needed some medical attention. Temari came up to Naruto and simply asked "Why did you do that to him?"

Naruto looked at her and asked "Why did I do what to him?"

She got in his face and yelled "Why did you hurt him so badly! You could have done a lot worse, I know, but you didn't need to send him to the hospital!"

Naruto closed his eyes briefly and said "I did hurt him rather badly, I could have done less but that would have driven him unconscious. You should know what would happen then. I hit him hard enough in a pressure point to stun him so badly that he couldn't go unconscious yet would still be unable to fight. That was the only thing I could do to win the battle without killing him. If I did less then he would have continued to fight, if I did more he might have died, or worse, got knocked out. I hope you can forgive me." He smiled a bit "Who knows, maybe defeat will do him some good."

Temari looked down at the door where they had taken Gaara and slowly nodded and said "Yeah, maybe you're right." Then she looked up at him and smiled before saying "You know, this means that you won our bet. I owe you a date."

Naruto smirked before saying "Yes, you do. I'm just wondering, what would you have asked for if I had lost?"

Temari thought of what she had planned to have him do if she won the bet. The hotel room that she had in mind where she would…. She blushed slightly but tried to hide it. She just lied and said "I would have taken your hat."

Naruto smirked and said "My hat huh? What that?"

Temari smiled and said "It would have been a nice souvenir to take home plus your hair probably looks ridiculous which is why you most likely where it in the first place."

Naruto chuckled a bit "Is that what you think? Your hair style isn't exactly normal either you know. But why not, here." He took off his hat and put it on Temari's head. The only problem was that it was slightly too big for her so it fell over her eyes. She quickly took it off and glared at him as she blushed but he just laughed "Heh, I don't know why you would want it, you look ridiculous with it."

She just 'humphed' and handed it back saying "Here, you won the bet, not me so take it back." 'Although he does look better with it off.' She thought.

Naruto waved it away and said "No, you keep it. I've got more anyway."

It was about at that point that many of the other women in the room finally managed to see his face and blushed slightly. He was rather handsome though none of them would admit it. The hat made it hard to see his face so for many of them this was a first. Hell, even Sakura and Ino blushed, the two biggest fangirls ever and Hinata almost passed out. Kurenai and Anko were no exception. The only boy affected was Kankurou who was glaring at the guy flirting with his sister.

At that point Hayate took over again and said "Right, we will continue on to the next match." The names scrolled across the screen again, eventually landing on 'Aburame Shino vs. Abumi Zaku' they both went down to the main area, despite the fact that Zaku had both of his arms in slings. The battle was interesting, if short, and extremely painful for Zaku who had his arms newly ventilated with several new holes in his forearms.

The matches went on. A psychological battle between Shikamaru and Tsuchi Kin, which ended in Shikamaru's victory. Another battle between Kankurou and Tsurugi Misumi, where Kankurou took out his brotherly rage in almost crushing the unfortunate bespectacled man. There was also a fight between Sakura and Ino, which was just a pathetic battle of Taijutsu that shamed women everywhere which resulted in a draw. Then came a short battle between Chouji and the Oto ninja Kinuta Dosu. The battle ended when Chouji crashed into a wall and was nailed by Dosu's jutsu.

After that came a horrible match up. 'Tenten vs. Sabaku no Temari'

The battle went on for a while, but it was completely one-sided. Temari's Fuuton jutsu completely obliterated the bun-haired weapons mistress. Naruto didn't cheer, but he smiled when Tenten went down. Temari was very happy that she won. She hugged Naruto the moment she got back up to the stands, only to let go blushing slightly a moment later.

The next battle was a hopelessly doomed one 'Hyuuga Hinata vs. Hyuuga Neji' Naruto just yelled "Go Neji!" Neji didn't even need to fight. He psyched Hinata out so badly that she forfeited before the battle even started.

Naruto counted down the possible opponents for him, and then came to a conclusion. Then he looked up at the board and saw the names that he thought would be up there and he laughed. "HAHAHAHA! Neji, I think you just converted me into believing that everything is ruled through fate! If this match isn't fate, nothing is!" The others looked at the match up on the board and their jaws dropped in shock.

The names on the board were 'Uzumaki Naruto vs. Rock Lee' Lee yelled out in joy while Naruto continued to laugh.

Lee jumped down into the arena, smiling from ear to ear. He faced Naruto up on the balcony and yelled "Come on Naruto-kun! What are you waiting for?!"

Naruto smiled and did something rather unexpected, he took his sword from his back and plunged it into the ground. Then he took off his jacket and handed it to Temari saying "Hold this for me." Before jumping down as well.

Lee looked puzzled and asked "Naruto-kun, what are you doing?" As Naruto just stood there.

Naruto smiled and said "I am going to defeat you Lee using only Taijutsu and nothing else. It's time that I see how good it really is in combat. Just be prepared to lose though."

Lee smiled and said "I knew that one day we would meet in battle and I am glad that it is sooner rather than later. Just don't hold back Naruto-kun! Let's see your new style in action!"

Then Hayate looked over each competitor and said "The eleventh and final preliminary match, Rock Lee versus Uzumaki Naruto. Begin!" **(1)**

Lee ran forward and jumped into the air, aiming a kick at his head as he yelled "Konoha Senpuu!"

Naruto just stood there, not blocking it or anything. His normal defenses didn't block the strike; the kick hit him right in the side of the head. Before it hit though Naruto said one word. "Tekkai"

Lee rebounded through the air, landing on his feet as he looked at his teammate. Naruto just looked at him and said "Is that it? That didn't hurt at all Lee, I am rather disappointed."

Lee frowned, he knew that something wasn't right here, but he didn't know what. For some reason Naruto's normal defenses didn't stop him but when his kick connected. Lee's leg ached; it felt like he kicked an iron wall instead of flesh.

Naruto sighed and said "If you're not going to attack me then I will attack you Lee. Soru!" Naruto vanished and reappeared at Lee's side. He drove a powerful punch into Lee's side, as he did he muttered "Jyugan"

Lee soared off, crashing into the wall, creating a large crater. Lee stumbled out of it, coughing up a bit of blood. Lee was amazed, as was everyone else. Nobody knew that Naruto could move that fast. Naruto didn't wait for Lee to start his counter-attack. He kicked the air and muttered "Rankyaku" as a blade of energy rushed forth, only to be dodged by Lee. The blade crashed into the wall, leaving a large cut in the stone.

Lee jumped to the side, avoiding another Rankyaku which was even larger than the first. Naruto said "Gai-sensei, please give Lee permission to remove his weights, he won't last long if he doesn't remove them." Gai only nodded to Lee's delight. Naruto gave him a moment to remove them.

Two large craters in the ground later and Lee said "You may regret that Naruto-kun. Now prepare to face defeat!" Then he vanished once more.

Lee appeared right in front of Naruto, sending a punch straight to his face. He connected, but for all the results he got, he might not have bothered. Naruto took the blow like it was nothing and sent Lee back to the wall again, once more coughing up blood.

Lee got up again and asked "Naruto-kun, what style is this? Whatever it is, it is incredible."

Naruto smiled and said "You barely seen any of it Lee. But my Rokushiki Taijutsu style is indeed amazing. You have only seen three of the four basic moves and one mid-level technique. You don't have much of a chance."

Lee frowned and said "We'll see about that!" Then he vanished again.

Lee appeared in front of Naruto and kicked him in the chin, sending him upwards. Naruto used another Tekkai so it didn't hurt at all. Lee continued the series of kicks before wrapping him in bandages, flipping them in the air and brining Naruto down into a spin. Lee yelled "Let's see if your defenses can stand this! Omote Renge!"

Naruto just smiled again, his defenses could stand up to the Omote Renge but what he had planned was even better. Naruto cut through the bandages with a small Rankyaku, enough to free his legs and pressed against the air itself at the right moment, muttering "Geppou" as he did. The result bashed Lee into the unforgiving rock wall of the stadium and fully released Naruto from the bandages.

Naruto didn't wait, he turned around immediately and plunged a single finger into Lee's shoulder, piercing the flesh, muttering "Shigan" as he did so. He dislocated his shoulder with the force of the blow, making Lee's world go white with the immense pain of it. He almost blacked out, but he managed to stay conscious. Then Naruto bashed Lee's head against the wall and he was out like a light.

Naruto stepped back and said "That's that. Proctor! Call the match. He won't be getting up."

Hayate waited a moment, but Lee did not stir. He raised a hand and said "The winner of the eleventh match, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto went up to the stands as a medical team got to Lee. His shoulder was bleeding rather badly, and he had some internal bleeding from the powerful punches that Naruto landed, but he would be all right in the end. Gai was amazed at what had happened. He never expected Lee to lose in a battle of Taijutsu.

Naruto got back to where everyone was waiting. He asked "Temari-chan, can I have my coat back?" She handed it back a little reluctantly, but she still gave it back. Naruto pulled his sword from the ground and affixed it to his back as the finalists were called to the area below.

The Hokage told them all that they would be facing off in the final exam in one month's time. They were to use the month to train and hone their abilities in preparation for the final matches. Then they all drew numbers in order to decide who would be fighting who.

Kiba got one, Neji got two, Sasuke got three, Naruto got four, Shikamaru got five, Temari got six, Kankurou got seven, Shino got eight, and Dosu got nine.

So the matches would go like this: Kiba would fight Neji, then Naruto would fight Sasuke, then Shikamaru would go up against Temari, then Kankurou would fight Shino and the winner of that match would fight Dosu. After that was decided, the Hokage dismissed them all. Naruto said that he would see Temari in one week at eight, leaving the girl with a blush, and Anko quite jealous.

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(1) I was so tempted to end the chapter here just to be a dick

Okay, that is the end of the chapter. You guys should be glad that I update so quickly, unlike other authors on this site, otherwise you would have been living with that cliffhanger for a long time. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and review! And for those who were wondering why the shadows didn't jump to his defense like they always do, Naruto has more control over the shadows than Gaara does over sand so he can turn the shield off if he wants to.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	19. Chapter 19

Welcome, to the show of a lifetime

Welcome, to the show of a lifetime! You have guessed it, it is Kage no Naruto chapter nineteen! I hope you all appreciate this document that I put about an hour's work into enough to review it at the end and tell your friends about me! Until the ending note my readers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the voices in my head told me so. Isn't that right teddy? Teddy: "HAIL SATAN!"

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto defeated Gaara and Lee in the prelims, winning a date with Temari and a spot in the finals in the process. That was pretty much the chapter so read on!

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Naruto's home, one day after the prelims

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Naruto had spent the last day looking over stolen files, dossiers on the Konoha ninja. He was looking for power and talent, looking for those who were worth kidnapping and either becoming a marionette or having their shadow removed. So far, he hadn't found many. Theo only ones who were actually worth anything were the Hyuuga for their eyes, Gai for his powerful body, the Nara for their minds, the Inuzuka for their sense of smell and a guy called Tenzo for his unique Mokuton abilities. No one else was worth the effort.

There was an object in Konoha that he desired though. The Hatake family sword, the chakra fang. He had a far superior sword but he needed that to complete his work on Hatake Sakumo. He had several dozen Soldier class zombies ready for animation, he just needed shadows. He also had four General class zombies ready for animation, the Shodaime Hokage, Hatake Sakumo, Momochi Zabuza, and the unnamed first General that Naruto created, he just needed a specific shadow to animate it and a certain component to be added beforehand. He also needed the chakra fang to complete Sakumo. He had already designated Tenzo to be kidnapped so that he could bring the Shodaime to life, but he couldn't decide on which shadows to use in order to bring back the other three.

Perona came in while he was working and looked over one of the files. She asked "So, did you find anyone worth capturing?"

Naruto said "A few, most of them are clan members who have some special trait or something. Outside of clan ninja, only two. It is rather disappointing."

Perona nodded and sat down next to Naruto and asked "So, when are we going to attack this place anyway? You said we had one more month before the place is destroyed right? What are your plans to destroy them all?"

Naruto smiled and said "The easy way of course. Orochimaru has things in motion to destroy the village. The plan has merit but there are a few things that could go wrong. All I'm going to do is take care of the few X-factors that could tip the delicate balance of his plan, and recruit a few last minute assistants before the fireworks start. If his plan works, the village will be destroyed, if it doesn't than it will be heavily damaged. Either way, we won't be staying for much longer. Things will start to pick up again."

Perona smiled and said "That's good to hear. I'm starting to get sick of all this cloak and dagger stuff. It's fun to just blow someone away every once in a while."

Naruto smirked and nodded. "That it is, but don't worry, the time for subtlety has almost passed. Once we leave Konoha during the invasion, we can work more in the open."

Perona smiled a bit more and said "I do find it strange that you're helping this Orochimaru guy though. You usually never do anyone any favors unless you are getting the favor returned, with interest."

Naruto chuckled a bit, Perona knew him rather well. He said "You're right. Orochimaru will pay me for my services in his invasion. He won't know that he's paying, or that I helped, but he will return the favor several times over, with his shadow and several important pieces. He won't have a choice with the way things are currently set up."

Perona leaned closer to him, putting her head on his shoulder and said "Really? And how will you make him do what you want?"

Naruto put down the file and looked at her before saying "The Uchiha, of course. He may be a pathetic piece of vermin, but Orochimaru wants him and that makes him somewhat important. In order to open Orochimaru to attack, all I have to do is make sure that Uchiha Sasuke is not captured during the invasion; the rest will take care of itself. He won't last long after the invasion is done, I will see to that. My only worry at this point is that I will be dragged into the conflict more than I have to be, Orochimaru knows that I am more than I appear to be and he may attempt to go after me and force my hand. Then again, even if he does do that, we'll just have to leave earlier than I intended, and watch the fires from farther away."

Perona smiled, happy that he was confiding in her, however slightly. She was a bit surprised as Naruto got up and moved to leave. "Where are you going?" She asked.

Naruto looked back and said "I am going to go look around. There are a few things that I have to take care of before the finals."

Then before he left, he stopped and turned around. "Actually Perona-chan, there is something that I need you to do for me."

She smiled and asked "Really? What?"

Naruto smiled and said "I need you to use your abilities to try and locate the chakra fang. I am sure that Hatake Kakashi possesses it but just hid it somewhere. If you keep an eye on him, you'll most likely find it. I can send someone to retrieve it later, but I need to know where it is first. Can you do this for me?"

Perona jumped up and chirped "Of course Naruto-kun!"

Naruto smiled and said "That's good, thank you Peron-chan. I will be back later." Then he walked out the door.

Perona went up to her bedroom and after a moment's hesitation, separated herself from her body, making her a wandering spirit once more. The fake body that Naruto gave her returned to its mannequin like appearance when she did, no longer having a soul to give it form.

She focused and became invisible. The only thing that could spot her now was the Byakugan and she didn't intend to go near the Hyuuga compound. She floated through the wall and dashed off to find Kakashi, hoping that he would lead her to his father's sword.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was scouting out the terrain of the village. He knew roughly what Orochimaru's plan was, but he didn't know every last detail. Orochimaru planned to attack the village with the Ichibi held within Gaara, attacking with numerous Oto and Suna Shinobi at the same time. Meanwhile he would get close to the Sandaime and assassinate him with the assistance of his elite squad, the Sound Four. At the same time, he would have a number of Shinobi assigned to capture Uchiha Sasuke. Aside from that, he had no idea what the old snake would do, nor did he care. Even if Orochimaru succeeded, Konoha would survive. Not anywhere near its former glory, but it would survive as fragments, broken pieces of the once great organization known as Konoha. He just had to make sure that Uchiha Sasuke would stay out of Orochimaru's clutches until then, aside from that he had no major objectives during the invasion.

He kept a close eye on possible paths to the residential district where Orochimaru's men were sure to flock, and the easiest paths to the shelters, where the civilians would be located under careful guard as they escaped the combat. He tried to gauge roughly how things would happen on the grand scale, areas to avoid should he be forced to stay longer than he thought.

He actually ran into several of the rookie nine as he wandered the village. He didn't say anything to them, he didn't have to. They edged away from him without his doing anything. He took some minor joy in that.

Eventually, his wanderings took him to a spot near the hot springs that overlooked the village rather nicely. He looked at the village with a careful eye. He had to admit that it was a beautiful place, you wouldn't tell by looking at it that it was populated by professional killers and idiotic politicians. But the people ruined it completely.

Then he heard an extremely unwelcome sound. The sound of a perverted giggle coming from the hot springs, specifically the women's section. He froze when he heard that and looked over to where the sound came from and saw what he feared, an old man dressed in red clothes peeking into a hole in the wall, peeping on the women that doubtless lay inside.

Naruto nearly had a heart attack, the man was Jiraiya of the Sannin. As far as Naruto was concerned, his presence there changed everything. He got the hell out of there as quickly as possible, he had a few details to adjust.

As he got away from the hot springs, he turned into a side alley and used a Kage Hokou to get back home. He had some precautions to take, some plans to alter, and a few zombies to awaken.

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With Perona

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Perona had been following Kakashi for a while now. All he did was walk around, reading his porn, and it was driving her crazy. She was tempted to blow the book up, but she had to keep a low profile. Unless she talked, she couldn't be heard and as long as she concentrated on being invisible, she couldn't be seen unless a Hyuuga used his Byakugan. She couldn't be smelled or felt so she just had to be patient.

She was amazed at how boring a single person could be. He just wandered around most of the day, with two exceptions; one was where he went to the hospital to get that Sasuke guy's medical status. Apparently he was going to be training him over the next month in preparation for Sasuke's match with Naruto. Perona had to keep herself from laughing at that, Sasuke surpass her Naruto-kun in a month? It was ridiculous.

The second stop of his filled Perona with outright rage, the reason? Kakashi met with a few members of the Village council. He told them that he was going to teach Sasuke how to best use his Sharingan and teach him several jutsu of each element along with the Chidori, Kakashi's famous move. He was also going to tell the Uchiha to do his best to kill Naruto, the council was planning to have him killed using an innocent match as an excuse! She was tempted to kill them all right then and there, but Naruto asked her to find something so she would.

Eventually Kakashi went home and what did he do? Sleep? No, he stayed up and read his porn. But Perona didn't need to follow him any more, the only reason she did was because she didn't know where he lived. Perona could pass through objects and so she searched the entire apartment from top to bottom. Naruto told her what the sword should look like, an everyday Tanto with a few seals on the handle in a white sheath.

It took her a while, but she eventually managed to locate the blade. Kakashi had it hidden in a safe under the floor. Finally done with her work, Perona left the pervert's apartment. She really understood why Naruto didn't like the man, he was appalling. Stealing other's techniques and passing it off as his own power, reading that smut in public, acting cocky and arrogant, she couldn't stand him.

Mind you, she did take a look at some of that stuff he was reading. If spirits could blush, she could be a stoplight. Whoever came up with that stuff had a sick mind, but it was rather erotic. 'Maybe I could do something like that with…GAH!' She shook her head to try and get rid of the dirty thoughts as she headed back home, glad that the barrier only affected physical matter so she could pass through easily.

She returned to the body Naruto gave her and waited for a moment as it took her form again. She hugged herself to make sure that it worked. She was afraid of losing her body again after spending centuries as a ghost. She sprang up and looked around the house for Naruto, but he wasn't home yet, but he should have been home soon. So she found Rei and had her start dinner, then she took a chair and waited behind the door.

About ten minutes later, the door creaked open and a figure slowly entered. She grabbed the figure and yelled "Naruto-kun you're home!" Then she realized that the person she grabbed wasn't Naruto.

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With Naruto

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Naruto went immediately from his home to the mountain caves. He checked on Perona when he was there, only to find the dummy body that she usually inhabited. Since Perona was still gone, he went straight to the caves. He had a few things to take care of.

When he entered the main living area he saw Haku reading a manga with Yukino. She looked up and smiled "Hi Naruto-kun!" alerting Yukino to his presence as well.

Naruto was a bit startled with her change of personality but he didn't have time to contemplate this. Haku got up and looked behind him as she asked "That pink haired girl isn't with you is she?"

Naruto said "Perona? No, why do you ask?"

She grabbed onto his arm and smiled as she said "No reason. So did you come here just to visit me or do you have some other reason?"

Naruto smirked at what she was trying to do, he had no doubt that there would be open rivalry between the two of them before long but he had business to attend to first and foremost. He said "As much as I enjoy your presence Haku-chan, I'm afraid that I have some business to attend to first."

Haku frowned a bit as she let go "Okay then, but I get to have some time with you later." She went back to Yukino and continued to read the manga with her.

Naruto continued on through the caves, going to a very specific room. He neared Hogback's lab as he went, only to meet the strange doctor and his zombified assistant. "Ahh, Naruto-sama! How nice of you to visit us. What brings you to our cave?"

Naruto looked in and found the doctor working on a new marionette. He said "Hello doctor. Good news, you will only be stuck in here for another month, but there are a few obstacles in the way of that."

Hogback frowned and said "I see. So what do you need of us?"

Naruto smiled and said "Nothing, I just thought that it was time for our dear Generals to have a field test."

Hogback reared his head and laughed, his laugh was as odd as Perona's, a high pitched '_Fos fos fos'._

"That's good to hear. I think that it would be good to see how our creations do in battle. Care if I accompany you?"

Naruto waved him on as he strode down the hall. Hogback turned back and said "Kagerou, continue work on number one hundred seventy nine, he still needs a new left femur." The zombified girl bowed as the doctor left the room.

Naruto continued on and stopped in front of a certain steel door. The door was heavily locked and could only be opened by someone with a key, and those people were only Naruto himself and Dr. Hogback. He took the nondescript key from his jacket and opened the door with a little difficulty. The door opened into a large room containing five coffins laid on the floor.

Naruto walked in and said, with chakra empowering his voice "Awaken, General Zombies!"

For a moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly, one of the coffins cracked open, the lid being pushed open by a sewed up arm. One by one the coffins opened and stiff forms rose from the wooden boxes. Before long, five creatures stood before Naruto, the five General Zombies that he had animated so far.

Starting from the left there was Ryuuma, wearing the same tattered white robe as always, carrying the great sword Shuusui at his side. Next to him was a man clad in blue armor with white hair, he also had two curved blades held at his legs, this was the zombie of Senju Hokushin the Niidaime Hokage.

The third in line had green hair that was long in the front and very short in the back. He wore a black outfit with two blades affixed to his wrists. He also had a small scar on his chin in addition to all the stitches upon his form, this was the zombie assembled from completely spare parts, known as Sodom. The fourth was a tall man, at least seven feet tall, with lightly tanned skin. Muscles bulged in his arms, all six of them. These arms also had artificial spinnerets in the palms of his hands that could shoot large blasts of webbing that was harder to cut than a steel girder. This was the spider zombie known as Gomorrah, a master of stealth and retrieval and the second of the original creations. The fifth zombie was a tall slim figure that could not be completely seen due to the fact that he wore an entire suit of steel armor. The zombie was made for power and speed, not defense so the armor helped balance out the creatures' statistics. At his side was the Raijin sword wielded by the shadow's previous owner. This was the third of the original creations known as Samson.

The five General Zombies stood before Naruto and Hogback. Naruto said "Today will be your first true assignment. Four of you are to kill a certain man while the fifth will kidnap someone and bring him back to me alive. Ryuuma, Hokushin, Sodom, and Samson, you shall be working together to eliminate Jiraiya of the Sannin. You will lure him away from where you could be interrupted and kill him, you will bring the body back to me as intact as possible. Gomorrah, you will be coming with me. Any questions?"

They all said "No sir!" and he nodded.

Naruto said "Right, you four come here." The four grouped together zombies were shown a picture of Jiraiya. "This is the man you will be eliminating. You are not to be seen by anyone except this man. Do you understand?" They all nodded. "Right, then I will bring you to his last known location. Kage Hokou!" The shadows in the room pooled underneath the five and they vanished into it.

Naruto and the group emerged in the forest near the hot springs. He muttered to them "He should be near here, kill him as quietly as possible."

They nodded and Ryuuma asked "Naruto-sama, where are we to take the body when we have completed our task?"

Naruto said "Bring him to the top of the Hokage Monument. Now get to work!" They nodded and Naruto vanished.

Naruto returned to the caves and said "Gomorrah, come with me." The large creature stood next to Naruto as he vanished once more, leaving the doctor with a warm feeling in his chest.

Hogback went back to the lab as he thought 'The time for hiding is almost over. Soon the very world will know and fear my creations.'

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With Perona

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Perona immediately got some distance and examined the man before her. He had a dark purple outfit on, with a white sash around his waist. He also had white hair and large circular glasses. She asked angrily "Who are you?"

The man adjusted his glasses and said "Oh, I didn't know that Naruto-kun had a girlfriend. This should make my job easier, if you don't struggle then I won't hurt you, if you resist then I will kill you. It's that simple."

Perona frowned and asked "Are you here to hurt Naruto-kun?" prepared to deal with the man permanently.

He smiled and said "I wouldn't call it hurting him, if he was good in life then he would be very happy afterwards. Now then, why don't you make this easier for us both and be a good hostage? I am a ninja, you wouldn't have a chance of escape."

Perona only said "why escape when I can simply get rid of you? Negative Hollow!" As soon as she said the words, ghosts emerged from her body as rushed toward the shocked man before her.

Kabuto had no idea what happened. Orochimaru told him to kill or capture Uzumaki Naruto. Then he infiltrates his house only to find a potential hostage, only to find that the hostage is apparently a ninja of some kind. He chuckled and said "You'll have to try better than that." As he side stepped the ghosts. Only for one of them to go through his back. The moment the ghost touched him, Kabuto dropped to the floor.

Perona smiled at the now bawling man and said "You should never underestimate anyone working with my Naruto-kun, especially me. Such a shame that you will never live to learn that lesson. Mini-hollow!" She held out her hand and four small ghosts popped out of her palm, floated to Kabuto's hips and shoulders and exploded when Perona snapped her fingers. Kabuto was out cold, knocked out from the pain.

Perona closed the door and yelled into the house "REI!"

The blue haired zombie soon appeared and asked "What is it Perona-sama?"

Perona pointed at the downed Kabuto and said "Take this down stairs and make sure he doesn't go anywhere. I am sure that Naruto-kun will have plenty of questions for him when he returns."

The zombie girl nodded and picked up the unconscious medic easily, throwing him over her shoulder as she walked into the basement.

Perona went into the living room and lied down, she was filled with questions about that guy and information she wanted to tell Naruto, but she had to wait for him to show up first.

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With the zombies

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Through several illusions of women, the four zombies had managed to get Jiraiya to follow them into a clearing a mile away from Konoha. The mighty Toad Sage looked up at the four undead creatures and prepared himself for battle as they drew their weapons.

He looked shocked as the zombie of the Niidaime Hokage said "Jiraiya of the Sannin, by order of our master you are to die." Then three of four zombies jumped down and dashed toward Jiraiya as he prepared to fight the strange creatures before him, questions flooding his mind.

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And that is the end of the chapter. I know, I am evil for leaving you on a cliffhanger like that, but it happens. Next chapter, you finally see the General Zombies in action, Naruto continues his preparations for the invasion and also has a date with Temari. One has to wonder how Perona will take that. Anyway, review the chapter and enjoy life.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	20. Chapter 20

I hope you guys haven't been waiting too long, for Kage no Naruto chapter twenty is finally here

I hope you guys haven't been waiting too long, for Kage no Naruto chapter twenty is finally here! You can let go of that held breath, take the knife away from your wrist, and enjoy life again! Well, at least until you get to the end, after that who knows what sort of misery that you'll be in for.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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In the latest manga, Sasuke and the Hachibi Jinchuuriki finally start fighting, about fucking time, anyway the guy is kicking ass and taking Sasuke's name. He uses all eight swords at once, without even using the Bijuu's power! It looks fucking weird, like a Zoro rip-off in a way but strangely it works. So Sasuke is acting like he's almighty and shit, saying that he's using Akatsuki as a pawn, not the other way around and gets his ass kicked. He used his 'almighty unbeatable Chidori sword', you know, when he channels lightning into the sword so that it can cut through about fucking anything? Anyway, he uses that and guess what? The Hachibi guy can do the same move! He cuts right through his Kusanagi and gives Sasuke a nice big gash, and that's where the chapter ends. So far things are looking good that Sasuke will die, but we all know that Kishimoto will pull some magical bullshit out of his ass to make sure his crush wins, despite the odds and facts.

Oh, and it had this really fucking disturbing picture at the start of the chapter where Naruto and Sasuke each had a necklace with a picture of the other on it. Yeah… guess where Kishimoto's mind is when you draw shit like that. Honestly it sounds like the starting picture of a yaoi doujin or something.

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SPOILERS END

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Disclaimer: If you think I own Naruto you must be insane, how could you think that I could fuck something up THAT badly!? I am insulted!

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto prepared for the imminent invasion, scared children, marked people to be kidnapped or killed and certain objects to be stolen. He unleashed four of the five General Zombies which have engaged Jiraiya in combat, and Kabuto attempted to kidnap Perona only to have his ass handed to him. What happens next? What will become of Kabuto and Jiraiya? Well, I'm not going to tell you here, read on and find out already!

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Naruto's house

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Naruto walked in on the captured Kabuto, Perona at his side. Kabuto was tied to a chair in a room in the basement after having his wounds poorly treated, clichéd but it held him down easily enough. He was alive and that was what mattered at the moment. Naruto arrived shortly after Perona defeated and detained the unfortunate medic, and after getting the information regarding the Hatake family sword had sent the General zombie Gomorrah to retrieve the blade and kidnap the ANBU that was codenamed 'Yamato'. The stealthy General would probably be back within an hour or two, but in the meantime he had to deal with the medic that was unfortunate enough to have been caught.

Naruto strode over to the unconscious medic and backhanded him across the face, waking him up rather quickly. The white haired medic spluttered out "W-where am I? Why can't I feel my limbs?"

Naruto backhanded him again and said "Where you are doesn't matter. What matters are the things that you are going to tell me. As for why you can't feel your limbs, well we'll get to that later. First question, why did Orochimaru send you here?"

Kabuto regained his senses and glared up at the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki before saying in a firm voice "I'll never talk. My master's orders were confidential to the extreme. I will never reveal his secrets!"

Naruto nodded and said "I see, quite the strong morale you've got there. I think we'll shatter that beyond any hope for repair. Perona-chan, if you would."

Perona smiled as she said "Gladly, Naruto-kun. Negative Hollow!" She sent a ghost flying through the prone ninja's stomach. About half a second later he was bawling like an infant about how useless he was, and how he always fucked things up.

Naruto went over to him and said "Now then, what did Orochimaru order you to do and why?"

Normally Kabuto would refuse the question outright, but in his current state, he folded like wet cardboard. Kabuto told him about the meeting where Orochimaru gave him his orders.

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Flashback no jutsu, location: Who knows

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Orochimaru was examining the contents of a glass vial. He was researching possible potential of some rare plant in poisons. It was boring crap but Kabuto had to wait until his orders were given. Orochimaru spoke "I have two jobs for you Kabuto-kun, and they must both be done tonight."

Kabuto looked up from his kneeling position and said "Yes, Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru poured the mixture into another vial filled half way with a green fluid. The mixture turned dark blue as Orochimaru continued "The first job is to kill Uzumaki Naruto. He is powerful for a Gennin, far too powerful and may be a threat to the invasion. He must be taken care of beforehand."

Kabuto nodded and said "And the second task Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru continued his chemistry work as he said "The second job is to kidnap Uchiha Sasuke and bring him here. He is a boy of exceptional power and grace, and he has the Sharingan eyes. I must have him."

Kabuto nodded and said "In your army."

Orochimaru looked back and said "What?"

Kabuto looked at the floor again and said "You must have him in your army. Isn't that what you meant?"

Orochimaru just half shouted "No! I must have him naked and chained to the foot of my bed! Do I need to draw you a fucking picture!? Now get going!"

Kabuto, thoroughly disturbed just quickly muttered "Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Before getting the hell out of there.

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End flashback

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Naruto just looked at him in shock and said "Wow, way too much information right there. Way too much."

Perona walked up and said "Well, apparently Orochimaru thinks you're a threat, wise move on his part. So what are you going to do with him?"

Naruto was currently off to the side holding his hand to his face, trying to remove the image that Kabuto planted in his head. He said "Kabuto or Orochimaru?"

Perona looked at him and said "Both"

Naruto turned around to face the prisoner and the ghost girl and said "Orochimaru will pay for his treachery in time. He's useless anyway after the invasion. He can wait until then. As for Kabuto, we already have a far superior medic so taking his shadow is out. As for his body, you did quite a number on him Perona-chan. You completely destroyed the joints that connected his limbs to his torso, his body is ruined."

Perona looked at Kabuto, who was beginning to recover and said "So what do we do with him?"

Naruto approached the medic and had his sword reveal itself from the pocket in his sleeve. He just said "Easy, we kill him and use him for spare parts. Step back." Then he brought the blade down on Kabuto's neck and red splattered the walls.

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With Jiraiya

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Jiraiya was in trouble. One of the four said "Jiraiya of the Sannin, by order of our master, you must die." Then three of them, the armored one, the one with the twin blades, and the Niidaime rushed at him while Ryuuma stayed at a distance.

Jiraiya jumped back as the four got close, hoping that they would collide, but they didn't. The knight landed first, striking with a powerful two handed blow which Jiraiya avoided with a jump in the air. The strike hit the ground and shattered the earth in a similar way to one of Tsunade's punches. The other two jumped off of the upturned rocks and got some distance from him.

Jiraiya wasn't safe yet, while he was in the air the samurai zombie, Ryuuma, drew his sword. He brought it back, pointing the tip at Jiraiya's head and struck forward as though impaling him. As he did so he muttered "Oobaado kuu Doroa."

Jiraiya, sensing danger, grabbed a nearby branch and hauled himself up, crouching on the length of wood. It was a wise move. Where the sword pointed, where Jiraiya's head was moments before, a circular hole three feet wide was blown straight through the tree, and there were similar holes in the two trees behind it.

Before Jiraiya knew it, the swordsman was before him, striking with a powerful upward slash, saying "Prelude: Ofueru!" Jiraiya moved backwards and the black sword only took off a lock of hair, but the branch above the two was cut and came crashing down upon the two. The swordsman moved away with blinding speed, and Jiraiya did soon after.

The four dead looking people stood in a loose group before Jiraiya and he panted once or twice before he said "You know, I don't know who you guys are or who this 'master' of yours is, but you are going to regret attacking me. I think it's about time I got off the defensive." Then he did several handseals before yelling "Katon: Dai Endan!" Then he blew a massive stream of flames at the four.

The four didn't move, save the Niidaime. He made several quick handseals before yelling "Suiton: Suijinheki!" Then blew water out of his mouth that formed a wall that blocked the flames. Then he took the two swords from his belt and tossed them in the air as he made more handseals before shouting "Suiton: Suishouha!" A large amount of water appeared from the air and rushed toward Jiraiya, as the current approached the Niidaime caught the twin swords and from them shot a ball of lightning into the water, making it more deadly.

Jiraiya moved as fast as he could to get out of the way, landing on another branch to see the area he was in get scorched. He was distracted from his thinking of a counter-attack when the green haired zombie with the twin blades appeared next to him and performed several rapid cuts and slashes with the attached lengths of metal. Jiraiya weaved and dodged out of the way, only to catch a powerful kick in the stomach, sending him flying backward into the main trunk of the tree.

Jiraiya coughed up a bit of blood, which he wiped away. These four were incredibly strong. Jiraiya felt his side tenderly as he rose 'Damn it, at least one broken rib. At least there's no internal bleeding, yet. Who the hell are these guys?' Then he turned to his most recent assailant only to jump of the branch as the armored zombie appeared next to him and cut downward with the Raijin sword, slicing through the branch. The two zombies escaped harm however, running up the tree to scout out their target from higher ground, ready to attack again.

Jiraiya had a hard time keeping all four of them in his sights at the same time. Jiraiya had some doubt as to the fact, but in a one on one fight he could probably take those two down. The Niidaime look-alike and the samurai were a different matter, but the four of them were relentless, attacking with a pack mentality, wearing him down while closing in for a fatal strike. He knew that he couldn't dodge their attacks forever and he didn't have any chance to use any Ninjutsu.

Jiraiya was cut short of his musings however as he noticed that the samurai vanished, as did the Niidaime. His questions as to their location were soon answered as the Niidaime appeared next to the knight and used a Suiryuudan no jutsu. The knight used the Raijin to electrocute the dragon as it neared the Sannin, forcing him to dodge again or be fried. Jiraiya jumped to another tree and walked right into a trap. The samurai was there for him the second he landed, sword prepared for a powerful sideways strike. He shouted "Gavotte Bond Avant!" as he landed the blow, slicing Jiraiya in half. The body turned to mud however, revealing it to be a Tsuchi Bunshin.

Jiraiya watched from a nearby hiding place as the tree trunk behind the deceased clone parted and fell to the ground. What was scary was that it was one of the extremely large trees found only near Konoha that was several hundred feet thick. Jiraiya had to admit that these people, whoever they were, had a real chance of killing him if they kept it up.

Jiraiya knew that he couldn't win. Not against all four of them at once. If he didn't get out of there, and quickly, he would die. Summoning wouldn't do him any good. If that swordsman could cut through one of the great trees of Konoha, he could cut through a frog easily enough. Gamabunta would have been missing limbs within the first minute if he was summoned. His current form was next to useless. His Ninjutsu arsenal, while extensive, wouldn't be of much use if he didn't have the time necessary to form handseals. He was lucky to have gotten off that Dai Endan earlier. His only real choices were to use the Sennin Moodo, and hope for the best, which wasn't much. Or come up with a viable escape plan. He didn't have any more time to think however, as the Niidaime found him, appeared next to him, and slashed at him with his electrified twin swords.

Jiraiya was taken by surprise and his left arm got nicked. Now he had two rather deep slash wounds on his arm and to make things worse, the arm was going numb and the other three knew where he was as well.

Jiraiya faced the four, looking at each in turn. He knew that whoever controlled these four, whoever this 'master' was, he would be a formidable opponent. If they were working with Orochimaru, Konoha was probably screwed when the invasion came. Hell, that was the reason Sarutobi called him there in the first place.

'I don't have time to use the Sennin Moodo, I don't have anything that would work as a distraction long enough to buy me the time I need. Without that, I won't have a chance of survival. The only chance is to get away. I'll retreat and hope that they don't want to be seen by Konoha itself. That's my only real chance at this point.'

Jiraiya knew that the forest ended about a tenth of a mile away, if he could get there, he was probably safe since Shinobi would be gathering after seeing that tree fall and sensing his chakra. He gathered his chakra into his legs and made a mad dash, never taking his eyes off of the four as he tired to escape.

Then he noticed that one of the four wasn't there. The samurai was gone. He heard a voice filter through the trees. "So, you are trying to escape are you? Yohohohoho, you coward! Don't think that I will let you!"

Then the samurai appeared nearby, sword held in two hands for the first time. Jiraiya was right in the line of fire as he dashed forward. The Sannin tried desperately to get out of the way of whatever was coming.

The samurai said "Hanauta Sanchou…." Then he vanished and reappeared at the other side of the tree. He returned the sword to its sheath, and as the hilt clicked against the sheath the swordsman said "….Yahazugiri!"

The moment the undead samurai said the word, the tree was split. Not in two, not even in ten, cuts crisscrossed along the length of ancient wood, cutting it into dozens, hundreds, of small asymmetrical blocks of wood, each cleaved cleanly from the main mass. But that didn't matter to Jiraiya at the moment.

He managed to get clear of the brunt of the attack, which was why he was still alive. He managed to land on another branch of a different tree and continued on, not far from his destination. He could hear the shouts and cries of Shinobi as they prepared to investigate what was happening. He wasn't unharmed however; several deep cuts littered his chest and stomach. He slowed due to his injuries.

Jiraiya made a mad dash to attempt to escape and noticed that three of the four were leaving, heading the other way, away from the actual village. Jiraiya was right in his assumption. Whoever they were, they didn't want anyone seeing them for now. But he only saw the retreating backs of the knight, the Niidaime, and the one with the twin blades, he didn't see the samurai.

That was until the samurai appeared next to him as he jumped from one branch to another and ran him through with his sword. It was a clean stab, under the ribs, but it missed his organs for the most part. It missed his spine too which was a godsend. His intestines were still ruptured though, and he was pretty sure his spleen took a hit.

The dead man looked at Jiraiya with his empty sockets and said "You see? I told you that you would not escape us, Yohohohoho."

Jiraiya looked up into the bandaged face of the samurai, at the dead brown skin that clung tightly to the bones and said "That's what you think." Before ramming him through the throat with a kunai. As the undead warrior was surprised by the sudden attack, Jiraiya made his escape. He knew that he couldn't pull out the sword, he didn't have time, he took the only choice he really had and hoped that the Shinobi could get him to a hospital quickly. He just thanked the gods that the blade was in him sideways and that the blade was pointing the right way.

A scouting team examined the nearby woods as they looked for what had caused two trees to fall. But what they found was a surprise. It was Jiraiya of the Sannin, and he was gravely wounded. He had several cuts on his person but he had one major wound. It was in his torso, under the ribs. There was a massive cut that cleaved him halfway to his spine. He sputtered out "Get me…to a hospital… quickly." Then he coughed up blood and collapsed. The Shinobi were quick to obey his orders, feeding him a few blood pills as they rushed him back to Konoha.

What none of them noticed was the white robed figure watching as Jiraiya was carried away. The undead warrior looked at his sheathed sword and then back to the massive bloodstain where he ran Jiraiya through, pinning him to the tree like an insect. He thought to himself 'He cut himself free on my own blade while I was distracted, mortally injuring himself in order to escape, what a foolish move, suicidal to the extreme, just to escape. But it worked. You win this round Jiraiya of the Sannin, but next time you will not escape. We shall meet again and when we do, it shall be the last. This I promise.'

Then the robed figure vanished, to rejoin his comrades to report to their master.

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With Naruto, one hour later

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Naruto was quite angry. He never expected Jiraiya to survive the attack. He sent four Generals to make absolutely sure that he wouldn't survive, yet he did. It took a near suicidal maneuver to escape, but he made it. It hardly mattered. Jiraiya was out of the picture for now. There wasn't any way in hell that he was getting out of the hospital in time for the invasion, not with those injuries. He was angry that the Generals failed, but they still accomplished what the mission was meant to do, prevent Jiraiya from interfering in the invasion.

Still, the Generals were in their coffins again, waiting to be awakened so that they may obey his orders once more. Ryuuma, Hokushin, Sodom, and Samson had failed their mission in a way, but the fifth General, Gomorrah, succeeded with ease. The Hatake family sword, the chakra fang of Hatake Sakumo was in his possession, as was the other item that he ordered the General to retrieve. Now he had only to find a suitable shadow to bring Konoha's White Fang into his service.

But that wasn't important at the moment, what was important was the animation of the sixth General zombie. He was in the caves once more, an open coffin nearby, and a restrained ANBU in front of him. Hogback was actually able to salvage Kabuto's body, he had natural regenerative powers so he would be an able General when the time came. But right now he had to focus.

The tiger masked ANBU struggled to be free of his bonds, to rise from his chair. But he was unable to. He was restrained by a powerful webbing courtesy of Gomorrah. The webbing, when hardened, was harder then steel, and the unfortunate ANBU was coated from the neck down. The webbing also leached away chakra so it made ninja almost helpless. Naruto just hummed a small tune as he turned on a nearby flood light, filling the room with a bright light, the ANBU's shadow clear and black against the floor.

The ANBU struggled even more, idly yelling threats at him through the gag of webbing that prevented him from speaking, but Naruto ignored the man and put his hand to the floor, at the edge of the shadow and pulled upon it, the shadow rising from the floor in his grip. The ANBU known as Yamato struggled more against the webbing but it was of no use. Naruto, growing tired of the man, unsealed his scissors and with a quick slice, cut the shadow away from the man who instantly went unconscious when his shadow was removed.

Naruto resealed his scissors and walked over to the restrained dead form in the coffin. Naruto held up the struggling human shape and rammed in into the red armored figure, watching as the shadow vanished into the flesh and the zombie came to life a moment later. The new zombie immediately began struggling against his restraints.

Naruto smiled, knowing that he wouldn't escape them before his resistance naturally vanished and became a willing slave like all the rest of the zombies. He just said "Welcome back to the world of the living, Senju Hashirama."

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And that is the end of the chapter. Jiraiya survives, Kabuto is killed and the Shodaime Hokage has been resurrected in undead zombie minion form. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter enough to review and I shall see you next time.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	21. Chapter 21

Behold the elixir of the gods

Behold the elixir of the gods! It is Kage no Naruto chapter twenty one! Rejoice, share it with your friends and families, where applicable, and most importantly review at the end!

Disclaimer: What's that in the sky? It's skywriting. What does it say? It says 'Screw you guys, I am not doing another disclaimer'. Huh, weird.

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Summary of last chapter

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Jiraiya escaped from the four Generals with his life, albeit with grave injuries, and is now hospitalized. The chakra fang has been obtained by Naruto and now all he needs is an appropriate shadow in order to resurrect Hatake Sakumo. Yamato was captured and his shadow extracted and placed into the Shodaime Hokage's body, creating a sixth General Zombie. And Kabuto is being prepared to become another General class marionette, thanks to the immense skill and abilities of Dr. Hogback. What will happen in this chapter as the Finals grow nearer? Read on and find out, then review afterwards!

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Konoha Shinobi Hospital, High Security Ward

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Sarutobi looked upon the sleeping form of Jiraiya. He was smoking his pipe while he contemplated the current problem. Meanwhile one of the doctors was maintaining Jiraiya's current condition.

He asked her "Dr. Akagi, what is his condition?"

The blonde doctor finished taking down some readings from a machine and turned to face the Hokage. She would have thought that his condition was obvious. He was unconscious and was hooked up to about half a dozen machines, including breathing apparatus and a blood transfusion. He was in bad shape.

The doctor looked at the clipboard and said "It isn't good Hokage-sama. He suffered some major blunt impact trauma to the abdominal area at some point, resulting in two broken ribs, one of which pierced his kidney when he was running. In addition to that he has two deep cuts in his left arm, and nerve damage in the same, probably due to electricity, along with five deep cuts crisscrossing his chest and stomach. The major wound though was to his abdominal area, it is a deep slash that is four inches deep, right under his ribs, it pierced the spleen and damaged the intestinal tract as well as nicked the stomach, allowing a small amount of acid to be let loose into his system resulting in acid damage to his digestive tract, and he also lost a lot of blood. Overall, he's in bad shape and if he didn't get here when he did, he wouldn't be alive."

The Hokage nodded and the doctor took a breath before continuing "His condition is critical, though he is stable at the moment. We had to operate immediately when he arrived three days ago, and we managed to stop any acid damage from getting worse and dressed the wounds in his arm, got some more blood into him and got his ribs back into place. The kidney and spleen are easily taken care of. Jiraiya-sama has a very common blood type so it will be very easy to arrange for a transplant within the next few days. The major worry is what the blood loss could have done to his brain. He has been in a comatose condition since he arrived and has shown no signs of waking up. It's possible that he will never wake up, or maybe he wakes up and he isn't himself anymore, or he wakes up not all there. It's impossible to say at this point sir."

Sarutobi nodded, not liking the news. He called Jiraiya back to Konoha because of Orochimaru's presence in the village. He knew that Orochimaru would attack, but he wasn't sure when or how, and how much help he would have. Sarutobi was no fool, if he and Orochimaru clashed, there was a very real chance that he would die, and if he did then Orochimaru's plan, whatever it was, would most likely succeed. Orochimaru was far more powerful than anyone else in the village, if he fell then there would be no one to protect everyone else from him during the attack. Orochimaru would be free to do what he wanted, no one being powerful enough to do more than stall him. Jiraiya was his prevention of that scenario and now it was gone. Jiraiya was alive, which was a very good thing, but he wouldn't be fighting anytime soon.

The Sandaime sighed, Jiraiya's condition wasn't the only thing that had been bothering him lately. There was the mysterious disappearance of the ANBU captain Tenzou, who had just vanished without a trace on the same night that Jiraiya was attacked, and the Gennin Yakushi Kabuto. They had tried to find them, or the bodies, but neither had turned up despite a massive search of the village and surrounding lands. They were forced to believe that they had been killed, by who no one knows.

There was also the matter of the person or people that attacked Jiraiya. There weren't many left who could do that to a Sannin and most of them weren't even in the country. He had considered that it was Orochimaru but the wounds didn't fit his normal tactics, there was the Akatsuki organization that Jiraiya told him about, but that didn't seem likely either. That was one of the reasons he needed his student to wake up, so that they could find out who or what did this to him.

Then, last but not least, there was the theft of the Hatake family sword. This worried Sarutobi as well, the sword was very powerful, but just as important was the matter of who could steal the sword without being caught. It was in a trapped safe hidden in the floor of the apartment belonging to one of Konoha's most powerful and cautious Jounin. Whatever or whoever did it, did it right under Kakashi's nose since he was home that night, plus there was the bypassed alarm on the safe. It was set to go off every time it opened, loud enough to awaken the nearby ninja for sure. That was the beauty of the way it was opened. The hinges were melted off by some kind of acid and the metal that usually served as the door's hinge, served as the door's opening, the steel being forced back to reveal the blade without triggering the alarm. Whoever did it knew the theft business and was quite strong to be able to bend that door with his bare hands and do it silently.

Sarutobi just sighed as he went over his most recent problems. He just thought 'I am far too old for this shit.'

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Naruto's house

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Naruto was currently eating his lunch. Perona was asleep and the house was silent. There wasn't much left to do, he had three General class frames to animate, three shadows to be selected to bring them to life. Hatake Sakumo, Zabuza, and the first zombie. Kabuto wasn't ready to be animated yet, the body was heavily damaged and there was a lot of work to be done regarding that and strengthening the body in preparation for a suitable shadow.

Eventually Naruto decided that since he had nothing better to do, he would just wander around town for a bit. He got up and left the house almost immediately after he finished his lunch, he had nothing in mind but there wasn't much to do until the day of the finals anyway.

After about thirty minutes of wandering and fierce glares, he came across a rather odd sight. There was Haruno Sakura, which was unwelcome but not strange. What was odd was the fact that Lee was nearby looking at her and was doing wonders when it came to freaking her out. He went over to Lee and said "Uh Lee, what the hell are you doing?"

Lee looked up and yelled "Naruto-kun! How excellent to see you this morning! As for what I am doing, I am taking your advice as to how to woo women!"

Naruto was a little confused about this, so he just asked "What the hell are you talking about?"

Lee just said "Remember when I asked you about dating advice since you have all those women chasing you about? You said that when on a date, confident eye contact with the woman is important. I am putting your teachings to work!"

Naruto sighed, he remembered that, he was half asleep and just wanted Lee to shut up so he came up with some random dating bullshit in order to get him to fuck off. He said "Lee, you need to know something. There is a delicate balance between confident, cool eye contact and the unpleasant stare of a potential rapist. You, my spring green friend and I use the term lightly, have yet to find the balance between the two. And before I go, I really have to say that you lack good taste when it comes to women. See you later." Then he vanished before Lee could go on about 'protecting his Sakura-chan's honor' or some other crap.

Naruto continued on his wanderings and ran into Anko near a dango shop. She turned just enough to see him and the moment he did, he felt like a rat that a snake had locked onto. She vanished and appeared behind him, a knife at his throat. She purred into his ear "Well, what have we here? A certain sexy shadow master? You really embarrassed me back at the forest you know, and I'm afraid that I never got to pay you back for that."

Naruto smirked and he said "That's true, you didn't, so how do you plan to pay me back, hmm? I could think of a number of things that would be suitable but I don't think that any of them could be done outdoors without embarrassing us both." Anko fought the blush that came on at his words, and she conquered it, somewhat.

She smirked as she said "Well then, why don't we just go back to my place? We could have so much fun when we're all nice and alone… don't you think?"

Naruto's smirk vanished, being replaced with a full blown smile as he said "Oh really? As much as I love the idea Anko-chan, I don't think that you would be able to keep up with me. After all, I have such immense stamina that you would be outlasted by quite a large margin, no offense. But if you still want to try it…."

Anko had to fight off a blush again. Once again she managed to avoid turning bright red and returned to being in control of the situation. "As much as I would love to ravish you Gaki, I still have things that I need to do today. Next time though, when I have some more time, I think that we could definitely have some fun together."

At this point, a decent number of people were staring at them as they passed by, most of them mumbling things like 'demon brat' or 'snake whore' or other such lovable names. Neither of them let them bother them, they had put up with it for so long that neither of them really cared about it anymore.

Anko smirked and was about to leave when Naruto suddenly vanished, reappearing behind her with his hand around her neck as he whispered into her ear. "Oh, I definitely think that we could have some fun together Anko-chan, but you're right, you have things to do, as do I, but perhaps we can find a nice, quiet spot some night, just the two of us. But until then, we shall have to part unsated. Such a shame, but this will have to do for now." Then he kissed her cheek and vanished once more, leaving a blushing Anko.

She did her best to hide the blush from the nearby people but plenty of people saw the bright red that adorned her cheeks. 'Damn it, why is it that he can do this to me!? What is it about him that is so, alluring and seductive? It's like he knows just what to say and just what to do to elicit a certain response, damn it! Though I do love it when he can just take control… GAH what the hell am I thinking? He's like five or six years younger than me for god's sake!' Consumed by her thoughts, the snake mistress went back home, daunting comments from those around her adding subtly to her daily burden of hatred. She sighed as she opened the door, sometimes she really hated Konoha.

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Naruto's house, three days later, one week after the preliminaries

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Naruto dressed as he normally did, minus his hat. He didn't really do anything special for his date with Temari. The reason being that he didn't really have anything that he would consider special for such an occasion. He wasn't really one for dates anyway, but this was an exception. Temari was the daughter of the Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure. If the invasion went well then Suna would become a very powerful nation, very quickly. A relationship with the eldest daughter of the man would be a very good position to be in, so he was prepared to make an exception to his normal rulebook to fit the current situation.

Perona was aware of the date, and at first she was a bit mad, well furious, but regardless, after he explained the reasoning behind it, her rage subsided a bit, though she did avoid him a bit after that. He wasn't quite sure why.

But Perona was asleep at the moment so he set out of the house to the apartment that Temari shared with her two brothers and her sensei.

What Naruto didn't know was that Perona wasn't asleep at all. She heard him leave the apartment and as soon as he did, she separated herself from her body, becoming invisible as she tailed him. After hearing about the date, she was a bit insecure about how she felt about it. 'Does he still care for me?' 'Am I just being used?' 'What does this 'Temari' girl have that I do not?' These were the questions that she asked herself and wondered over constantly after hearing about the arrangement. She followed Naruto, undetectably, hoping to find out.

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With Temari

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Temari wore what she always wore, since she didn't bring much else. I mean, who expects to go on a date during an exam? Especially in a village that, if you do your job right, won't be much more than a pile of smoking rubble in a month. But she wasn't one to complain about her current situation so she went with her normal ninja attire.

Kankurou was against the whole thing at first, but she was a woman of her word. She agreed to go on a date, so she would. Gaara didn't really care, he was still in shock of his defeat. Gaara was hurt for the first time, and hurt badly. He was rather unapproachable at the moment, attacking anyone who got close to him. He said that he would still go through with the plan, and that was good, but he was rather insecure with himself. He was rendered helpless in an instant, toyed with by a far superior opponent before being put down, hard.

Baki tried to take advantage of the situation, and had Temari use the opportunity to obtain information on Uzumaki Naruto and the village itself. He was very worried about him since Naruto effortlessly defeated Gaara, he was a major threat to the invasion. He was most likely hoping that Temari would manage to find a weakness that someone could use to defeat him, or lure him to their side. They all knew that poisoning or assassination was out of the question, she didn't have a chance of deceiving him to poison him and since he had a very similar defense to Gaara's, a direct attack would be pointless.

So Temari would do as she was ordered, and attempt to convince him to hate his village. Maybe she would be able to find out more about him as well, who knows? Her questions were put to a halt though as Naruto appeared at the door. He knocked quietly and she opened the door. Naruto stood in the doorway. He smiled and said "Good evening, Temari-chan. How are you today?"

He wore a smile whose warmth could melt the icecaps as he said that and she blushed slightly, though she tried to fight it as she stammered out "I-I'm fine, and how are you?"

Naruto's smile turned into a smirk as he said "I am doing absolutely fantastic, thank you for asking. How could I be anything else when I am on a date with such a beautiful girl?"

Before Temari could do anything more than look somewhat embarrassed at the compliment, Kankurou poked his head out of his room and said "Get going already! And if you do ANYTHING to my sister, Hell itself won't save you from me!"

Naruto faced the middle brother and said "I assure you, I will take VERY good care of her. I promise to be gentle and not break her on the first date."

Temari blushed at the double meaning, while Kankurou just looked pissed off. Before he could say anything though, Naruto said "Now then, we should be going Temari-chan." She nodded and Naruto took her hand as they walked off together, leaving a royally pissed off Kankurou. **(1)**

Perona, unseen, just watched the developments with some jealousy at Temari's proximity to Naruto. She followed them as they left the building and walked down the wide street.

Naruto asked her "So, what is like in Suna?"

Temari kept close as she didn't want to get lost or separated, at least that was her excuse as she said "It's alright. Mind you, people don't go out as much with all the heat. And water is a lot more expensive and people aren't quite as cheerful twenty four, seven. But, it's really like any other hidden village, nice enough on the outside, but the home of an army of paid killers on the inside."

Naruto nodded and said "Fair enough."

Temari looked around a bit before asking him "So, where are we going anyway?"

Naruto said "One of the few places that won't throw me out. As you might have guessed, I am not exactly well liked around here. Or anywhere. Take a look around."

She did as she was told, and saw a familiar sight. People were glaring at her and her company, though she only got this sort of reaction from people when she traveled with Gaara, but there were a lot more fearful looks in Suna. She was a bit puzzled by it all. She knew that Gaara was feared by most, including her though she tried to make their relationship as normal as possible. But the reason Gaara was feared was because of Shukaku. 'What did Naruto do to make people hate him as much as Suna hates Gaara?' She asked herself.

Temari was cut off from her musings as Naruto led her into a small ramen shop. They were heartily greeted by the owner, a man probably in his mid-forties. "Ah, Naruto-kun, it's been a while. And you have a lady friend too! What's your name miss?"

She looked around a bit, not that there was much to see, before she answered "Sabaku no Temari. Nice to meet you sir."

The man replied in kind as Naruto sat down and said "I will have one miso ramen, extra large please."

Teuchi nodded as he looked at the other blonde and asked "And what will you have miss Temari?"

Temari looked at the menu quickly before saying "Umm, a medium shrimp ramen please." Teuchi nodded and turned his back on the two, yelling the orders into the back as he went back there himself.

Temari turned to Naruto but he cut her off saying "I know what you're about to say. 'This isn't the sort of place you would bring a girl on your first date.' Right?" A bit shocked, she hesitantly nodded.

Naruto sighed before he said "You're right, but I didn't have much choice. It was either this, or having to check our food and drink for poison and threatening the waiters in order to not get kicked out. This is the one place that won't chase me away the second I enter the establishment, so it was the best choice I had. I hope you can understand."

Temari nodded before asking "So why is that?"

Naruto looked at her and asked "Why is what?"

Temari continued "Why do people hate you enough to throw you out of public places? There's got to be a pretty good reason behind it all."

Naruto shook his head saying "No, there isn't a reason. Not a valid one at any rate. Konoha is a lot more like Suna than you think. On the surface it is a beautiful place that anyone would love to live in, but underneath that façade you realize that it is the home of a bunch of killers. In addition to that though, there is the mostly corrupt government, the idiotic and gullible civilian populace and other such flaws. It is all because Konoha is supposedly the strongest of the five great ninja villages, they believe that because the village ninja are considered the best that they are untouchable. I swear, one day some other village is going to become more powerful and declare war on this place before destroying it soon afterward. Oh, sorry to bore you with the monologue, that just came spilling out of a sudden."

He smiled sheepishly as he apologized but she said that it was alright. She asked "So why ARE you so despised? You said that there was no valid reason, but there still has to be some fake one that everyone passes off as true."

Naruto smiled as he said "Oh, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Oh, the food's here."

And indeed it was. Teuchi came back with two steaming bowls in hand. He set one in front of Naruto and said "One miso ramen for the Hokage to be." Then he set one in front of Temari and said "And one shrimp ramen for the lovely lady. Enjoy you two, and don't do anything intimate here in the store. Hehehe."

Naruto frowned and muttered "Old pervert." Then they both broke their chopsticks before digging in.

Naruto was a bit surprised when they finished at the same time. He didn't have that great a thing for ramen, but he was a fast eater by nature and she still managed to keep up with him. It was a rather odd phenomenon.

Teuchi came back and, seeing that they were both finished exclaimed "Well, that was quick! Are you sure that neither of you don't want another bowl?" They both shook their heads and Naruto politely asked for the check, which he received and paid. Teuchi called "Be sure to come back some time!" as they left.

As they walked home, Naruto smirked and said "Well, you really have a thing for ramen don't you?"

Temari blushed a bit and said "It wasn't the ramen, it was the shrimp. Suna is in a desert you know, sea food comes at a serious premium so I don't get a chance to have it that often despite that it's a favorite of mine." Naruto nodded in understanding.

As they walked home he asked "So, what is it like being the daughter of a Kage?"

Temari looked over in shock. Before she could ask he said "How do I know? Well, I did a bit of research on other competitors who were entering the exams from other countries, it mentioned that your father is the Yondaime Kazekage. I was simply wondering what it is like to be the equivalent of royalty."

Temari looked down a bit and quietly said "It's not all it's cracked up to be, trust me. Everyone is always so formal, it's maddening. Boys are too scared of what my father would say or do to ask me out, or try to be close to me, everyone expects me to be better than everyone else. Everything is basically like I am some kind of machine. The most irritating thing is that I just know that I will be, eventually, married off to some other village politician or clan head in an arranged marriage. My father himself is a jerk and my mother is dead. The only people that are anything close to informal with me are Gaara and Kankurou and you've seen what they're like. It makes me wonder about leaving sometimes."

Naruto nodded, understanding that it could be tough like that before Temari turned back to him and said "Listen, don't tell anyone okay? The last thing I need is everyone knowing who my father is while I'm here."

Naruto nodded and said "Don't worry Temari-chan, my lips are sealed."

Temari nodded as they arrived at her apartment building. She said to him "Well, here we are. Thank you for the meal and the good time. It feels good to take a break like this every once in a while, but I'll just have to train harder in order to get ready for the finals."

Naruto nodded and said "Don't thank me, the pleasure was all mine."

Temari nodded and said "Well…goodnight." Then, before he could do anything, or she could think about it, she turned, kissed him straight on the lips, and then dashed inside bright as a tomato.

Naruto stared at the door in surprise for a moment before chuckling lightly as he turned away and started home.

Unknown to either of them, Perona glared at the door where Temari fled, jealous of her for her time with Naruto before heading back to her body, seeing for the first time what Naruto was treated like and a bit sad that he was never like that around her. Though her questions as to why he would want to destroy his own hometown were finally answered.

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Naruto's house

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Naruto returned home, his date hopefully successful. He had managed to establish somewhat of a relationship with Temari and if Suna emerged into the power that he thought it would be within the next few months, a romantic relationship with the Kazekage's eldest daughter would be an invaluable asset. But at the moment he didn't have anything to do except go to sleep and kill time until the finals in three weeks.

When he entered his room, he found Perona sitting on the edge of the bed, apparently deep in thought. She just said listlessly "How was… your date?"

He just said "Not bad, I managed to get through it without driven mad, and I was able to obtain some useful information as well."

She nodded and said "Why did you go out with her again?"

Naruto took off his coat as he said "Didn't I already tell you? If the invasion goes well, Suna will become very powerful. Being romantically involved with the Kazekage's daughter would be a good foothold to gain assistance from them should I ever require it."

Perona nodded and said, in a quieter voice "So, you are just manipulating her?"

Naruto smiled a bit and said "Yes Perona-chan, it isn't anything serious."

She nodded, her face hidden from view as she said "Naruto-kun, you are manipulating Temari, does that mean… are you manipulating me?"

Naruto looked over sharply to see that Perona was looking at him, her eyes filled with tears. She continued, her voice cracking "Are you just manipulating me like you are manipulating her? Using me and my feelings for you to get me to do what you want?"

Naruto immediately went to her side and said "Of course not Perona-chan, why would you think that I would do anything like that?" inwardly he was wondering what the hell caused this.

She turned to him with tear stained eyes as she asked "Because you are so deceitful. You lie and deceive others to make them believe that you are something else in order to get them to do something that you want them to do. You wear so many masks that it is almost impossible to see the real Naruto-kun, the one I know, or the one I think is the real one. You are manipulating Temari in order to gain ground with future negotiations with her father, what is to say that you did not manipulate me as well!?"

Naruto just closed his eyes and said, softly "You should know that I would do no such thing Perona-chan. I care for you like I do not care for any other."

Perona laid her head on his shoulder, gripping him tightly as she asked "Do you really, truly mean that?"

Naruto nodded and said "Of course I do, Perona-chan."

Perona looked him right in the eye and said "Then prove it to me."

Naruto looked puzzled but his inward questions were quickly answered as she kissed him deeply and pushed him to the bed. She just said "Make love to me, Naruto-kun, please." Naruto just nodded and returned the kiss.

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WARNING! LEMON ALERT! IF you don't want to read it, move down to the next row of X's

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Perona kissed him deeply, hands caressing his chest and stomach as she pulled up his shirt, which he assisted her with before returning to the kiss. She hastily removed her own shirt, leaving her in only a bra and her skirt, her stockings and crown were already discarded. She also removed her hair ties, letting her pink locks fall naturally down her back.

Perona grabbed his hand and, after a moment of hesitation, moved it to her chest, pressing it against her covered breast which he caressed, putting the right amount of pressure over the mound, making her moan slightly into the kiss. They broke the kiss, still needing air, but the break didn't last long before Perona pounced on him again, pressing her body as close to his as she could.

She kissed him again, but Naruto took control, returning the kiss with vigor, he was a bit hesitant at first but it was to be expected since this was a first for them both. He reached around and unclipped her bra, which she shrugged off quickly, revealing her ample chest to him. He returned to his previous ministrations, tenderly massaging the mound of pale flesh as he kissed her neck tenderly, exploring her ivory skin causing her to moan a bit more, until she captured him in another kiss.

She reached downward as he kissed him, fighting the haze of lust, fumbling as she unclasped his belt and unbuttoned his pants, before long they were on the floor with everything else, leaving him in only his boxers. She quickly removed her skirt, leaving her in just her panties.

She pressed her body against him, feeling her breasts against his chest and the hardening object within his boxers. She was a bit hesitant as she didn't really know what to do in this sort of situation, she was just running on instinct, but she went with her instincts and the few things she read in Absalom's books and broke the kiss and separated from him as she reached down and removed her panties, tossing them to the floor and fully revealing herself to her Naruto-kun.

Naruto couldn't help but blush slightly, a first for him, as he admired her beautiful slim ivory form, her gorgeous C-cup chest, hairless sex and long slender legs. He couldn't help but be aroused at the sight, which made itself evident if one were to look down a bit.

Perona giggled at the sight of a blushing Naruto and said "Now that's not fair, I'm completely naked and you've still got clothes on. We've got to make it even." Then she leaned over and grabbed the hem of his boxers, pulling them down and then tossing them to the floor, revealing the hard, eight inch length.

Naruto took control again, pressing Perona against the mattress, gripping her breasts in his hands, rolling the pink nipples between thumb and forefinger, making her moan a bit louder as he positioned himself at her entrance, he just asked "Are you sure?" She didn't wait a second, and immediately nodded before Naruto slowly inched himself in, marveling at the immense tightness and delicious heat of her inner walls.

He quickly found her hymen and waited for a moment, allowing her to recover before she nodded and he broke through the hymen, taking her virginity in one quick stroke. She screamed a bit at the sudden pain but he silenced her with a kiss, waiting until she recovered and got used to his size.

She nodded after a moment and he continued, massaging her breasts as he started out slowly, but gradually increased the pace, much to her enjoyment if her moans and gasps were anything to go by. She really couldn't believe that this was happening, she finally got her wish after several years of trying.

Eventually her moans increased in volume and she shouted "Oh, Oh NARUTO-KUN!" as her orgasm came over her like a tidal wave, letting out a loud scream as the immense pleasure washed over her thin frame. Not too long afterward, Naruto spat out "Peron-chan, I'm…." But she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in deeper and preventing him from pulling out. He came inside her, much to her delight at feeling his essence inside of her.

He laid next to her, both of them satisfied, Perona just muttered "Naruto-kun was so amazing." Before falling asleep in his arms.

Naruto glanced at the naked woman lying next to him as he thought 'Well, that's one catastrophe averted. With any luck she won't suspect me manipulating her again anytime soon.' Then he pulled the comforter over them both as he joined Perona in sleep.

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END LEMON

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(1) SUNA RAGE!

And that is the chapter. The entire thing was mostly character development on the part of Temari, Anko, and Perona as well as my first attempt at writing a lemon. How did I do? Lots of people have been bugging me to do one, and the moment seemed right. Some people don't like such things so I clearly marked where it began and ended for they're benefit. Don't be expecting another lemon anytime soon though.

By the way, I am doing another time skip next chapter, skipping right to the day of the finals. I hope you guys don't mind, but I don't really have any material to fill in the rest of the one month training period. Well that's all I've got to say, so see ya.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	22. Chapter 22

Greetings one and all, and this is the moment you have all been waiting for

Greetings one and all, and this is the moment you have all been waiting for! That's right, it's Kage no Naruto chapter twenty one! I don't really have anything to say except to enjoy the chapter and review at the end. See you all at the ending note.

Before I start, I would like to point out that this story has broken the one hundred thousand word barrier! HURRAY FOR ME!

Disclaimer: The disclaimer is a lie!

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto met up with Anko and embarrassed her, Lee too. He had his promised date with Temari and learned more about her and Suna in general, along with pissing off Kankurou at the same time. Jiraiya is the in the hospital, comatose, and Naruto finally nailed Perona, taking her virginity as well as losing his own. Now for the finals of the Chuunin Exams! Read on!

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Chuunin exams arena

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The Chuunin exam finalists stood in the arena before the proctor, Gekko Hayate. They were all there with two exceptions, Dosu was reported dead not too long ago, and Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Naturally since it was the Uchiha, everyone was all hot and bothered by it, but Naruto didn't really care, doubtless the council and the people in the stadium would guarantee an extended time allowance for the Uchiha to get there. **(1)**

The crowd was extremely large. The stadium was absolutely packed to capacity, he knew that Gaara and Baki were in the crowd, as were several dozen Oto ninja in disguise. The Suna ninja and the majority of the Oto force were in the forest preparing. There were also various lords and Daimyos in the private boxes, making wagers on the fights. He didn't know where Orochimaru was but he knew that he was nearby. The Hokage and Kazekage were watching the finals from a large balcony overlooking the arena with several ninja from their villages doing bodyguard duty.

The final match-ups were an old fashioned tournament, the actual fights would be:

Round one: Inuzuka Kiba vs. Hyuuga Neji

Round two: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Uchiha Sasuke

Round three: Aburame Shino vs. Sabaku no Kankurou

Round four: Sabaku no Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru

It was simple and easy, beat the crap out of your opponent until he either dies, gives up, or loses consciousness. The skills of the combatants would be reviewed by a group of people including the Hokage and the Kazekage along with a few of the elite Jounin from each of the two villages. Those who fulfilled their unknown qualifications would become Chuunin, those who didn't, well good luck in six months.

The time was upon them for the exams to begin and Sasuke had yet to show up. Naruto guessed that either Kakashi was training Sasuke in the middle of nowhere and lost track of time so they had a long way to go before they got here or Kakashi was waiting until the last second to show off the 'precious' Uchiha in an overblown dramatic fashion. Probably the latter knowing him.

The word came down and apparently the Hokage's call was to start the matches now and hope that Sasuke arrived before his round came up, otherwise he would be disqualified. Naruto wasn't surprised. If it was him or anyone else, except maybe Neji, they would have been disqualified then and there. But he kept his musings to himself as the first round between Kiba and Neji got started as the rest of the combatants left to a private balcony to watch the matches as they waited their turn.

Naruto hadn't changed his outfit much for the exams, just replacing the normal Shinobi sandals with a pair of combat boots since he would be doing more fighting than running, and we was also wearing his sword on his back again. He watched as Hayate declared the start of the first match.

The crowd cheered on the combatants as the Hyuuga prodigy clashed with the Inuzuka heir. Naruto could idly hear Lee cheering for Neji in the background, though it could have been his imagination. The Inuzuka wasn't putting up much of a fight, unsurprising since he only had basic Taijutsu moves that were dodged easily enough.

Kiba tried just about every move he had, from normal punches to the Gatsuuga, his trump card. But nothing worked against the Hyuuga prodigy, every charge was evaded, every strike blocked. If Kiba had some Ninjutsu in his arsenal they would have done wonders in this fight. A Taijutsu fight with a Hyuuga isn't something that is considered wise unless you have some incredible skill at hand to hand fighting, which Kiba did not possess.

After a while the match was decided, Neji put a few Jyuuken strikes into Kiba's legs, paralyzing them, he did the same with his arms and then he got his dog with a shot to the ribs. Kiba was unable to continue on, the fight was over and Neji had barely broken a sweat.

Hayate just said, in a loud official sounding voice, "The winner of the first match, Hyuuga Neji!" Then the crowd cheered in favor of the victor as the wounded Inuzuka and his dog were taken in by a medical team.

Hayate shouted out "Now the second match, Uzumaki Naruto versus Uchiha Sasuke. However Uchiha Sasuke has yet to arrive, so I have no choice but to disqu-" He was cut off however as a scarred Jounin arrived next to Hayate and whispered something into his ear.

Hayate nodded and the Jounin left. He said to the crowd "Uchiha Sasuke has not yet arrived in time for his match, so his fight will be shifted into the last slot on the roster. If he does not arrive by then, he will be disqualified. So we will skip to the third match, Aburame Shino versus Sabaku no Kankurou."

The crowd seemed displeased that Sasuke wouldn't be fighting as soon as they thought, while Naruto just smirked as he thought 'I fucking knew it. Sandaime you council bitch, if it was anyone else, well almost, they would have been disqualified when they didn't show up at the appropriate time, but since he's an Uchiha he gets all these time extensions. I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn't be shocked if Hatake and the council came up with this together so that they could show off the Uchiha more, and Sarutobi just folds like wet cardboard, spineless monkey.'

Normally Naruto would be pissed off at having to wait for his fight, but he was making an exception. The invasion wouldn't begin until his fight with Sasuke, the longer that it was delayed the longer that Suna and Oto had to prepare. He was more than willing to be patient to give them the time that they needed. In the mean time he had two more fights to watch.

Or he did. One of them was ruined when Kankurou yelled out "Proctor! I withdraw!" The crowd went nuts with that one. They were jeering, throwing crap over the side, you name it. Naruto didn't see this coming, but he could understand the logic behind it. Given the inevitable attack, he wanted to keep the workings of his puppet secret so that no one would have any information on how he fought. Good strategy.

While the crowd got pissed off, Hayate was once more calm and yelled "Sabaku no Kankurou has forfeited, therefore the winner of the third match is, by default, Aburame Shino!"

While Kankurou waited in a corner, Shino looked slightly pissed off, not that it was easy to tell. Hayate coughed, then yelled "Now, the fourth match, Sabaku no Temari versus Nara Shikamaru." Temari used a shunshin to get to the arena floor, while Shikamaru stayed up in the box, mumbling something about the whole thing being troublesome.

Wanting some form of entertainment before his fight, Naruto leaned over and whispered into Shikamaru's ear "I warn you now Shikamaru, if you quit, we will have a problem." Shikamaru looked into Naruto's eyes, fear evident before he shuffled down to the arena to begin his fight.

Naruto watched in a content fashion, eating from a bag of chocolate truffles as he watched Shikamaru be chased around the arena by Temari's Fuuton jutsu.

Shikamaru put up a good fight, always managing to avoid getting cut to pieces by the blades of wind and though he did stumble once or twice, and got cut a few times, he never got hit full on. Shikamaru was at a serious disadvantage. Not only did Temari have him by two years of experience, Shikamaru only had one useful jutsu in his repertoire, the Kage Mane no jutsu. However, he didn't have the shadows necessary to get it to reach Temari, who was fighting long range.

He tried a few interesting tactics, such as making a parachute out of his jacket and a kunai thrown into the air by one of Temari's jutsu, but the Suna nin always noticed what he was trying and avoided it, keeping out of range of the band of darkness.

Shikamaru tried his hardest, which was a surprise given his laziness, but he was eventually bested, running out of chakra before surrendering. He wouldn't have lasted much longer even if he had more chakra to work with. Most of the trees in the arena were cut to pieces, he wouldn't have had anywhere to run in order to avoid her jutsu if the fight kept on going and then he would have been screwed.

Now the time finally came. He just whispered, "Nice fight Temari-chan." Into the girl's ear as he passed her in the hall. He noticed her fighting hard not to blush.

Naruto stood alone in the arena as Hayate yelled "Uchiha Sasuke has not yet arrived in time for his match so by exam regulations he is-"

Once more he was interrupted from disqualifying Sasuke by the arrival of that scarred Jounin. He was told something or other and then Hayate nodded before the Jounin vanished. Hayate yelled "Uchiha Sasuke has still not arrived so we will give him ten minutes to arrive. If he does not arrive by that time then he will be disqualified!"

Naruto smirked at the obvious favoritism. He just thought 'Sarutobi you council's bitch. Grow a fucking backbone and disqualify the prick. You would have done it with anyone else.'

But Naruto had no say in the matter. He would have to wait patiently while Sasuke took his sweet time in getting there. He didn't really care, Konoha wouldn't even be around anymore by the end of the day so he could give them this final courtesy. He would be patient before destroying the Uchiha in front of the entire village. He thought to himself 'It's true what they say; anticipation makes the meal all that much sweeter.'

He formed himself a chair from the nearby darkness and sat down as he waited out the ten minutes. The time slowly crept by, one minute, then another, then another.

Eventually nine minutes passed, then nine minutes and thirty seconds. Hayate was counting down the seconds on his watch. When he got to five seconds, there was a sudden explosion of smoke from the middle of the arena, about ten feet in front of Naruto. When it cleared, it revealed none other than Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi standing back to back. Sasuke was looking smug as always, probably proud of himself for making such a supposedly badass entrance. Naruto just thought that he was a fucking stuck up douche, but we all have our opinions.

Kakashi then had the fucking nerve to ask Hayate "So sorry, we aren't late are we?"

Hayate just said, in a clipped tone "You ARE late, but you had a time extension, luckily for you. Another ten seconds and Sasuke would have been disqualified. So if you don't mind please leave the arena so that the match can begin." Kakashi nodded and vanished.

Naruto stood up, the chair vanishing into the darkness from whence it came and Hayate stood roughly between the two.

Sasuke's outfit had changed a bit, but he was still a stuck up douche-bag. He just smirked and said "Are you scared you idiot?"

Naruto smiled and relied "Yes actually, I am very scared of being bored to death during our fight. I hope for your sake that you have improved drastically in the last month Uchiha. If you are anything like you were then, you won't last more than a minute."

Hayate signaled the match to begin and the crowd roared as Sasuke ran forward yelling "It's you that won't last a minute against ME!"

Naruto stood and let the darkness rise from the ground and block Sasuke's first punch. His eyes widened in surprise when Sasuke vanished and reappeared behind him, sending a powerful kick to the back of his head which was blocked. He thought to himself 'Well well, he really has improved. It's absolutely amazing what Kakashi can do when he isn't reading his porn.'

In the crowd, people were screaming for the Uchiha to defeat the demon brat and other such bullshit. Lee was cheering for Naruto, as were Gai and Hinata, albeit silently on her part. Sakura and Ino, well you've seen them, what do you think they did?

Gai was pretty much amazed at how much Sasuke had improved even though he stole Lee's Taijutsu using the Sharingan. Kakashi just looked proud, arrogant, and smug at Sasuke's improvement.

Sasuke was getting nowhere fast. He kept trying to outrun the shadows and get a hit on his opponent but that darkness was ever present, blocking his attacks, expanding to trap him or catch him. Sasuke avoided the solid darkness at all costs, he knew that if he got caught then it was over.

Sasuke was getting pretty frustrated, no matter what he tried he couldn't get close enough to hit him, he knew that he was better he just knew it, but that damn shield kept getting in his way. He attempted to punch Naruto right in the face but it was once more blocked by a wall of darkness.

Sasuke jumped back as the black mass came toward him, shifting constantly, hoping to ensnare him. He dodged to the side at the last second as a black column came straight at him. He managed to avoid getting hit by the blast but he almost had his head cut off. When he dodged to the side of the column, a mass came out of the side he was on, forming an axe that swung at his neck. He managed to dodge at the last second though.

The darkness hadn't had enough it would seem. The large strike that Sasuke dodged broke apart into small spheres which came rocketing toward him, seeking to pummel him into oblivion. Once more Sasuke's speed came through, though he did take a hit in the right arm.

Sasuke grabbed his right arm in pain, the limb had gone numb, though feeling was gradually returning as he flooded chakra into it. A large black bruise was already forming at the impact site of the sphere.

Naruto smirked as he sent a spear ripping through the air to take him down. Sasuke once more avoided the attack though he was scratched by it. While he was in the air, Naruto took the opportunity and went through several handseals before shouting "Fuuton: Daitoppa!" and blasting Sasuke with a large amount of air, sending him back to the arena wall and cracking the stone.

Sasuke was on his feet again before long and managed to avoid the Rankyaku that Naruto sent at him from a distance, watching in shock as the blade of energy left a deep gash in the stone. Then Naruto used a Soru and vanished, though Sasuke's eyes barely managed to track him.

It wasn't enough to predict his movements but the Sharingan allowed Sasuke to dodge the high speed Jyugan that was aimed at Sasuke's head. Sasuke watched in horror as the stone for several feet around the impact crater shattered, falling around Naruto in large chunks.

Naruto smirked before saying "Are you still so sure that you can win Sasuke? Rankyaku!" Then with several kicks, he sent several blades toward the Uchiha. He had to give Sasuke credit; he was harder to kill than a cockroach. Every blade was narrowly avoided, though he did gain several cuts from the various attacks.

Sasuke was desperate, it was obvious. He ran up the wall of the arena, and then turned around to face his opponent. He did three handseals before gripping his left hand as it was engulfed in lightning. He shouted "CHIDORI!" as he ran down the wall toward Naruto.

Naruto was worried for the first time in the fight. The Chidori was a dangerous move that could pierce his shield if it connected. That was the weakness of the shadow shield and his solid darkness. Fire and lightning were the representatives of light in the five elements, water and wind were the representatives of darkness in the five, and earth was neutral. Light and its immense heat, its burning fire and bright lightning. Darkness and its immense cold, its frigid water and biting wind. The two forces were exact opposites, strong and weak against the other at the same time.

As a result, fire could burn his solid darkness if it was strong enough and lightning could cut through it. The Chidori could pierce through his shield like it wasn't even there. So he didn't even bother to bring it up, he let Sasuke come at him, not letting him attack the darkness lest it reveal the weakness of the shield. Nobody would suspect the real reason that he let Sasuke get that close.

Sasuke got within three feet of Naruto and stabbed his hand forward to pierce his heart, but it was stopped. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's right wrist and the Chidori winked out in an instant. Sasuke's un-electrified left hand pressed hard against Naruto's chest, not doing any damage at all.

Naruto smirked and said "Are you trying to feel me up Uchiha? I always knew you were gay." Then he reared back his fist and yelled "Jyugan!" as he punched Sasuke hard in the stomach, causing him to cough up blood as he soared back into the arena wall.

Naruto walked to the downed Sasuke as he said "I can't believe you really thought you could win. Nice try though I must admit. You really have improved, gaining that kind of speed that quickly AND learning the Chidori at the same time, all in a month. Very impressive, just nowhere near enough to secure victory."

Naruto stopped about ten feet away as Sasuke managed to stand up again. Sasuke wiped the blood from his mouth and said "Fine then, if mine techniques won't work against you, let's see if your techniques will."

Naruto frowned as Sasuke took a very familiar stance. Well to Naruto it was familiar at least. He thought to himself 'That idiot couldn't be thinking of trying that against me. There is no way that he's that stupid.'

His questions were answered however as Sasuke brought one leg forward, sending a kick at Naruto even though he was ten feet away as he yelled "Rankyaku!" He sent a bright blue blade at Naruto, originating from his leg during the kick. The moment it did though, several bursts of blood came from his leg and Sasuke grabbed his leg as he screamed in agony.

Naruto eyed the incoming Rankyaku and didn't do anything to stop its course. It hit him straight on and broke in two upon contact. Each half fell to the side and hit the ground, raising perhaps a centimeter or two of dirt. Naruto didn't use his darkness to block the attack, nor did he use a Tekkai. The Rankyaku used was just so weak that it couldn't penetrate human skin.

Naruto laughed as the Uchiha grabbed his leg in pain, he laughed hard. He just stammered out "Y-y-you fucking idiot! I can't believe you were dumb enough to try that! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth in the immense pain in his leg as Naruto continued "HAHAHA! Honestly, trying to use a Rokushiki technique with a body THAT pathetically weak? That's just ridiculous and hilarious! Your Sharingan told you what to do but you didn't have what it took to do it without hurting yourself! Your body is so weak that when you attempted the Rankyaku, it did it, but the result was pathetically weak. I just have to wonder how many times your leg bones were fractured when you tried that, and how many muscles were torn! THIS IS RICH HAHAHAHAHA!"

During Naruto's revelry though, a strange thing occurred. A large burst of smoke consumed the Kage box. A few moments later the Kazekage erupted from the smoke, carrying the Hokage with him to the roof of the building.

Naruto smiled at the sight. The signal had been given and at that moment a Genjutsu was going over the crowd, putting them to sleep. In the distance you could hear faint sounds of battle and Oto Nin abandoned their costumes and drew their knives.

He saw Gaara, Kankurou, and Temari group up and dash off into the forest. Baki stayed behind and engaged Hayate in battle. Sasuke groaned in immense pain.

Naruto smiled widely at the sights and sounds. The signal had been given, the invasion had begun. Konoha's death knell just rang loud and clear to the world. Naruto laughed even louder than he did before.

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(1) Right, Kabuto is dead; therefore the meeting between him and Baki couldn't happen. Since that meeting never happened, there wasn't a meeting for Hayate to get caught spying on and therefore he couldn't get caught and gutted by Baki. That is why Hayate is still alive at this point.

And that is the end of the chapter! Sasuke got totally owned and the invasion has begun! What shall happen? Who shall live and who shall die? Who knows? I do and I'm not telling you until the next chapter so you'll have to wait until then! HA!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	23. Chapter 23

Ladies and gentlemen, boys, girls, and whatever the hell Sasuke is, welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter twenty three, the read o

Ladies and gentlemen, boys, girls, and whatever the hell Sasuke is, welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter twenty three, the read of a lifetime! I really don't have anything to say except to get started on the chapter, so read on and review at the end.

Note: A few people brought this up. The reason why Naruto's darkness can be burned by fire now when he fended off powerful fire attacks earlier in the story. The reason is that he didn't have the weakness back then because he didn't have the same control over darkness then that he does now. The power over gravity and the ability to lock away chakra came at the price of losing the elements of fire and lightning and the darkness becoming weaker against them; however he also received an equal increase of power in his wind and water techniques as part of the bargain.

He had to consciously choose to give up the two elements in order to gain those abilities, you see? He chose to do that, and that was when the weaknesses set it, that greater strength came at a price.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, do you really think that Sakura would be alive?

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Summary of last chapter

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Kiba got beat by Neji, Kankurou quit, Temari beat Shikamaru and Sasuke got Narupwned before the invasion began. Now the Hokage is caught by Orochimaru and the village is under attack! Let the chapter begin!

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Chuunin exam arena

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Naruto calmed down a bit as Sasuke howled in pain due to the massive damage to his leg done by his own harebrained move trying to steal and use the Rankyaku with a weak body.

Naruto watched as most of the people in the stadium were put under by a Genjutsu performed by an Oto ninja somewhere. Kakashi and Gai had begun combating the attacking ninja in the stadium while Hayate fought Baki. Sounds of walls crashing down could be heard in the distance, the smell of blood and death began to fill the air. He looked up and saw the Kazekage talking to the Hokage. Something about being able to stop this now, he didn't really care.

As much as Naruto would like to just stick around and watch events unfold, he had a few things to take care of during the invasion. He walked over to Sasuke and said "Well Uchiha, it looks like our match is at an early end. Such a shame." Then he stomped hard on Sasuke's wounded leg, causing him to scream but nobody heard him.

He put some more weight onto Sasuke's wounded leg and said "Luckily for you, I still need you alive for a little while longer. Don't worry though, we'll finish this another time, I guarantee it. I'm not sure exactly when, but we will meet again."

Then he let up on Sasuke's leg, causing the Uchiha to sigh in relief before he was viciously kicked in the ribs, causing him to go on his stomach. Naruto walked over to him and said "But you know what? I'm such a nice guy that I'll give you a little present, something to remember me and this day by. I think you'll really like it."

Then he put his booted foot on Sasuke's back, pressing him into the dirt as he went through a few dozen handseals. When he finished he held up his right hand and it was engulfed in a dark green light. He pressed the hand against Sasuke's neck, opposite the Curse Seal and the sound of sizzling flesh was heard as Sasuke screamed in pain. Naruto just said "Shikeishuu no Fuin." **(1)**

Naruto removed his hand from the boy's neck and admired his handiwork. The sigil was seared into his skin; the black of frostbite was around the glowing green mark that faded to a pale red of a fresh scar. The mark was small and geometric. It was two small diamonds connected at a single point with a line going from one end to another, the lines forming the top point did not connect. **(2)**

Naruto smiled and said "There, something to show you never ending agony as I take care of more important things. It will even tell you when your time has come, warning you when I am near. You can thank me later."

Naruto paused as Sasuke groaned in pain. Naruto leaned forward and put his hand to his ear as though trying to hear something. He said "What's that? You want to give me a present too? Well that's thoughtful but there's no need for it Sasuke. I'll always have a soft spot right here in the bottom of my boot for you no matter what, I don't need a present to remember you by. Thanks for offering though."

Naruto looked up and looked around a bit as he said "Let's see, I can't have you caught by Orochimaru yet, and you're pathetic in your current state, no way to defend yourself at all. So I'll need to hide you somewhere nice and safe until this is over. Now the only question is where… ah! That looks promising."

Then he picked up Sasuke and formed a sphere of darkness around him, hiding the boy from view. As this was happening three spears of solid darkness flew from the nearby shadows and pierced a section of the wall, causing large pieces of stone to fall. As they did Naruto took the sphere containing the now unconscious Sasuke and kicked it under the falling rubble. Before long the sphere could not be seen. Naruto collapsed the sphere once the rock had settled. He just smiled and said "There, no one will find him until the invasion is over, though he will be quite uncomfortable when he wakes up at least he won't be captured. Never let it be said that I don't help my comrades. Now then, I have somewhere else to be at the moment, those ninja I put under a Genjutsu should be making their move right about now."

Then he walked into a nearby shadow and used a Kage Hokou to leave the arena. As he left he was quite amazed that none of the ninja paid attention to the collapsing wall. They must have been too preoccupied with keeping themselves and the stadium audience alive, probably putting to some jutsu going astray.

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Konoha back alley

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Anko was having a bad day. It didn't start out that way, but it turned out that way. Sure, technically any day in Konoha was a bad day for her but still this one was worse than usual.

First there was the fact that today was the Chuunin final exam and she was stuck on guard duty at some out of the way wall post. Everyone hated guard duty, but today of all days it was just unbearable not being able to watch the Uchiha get his ass kicked by Naruto-kun. And that was another thing, SHE COULDN'T GET THE GAKI OUT OF HER MIND!

Every time her thoughts wandered, they eventually fell to the topic of Uzumaki Naruto, it was maddening, every time she thought his name she always added –kun to the end and it was driving her nuts that she couldn't stop and she didn't know why.

Then the invasion started when a trio of extremely large snakes burst through the wall not too long ago about two posts away. She, like everyone else joined in the counterattack but things started getting bad when Suna and Oto ninja joined the fray against them. She was a Tokubetsu Jounin so she held her own pretty well but she still took a kunai in the shoulder.

Putting the pain aside for the moment she spotted the dickhead that did it and went after him. Then the prick ran into a back alley where she continued on her chase, where she finally nailed him. Then she turned and dodged three more kunai launched at her from behind. Then dodging another few that came from the other direction, meaning that she was surrounded on two sides.

Normally this wouldn't bother her except that these two were Konoha ANBU. And that's where we find our pretty little snake ninja, caught in the middle.

She yelled at the pair of ANBU "What the hell are you two doing? I'm an ally and we're under attack!"

One of the ANBU, with a frog mask said "We are eliminating the traitor within our ranks that gave crucial information to the Nuke-nin Orochimaru."

She looked at the ANBU incredulously and said "That's utter bullshit! I'm no traitor! You have no proof of such things!"

The second ANBU, with a monkey mask said "We have the proof we need. Our suspicions were finally proven just yesterday. You, Mitarashi Anko, are a traitor to Konoha and are to be executed by us."

She looked between the two and said "If you do this, the Hokage will have your heads when this is all over, that's assuming you two win."

Although she couldn't see it, the frog masked ANBU smiled. He said "You dumb snake whore, it was the Hokage who ordered us to execute you."

She couldn't have been more shocked if you hooked her up to the city grid. 'The Hokage ordered this?' She thought 'There's no way that he would… I've been completely loyal, I always have been. Why would he do this to me?'

She would have said that they were lying but she knew that they weren't. Years of being an interrogator required her to learn when somebody was lying; signs that even Jounin, ANBU, or even a Kage couldn't hide. It was really important when the final exam to becoming the head of the interrogation department was an interrogation of the Hokage himself, within suitable limits of course such as no bodily harm.

There were some that could hide the more subtle signs, but they would require an insane amount of knowledge of the human body to be able to pull it off, an expert medical ninja would be able to do it, like one of the head honchos at the hospital or Tsunade herself, but aside from people like that she could tell when someone was lying with about a ninety five percent success rate. And these two ANBU weren't lying, the Sandaime really did order her execution on false grounds.

She believed in him and he stabbed her in the back just like everyone else. If she wasn't in such a tough situation at the moment she probably would have broken down crying right there, one of the two people who she really trusted had betrayed her and in felt like someone ripped her heart out. The Sandaime and Kurenai, those were the only two people she ever trusted after Orochimaru betrayed her, and the one she trusted more did just what her traitorous teacher did years before, more or less. She thought to herself 'Now I see where that damn snake got it from at least, like student like sensei.'

She didn't say a word, she couldn't trust her voice at that point, she just looked up silently and pulled out a kunai, determined to go down fighting or escape if she could. She wasn't sure if she could defeat two ANBU with an advantage like theirs with having her surrounded in a tight space, and with her already wounded, but she would try her hardest and fight to the end whatever that end may be.

She stayed close to the wall, doing her best to keep both enemies in sight, her eyes were attracted to the frog masked ANBU on the right when he started doing handseals. She prepared herself for an attack but she was surprised when he slammed his hands onto the ground and shouted "Doton: Doryuuheki!" Before a wall of rock came from the ground, sealing off the alleyway, leaving her with two paths of escape, up and to the rooftops or to the left through the monkey masked ninja. Going up became a bad idea when the frog masked ANBU appeared at the top of the wall, kunai in hand. If she was airborne she would be an easy target.

Then her eyes widened when she heard the monkey masked ANBU behind her yell "Katon: Karyuu Endan!" She looked back and saw that in the few seconds that his partner distracted her with the wall of earth, the moment she took her eyes off of him the monkey masked ninja started doing handseals, leaving her with two options, go up and put herself at severe risk of being hit by kunai or stay there and face the fire.

She made her choice in under a second, throwing her kunai at the ninja on the wall and jumping upward as hard as she could, doing her best to get as high as possible.

The plan would have worked, probably, if it wasn't for one thing, the fact that the ninja on the wall was a Bunshin, just a plain Academy style Bunshin. The real one was revealed to be atop the nearby building, where Anko couldn't hope to see him from where she was. She was about three quarters of the way to the top of the building when he slammed his hands onto the roof and made another Doryuuheki, this one going horizontally from the ledge, bridging the gap between the two buildings and stopping her from gaining any more altitude.

She was stuck with stone to the sides and below, and walls of earth and rock above and behind with a large amount of white hot fire coming straight at her. She closed her eyes tight, preparing for the horrible pain of being burned to death… but it never came. There was no heat, no pain, no burning sensation, just a chilling cold all around her.

She opened her eyes and realized that she couldn't see, then the wall in front of her melted away, revealing the blackened alleyway which had been burned. She looked at the substance of the wall and saw that it was solidified darkness, the material that shielded Uzumaki Naruto. She noticed that there were several sunken sections in the material, like there was something there before but it wasn't now. That was all she could see before it surged forward and condensed into a thick line that went straight through the surprised monkey ANBU's neck, pinning him to the wall.

She looked around for Uzumaki, then she heard a cry from above her, it was the frog masked ANBU. She got out from the earthy ceiling and jumped to the rooftops to see that the frog ANBU was dead, decapitated, and that Naruto was holding a bloodied sword in his hand. He smiled and said "Looks like I got here just in time Anko-chan."

She was shocked even more than before. First she finds out that the Sandaime betrayed her, now that she was saved by the guy that she had been fantasizing about for around a month and a half. This was just too much, it was like out of a dream or something.

She just said "What are you doing here gaki?"

He tilted his head to the side as he put the sword back on his back and said "Why, saving you of course. Or would you have preferred to be killed by those two ANBU?"

Anko put her hand to her bleeding shoulder and said "I mean, why are you here? The stadium isn't anywhere close to this place, what are you doing here?"

Naruto smiled again and said "I was ordered to help defend the walls by some Jounin when everything went to hell. I decided to play along for a bit before I made my escape."

Anko looked at him, a bit puzzled and said "Your escape? What do you mean?"

Naruto smiled even wider and said "I am planning to leave Konoha of course. This is the best chance that I will have to make a clean break. Everyone will be too busy cleaning up to bother with me and even if they weren't they wouldn't have the spare ninja to track me down."

She frowned at him and said "So why are you telling me this? I could easily report you now and have you taken in."

Naruto stopped smiling and said "You could but you won't. My ears are very good Anko-chan, better than most people realize, a benefit of my tenant. I heard what those ANBU said to you, I know that they weren't lying. The Sandaime ordered your execution despite the fact that you did nothing wrong. If you stay, you will be killed. I know that your life here wasn't a good one after Orochimaru left, in fact it was comparable to mine on a smaller scale. You would have to be insane in order to not take this chance to get out of here."

Anko frowned and said "Once again, why are you telling me this? Sure I won't turn you in, not like I could, but there's no reason to tell anybody your plans to escape."

Naruto walked toward the injured ninja until he was about five feet away, then he said "The reason is simple, I want you to come with me."

Anko's eyes widened in surprise. "W-what?"

Naruto smiled again and said "Did I stutter? I want you to come with me. You would have a much better chance of escape if you join up with me for one, plus I have quite a few friends to help us out. If you escape on your own, you'll just be eventually hunted down, if not by Konoha, then Orochimaru. So, what do you say?"

Anko went over the odds in her head, everyone else she trusted had betrayed her, what was stopping Naruto from doing the same? Then again he went through a worse life then hers and would treat her well because he knows how bad such things could be. He was about the only one who knew her pain, though it was on a macro scale.

She went over the possibilities in her head, trying to decide whether or not to trust him. Eventually the fact that she couldn't hope to escape on her own and live won out and she nodded as she said "Fine gaki, I'll go with you since I have no choice, but don't think that means that I like you or anything."

Naruto nodded and said "Okay then, come here." She walked to him and he put his arms around her before he said "Kage Hokou." and vanished.

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Top of Hokage Monument

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When Anko and Naruto reappeared they were on top of the Niidaime's head. Naruto let Anko go and she promptly staggered away a bit before emptying her stomach in a nearby bush.

She wiped her mouth before panting out "W-what the h-hell was that?"

Naruto smirked before saying "That was my Kage Hokou technique. It's a very fast transportation jutsu that uses darkness as a medium of transport. Since all darkness is connected, you can easily travel from one piece of it to another. Mind you there has to be darkness of some kind at the starting point and ending point for it to work and I have to have been there before in order to go there."

Anko sat down and nodded as she tried to quell her stomach. She just said "Nice technique but it feels like I just got turned inside out, squeezed through a drinking straw, then got put in a blender before being put back to normal."

Naruto smiled wide as he says "Yeah I know what you mean. You get used to it after a while, trust me. Now then, let's take a look at your shoulder."

He went close to the snake ninja and she lowered one shoulder of her coat, revealing the wound. Naruto frowned before taking a bottle of disinfectant and spraying it liberally across the somewhat deep cut. Anko bit her lip slightly but didn't cry out, she had been through far worse. Naruto put the bottle back before taking out a large square bandage and applying it to the wound.

She moved her arm a bit and found that her movement wasn't impeded at all by the healing apparatus and stood up as she replaced her coat. She looked at Naruto and said "Okay, let's get going."

Naruto smiled and said "Not yet Anko-chan. There's one other person that I have to collect before we go. Do me a favor and wait here while I get her."

Anko frowned before she smiled sadistically and said "Fine but you'll pay later brat."

Naruto smirked before saying "Depending on what kind of punishment you mean, I may like that." Then he vanished as she fought the blush that came on at his implications.

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Konoha forest

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Temari and Gaara were running through the forest. Kankurou was there before but he was stuck when a Konoha ninja managed to catch up to them. Now they were running to the distance where Gaara was to transform.

They knew that they had a squad after them, at least two people, maybe three so they were trying to get to the distance they were ordered to get to before Gaara transformed. Temari hoped that she would be able to get out of the way when they got there. Gaara was supposed to give her a few minutes in order to get out of the targeted area, but he was getting more and more unstable so she couldn't be sure.

Then they heard a voice yell "STOP!" and they turned back to see who it was only to see the pink haired girl from before, a small dog and the dog guy that Naruto beat in the exams, Kiba she remembered his name was.

She didn't waste any time. Gaara went on ahead while she turned back to get rid of them. Kiba was already tired from his fight with Neji, and Sakura, well she was Sakura in season one, take a guess at how useful she was.

One use of 'Fuuton: Kamaitachi no jutsu' and they were down for the count, Kiba and Akamaru sliced up rather badly, and Sakura was hit in the head by a part of a shattered branch and knocked out. The ninja dog was dispelled by a simple thrown kunai.

Once the pursuers were taken care of she continued on to join up with Gaara. She was specifically ordered to escort Gaara to the ordered location, probably to make sure that he went through with the plan or something. It was understandable since Gaara wasn't what most would call stable, you never really could tell what he was going to do before he did it.

She was caught by surprised when she heard Gaara say "Sabaku Kyuu" before she was engulfed by sand.

Her body was covered in sand but her face was free so she managed to look down at Gaara who had come out from behind a tree from where he was watching the fight.

Temari gasped "G-Gaara! What are you doing!?"

Gaara stared at her emotionlessly and said "I am simply fulfilling the orders from our father or course."

Temari was confused at what he meant by that "W-what are you talking about Gaara? What did he order you to do?"

Gaara smiled sadistically, the same smile he got when he was going to really enjoy killing this person. He said "Father's orders were for you and Kankurou to escort be to a certain place so that I could transform. My orders were that once we were there, I was to kill you both before going through with the transformation. We're not there quite yet but we're close enough that it won't matter."

Temari stammered out, scared out of her mind "B-but why?!"

Gaara's smile widened and he said "Apparently you two are not strong enough for father's tastes. He believes that you are both disgraces to his name and I agree with him."

Temari grasped at straws, hoping against hope that Gaara wasn't lying or wouldn't go through with it, but she knew that he would. "G-Gaara, you would kill your own brother and sister just because father ordered you to?"

Gaara's insane smile widened even more as he raised his hand in preparation to finish her off before he said "Are you kidding? The only reason I haven't done this before is because I was ordered NOT to! I can't tell you how long I have wanted to kill you both and now I get my wish! Goodbye Temari and good riddance. Sabaku Soso!" She closed her eyes tightly as she waited for the end.

Temari expected death to come as a sudden painful experience that vanished quickly, what she got was a falling sensation followed by a sudden impact. Then she opened her eyes and realized that she had fallen on the branch she was floating above in Gaara's sand. She also noticed that there was a decent amount of the sediment around her. She looked up at Gaara, thinking that he had let her go but the reality was a bit less kind. It wasn't that he didn't want to kill her, it was that he couldn't kill her because he couldn't manipulate his sand. Naruto was there with his hand on Gaara's shoulder.

Everyone was silent as Naruto said "I believe I have said this before, but that is no way to treat a lady, especially your own sister." Then he kicked Gaara in the ribs, sending him flying away from the pair.

Naruto jumped over to the branch, grabbed Temari and jumped onto another branch as the sand came to life and tried to reaffirm its grip on the Kunoichi.

Gaara jumped back to where he was before with one difference, in place of his normal arm, there was a long limb of sand, there was also a long tail forming upon his tailbone. One of his eyes was also the strange yellow of Shukaku's. He was getting taken over by the demon within him. He yelled out "You are my prey! You will not escape me coward!"

Naruto just said "Right, you keep thinking that. Temari-chan, I believe that it is time that we left." Then he used a Kage Hokou as he jumped into the shadow of the tree, leaving a frustrated and unstable Jinchuuriki behind them with nothing to take out his rage and bloodlust on.

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Konoha Forest (A different part of it)

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Naruto appeared in the shadow of another tree and let Temari down as she leaned over the edge of the branch and empties her stomach. Naruto held her steady to make sure she didn't fall over.

"Are you okay?" He asked

Temari recovered herself rather quickly and looked over at him "I'm fine." She replied.

Naruto gave her a little space. She would need some time to think about what just happened.

After a minute she said "How did you know where we were?"

Naruto said "I saw you three run into the forest and I went after you. I bypassed Kankurou and stumbled upon you two just as Gaara attacked you."

Temari went silent again and after a moment asked "Why did you save me?" I'm an enemy."

Naruto looked away, into the distance where you could hear a loud crashing noise if you really concentrated. He said "I don't know, I just did it on instinct I guess."

Temari just chuckled listlessly and said "So why don't you finish me off now? Even if you saved me on instinct, I'm still an enemy. I could turn on you at any moment."

Naruto smiled a little and said "That's true, but we both know who would win in a fight between us. And I don't consider you an enemy at all."

She looked up, a bit confused and said "Why wouldn't you consider me an enemy? I'm a ninja of a village that is currently attacking your home! I just injured, maybe killed, two Konoha ninja not ten minutes ago! How could you not consider me an enemy?!"

Naruto looked her in the eye and said "I'll be honest with you Temari-chan. I hate my village, I almost always have. I have been planning to betray it and escape for years now and I decided to make my move now. They all hate me and I hate them back so why would I stay? Whether or not Konoha loses the fight today, they will be far too weak to go hunting after a Nuke-nin immediately so I'll have plenty of time to prepare myself for the Oinin that will eventually come for me."

Temari nodded, it made sense to leave now, when they wouldn't be able to go after you for some time. She thought to herself 'Maybe I should do the same. War is taxing on both the attacker and the defender. Suna will be weak for a little while even if they win, much more so if they lose. I should probably do what Naruto-kun is doing and leave now. Wait, Naruto-KUN!? When did I start calling him Kun?"

Temari was interrupted from her thoughts when Naruto said something. "Hmm? What was that?" She asked.

Naruto frowned a bit and reiterated "I said that I will be leaving the village today with another Kunoichi from my village. I already have a bit of an organization together from my travels you see. I asked if you would want to come with us."

Temari was a bit surprised, one second she was about to be killed, the next she was rescued by the hot guy that she had been dreaming about for around a month. But she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. She knew that if she ran now, on her own, she wouldn't last long. Naruto was strong and if he had friends like he said that he did, then going with him would be a log safer then going out on her own.

She asked "Why would you want me to go with you?"

Naruto smiled and said "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I left such a beautiful lady fend for herself against those arrayed against her." Then he offered a hand to help her get up.

She knocked his hand away and stood up on her own as she said "Flattery will get you nowhere pal. If we're going to leave we had better go now."

Naruto nodded and took Temari's hand before vanishing again, taking the Suna ninja with her.

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Hokage Monument caves

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Naruto, Temari, and Anko appeared in the darkness of the caves. They both managed to avoid vomiting this time around even though it was Anko's second time through the Kage Hokou and Temari's third. Naruto had done it so many times that he wasn't even affected by it anymore.

Anko recovered herself first and looked around before she asked "Just where are we?"

Naruto smiled and said "About five hundred feet below where we were before. These are a series of hidden caves that I excavated in the Hokage Monument interior. Nobody knows about them except me and those I bring here which include you two and six others who are already here. "

The group was distracted when a strange man with long black hair and a fishnet shirt came through the one door and said "Ah, Naruto-sama! You have arrived sooner than you said you would! And who are these two lovely ladies with you? New test subjects perhaps?"

Naruto frowned and said "Back off Hogback, these two are coming with us and will be staying with us for the foreseeable future. Is everything ready?"

The doctor nodded and said "Yes, Perona, Yukino, and Haruka already moved the stuff that you had in your home into the caves and Absalom already cleared out the area that you intend to move to. Now then, I believe that we should get our guests something before I have a look at your shoulder miss." Then he turned around and yelled into the caves "Kagerou-chan! Get some tea for us would you?" Then he left the room.

Temari looked at Naruto and said "Who or what was that man?"

Naruto smiled and said "That would be Dr. Hogback. He may be strange and odd-looking but don't let his looks fool you. He is an expert in medicine on par with Tsunade herself."

Anko was just amazed that the strange man that Naruto had with him was THAT good of a doctor. He could tell that she was injured despite the fact that the wound was already distressed, covered with her coat and she showed no sign of it. He must have some serious expertise in order to do something like that.

Naruto opened the door and gestured "This way please ladies."

Naruto led them through the caves while they looked around, not that there was much to see. Before long they came to a decent sized room where there was a table surrounded by nine chairs. Five of these chairs were already occupied.

The man known as Hogback was seated near the middle of the table, across from him was an empty spot, just down the table two women sat across from each other; one was a bookish young woman with glasses and short brown hair sitting across from a woman with long blonde hair. The first girl was looking at the blonde and blushing every now and then though the blonde herself seemed oblivious to the looks. It was noticeable that they both wore slashed Iwa Hitai-ates around their necks.

Sitting near the head of the table were two girls. One had long pink hair tied in two lengths that went down her back and wore a crown of all things on top of her head across from a plain looking girl with black hair wearing a sleeveless pink kimono. The two girls were glaring at each other like the other was the reason that evil existed in the world, you could practically see the sparks fly.

One thing that was noticeable was that everyone there wore a simple necklace around their neck, they looked like the necklace of the Shodaime Hokage that the Sannin Tsunade wore only the stone was a never ending black instead of a pale green. They were all being served tea by a pale blonde girl in a sundress that had stitches over a good portion of her body.

The blonde girl poured tea into the cups of two seats across from each other and the seat at the head of the table before bowing as she left the room.

Naruto went and sat at the head of the table and Temari and Anko, after a moment sat in the two empty seats. The two girls sitting nearest to Naruto greeted him with differing amounts of enthusiasm. The pink haired girl just said "Hi Naruto-kun!" while the black haired girl merely said "Greetings Naruto-sama"

Naruto took a sip of his tea before saying to them all "I would like to say that we have two more people joining our little group." He indicated Temari and said "Sabaku no Temari" Then he indicated Anko and said "And Mitarashi Anko. I trust that you will make them feel welcome."

They all nodded before Temari asked "Naruto-kun, just what are we going to do? I understand that this place cannot be found but we're not just going to stay here during the invasion are we? I mean there is a good chance of this mountain being destroyed."

Naruto smiled and said "You're right Temari-chan, that is why we shall be leaving almost immediately to a pre-prepared location that I have chosen in the last month." Then he turned to the pink haired girl and said "Perona-chan, you have already had the things in the house moved into the caves right?"

Perona smiled and said "Yes Naruto-kun! These necklaces you gave us that let us get into the caves from wherever we were really helped with that. All of the equipment, paintings and everything else in the house had already been moved here."

Naruto smiled and downed the rest of his tea before standing up and saying "Good, if that's the case then we can leave immediately. If you'll excuse me." Then he left the room, leaving them to introduce themselves to the two new members of their group.

After Naruto left, the girl to Anko's right, the blonde girl, turned to her and said "So, you're going to be working with us then huh? Well, you look alright I guess. My name is Suzushiro Haruka, nice to meet you. And my friend here…." At this point she indicated the shy girl sitting across from her, the one sitting next to Temari, and said "She's Kikukawa Yukino. You had better treat her nicely or we'll have trouble."

The newly introduced Yukino nodded to each of the newcomers and quietly said "Hello, it is nice to meet you both." Before going back to staring at the tabletop while occasionally glancing at Haruka.

Haruka pointed to the large man and said "That creepy bastard there is Hogback, he's basically the mad scientist of Naruto-san's little group of misfits here. Absalom isn't here right now but you'll meet him soon enough." Then she pointed to the black haired girl glaring at Perona and said "That one is Haku. I've only known her for a few months now and she's alright, although she is completely dedicated to Naruto-san for saving her. She's nice, but she's strong so don't badmouth Naruto-san in front of her unless you want to be frozen. It's pretty obvious that she likes Naruto-san but she never admits it out loud. "

Then she pointed to Perona and said "And that is Perona, more or less Naruto-san's second in command and self-proclaimed girlfriend. I have never seen anyone stranger in my entire life and she is strong as hell so don't get on her bad side. She's head over heels with Naruto-san as well and protective of him as well so don't try anything with him lightly. Like I said earlier, Haku likes Naruto-san so those two don't get along too well."

Then she turned back to the two and said "So what're your stories? Naruto-san doesn't bring in anyone for no reason so there must be some reason that you two were taken with him."

Anko explained more or less her life in Konoha prior to and after Orochimaru's betrayal, how badly she was treated, and how she was betrayed and Naruto saved her from a pair of ANBU. Temari explained how her father was the Yondaime Kazekage and how her father ordered her Jinchuuriki brother to kill her since he deemed her too weak to be a member of his family.

Yukino spoke up, it doesn't sound like either of you had it easy. You shouldn't be angry at your brother, I know that being a Jinchuuriki isn't easy, nor is having everyone hate you."

Anko turned to the girl and said "How would you know? How did you meet Naruto-kun?" Luckily for her Perona didn't hear her call him that otherwise she would have jumped into the conversation.

Yukino explained how she was the Rokubi Jinchuuriki and how Haruka had been her best friend, and only friend until she was killed by an Iwa ninja. Then she bargained with Naruto that she would work for him in exchange for resurrecting Haruka.

They were amazed that Naruto could bring people back from the dead and that Yukino was a Jinchuuriki like Gaara. But it was quickly explained that there were certain limits behind it such as the body having to be intact and the person not being dead for long. It was also explained that Naruto was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki which took Temari by surprise, Anko already knew.

Temari thought to herself 'The Rokubi, and Kyuubi Jinchuurikis. They're so different from Gaara. Naruto is calm and strong while this girl is very shy and hates fighting according to her. I guess everyone is different.'

Temari asked "So what's the story with those necklaces?"

Haruka fingered the jewel on hers as she said "These? It's a way for us to enter and leave this place. Naruto had several of these jewels hidden throughout the various countries. There is also a larger version of the jewel here in the caves. These necklaces contain some of Naruto's shadow powers, allowing us to travel to each of the 'destination jewels' at will through darkness as though we were using Naruto's Kage Hokou technique. It's very useful, although recent. You two will probably get your own before too long."

Anko nodded before she asked "So what is Naruto-kun doing now?"

Haruka just shrugged and said "Hell if I know. Naruto, Absalom, and Hogback have been preparing a new location for us to stay but he never explained how we're going to get there or where it is, or how we're going to take everything with us. They're keeping it a surprise the bastards."

Before Anko or Temari could ask another question, darkness swept through the room. This darkness however was tinged red and reeked of malice. It was darkness used in conjunction with the Kyuubi's chakra.

It stung a bit as it passed but once it did it was like light didn't exist anymore. Before anyone could panic Hogback yelled "Everybody stay calm! This is Naruto-sama's doing, so don't worry. Just sit back and relax, though you should try to hold on to your lunch."

The reason that Hogback said this was evident as a deep voice thrummed through the cave, making the walls shake slightly. The voice was demonic and deep and it said "DAI KAGE HOKOU!" **(3)**

Then there was a whirl of motion and then the darkness vanished and things were the same as they were, though everyone had to fight in order to keep their lunch.

After a minute of everyone getting their bearings, Naruto walked in looking a bit tired. Anko promptly addressed everyone's concerns when she asked "What the hell was that?"

Naruto smiled in a tired fashion and said "Follow me." Then he walked through the door that led to the room in which they entered.

When they finally got there, they found that one of the walls was badly cracked. They heard a muffled yell on the other side before the wall blew inward. A strange amalgam of man and beast stepped through. The creature was wearing one of Naruto's shadow necklaces.

The thing smiled as he said "It worked just like you said Naruto-sama. Te entrance was suddenly blocked off and I just broke through, easy as pie."

Naruto nodded as Haku asked "Naruto-kun, what's going on? What did you just do?"

Naruto smiled and said "Take a look." As he gestured out of the newly formed door. The group looked out and was amazed that there was a large and lush forest outside the entrance.

Naruto smiled and said "Everybody, welcome to Kusa no Kuni. Through a more powerful and tiring version of my Kage Hokou technique, I transferred the entire cave system into this place. It was originally the cave that the Gobi no Inu used as its home before it was captured by ninja from Kusagakure. I had Absalom come here beforehand to clear out the nearby dangerous wildlife and blow open the new door. This is where we will be using as our home base."

Temari nodded as she went outside and looked around. There was nothing but lush forests and tall grasses all around, the cave was almost impossible to spot from anywhere around them, you would have to be really close to find it.

Naruto smiled and said "We'll be working on a new door soon of course but for now, you guys should get comfortable, we'll be staying here for a while."

Then he took a deep breath before he walked into the shadow of a nearby tree and said "Now then, I need to go check on something. I'll be back in a few minutes. Kage Hokou." Then he vanished.

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Niidaime's head, Hokage Monument

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Naruto arrived on top of the Hokage Monument to see the rest of the invasion.

Things were going well, though the fighting in the streets was going well, the snakes had been defeated by the rank and file ninja under Ibiki's leadership. The weaker ninja were already being picked off by the defenders. The only things that mattered were the fact that the Ichibi was very close to the village and about to start his attack and the Hokage was losing his fight.

He saw Orochimaru had used the Edo Tensei in order to resurrect the Shodaime and Niidaime Hokages and together they were beating the Sandaime into the ground. Then he frowned as Sarutobi used the Kage Bunshin no jutsu and two of them grabbed onto the clones, the old monkey was up to something.

But Sarutobi wasn't his concern, what did concern him was the location of the Kazekage. He couldn't see him anywhere even with his better than average eyes. Then he caught sight of a tattered Kazekage robe inside the barrier where the Sandaime was fighting and realized what must have happened, Orochimaru must have been disguising himself as the Kazekage.

Normally that wouldn't bother him except that he knew that the Kazekage intended to participate in the invasion himself. There was only one possible reason that the Kazekage would give up the chance to take on Sarutobi and that was if he was dead. Orochimaru betrayed the Kazekage and killed him, that was the most likely scenario. But at least the fight was going in the snake's favor.

Then he turned to watch the Ichibi attacking the outskirts of the village and he smiled at the power of the Bijuu. That was until he spotted a very unwanted figure that went through several handseals before a large toad appeared to stand against to enormous Tanuki of sand.

The figure was Gamabunta, and standing atop his head was a tired looking Jiraiya holding his bleeding side. He had to give the old man credit, he didn't stay down. He must have fought tooth and nail to get out of the hospital and now he was standing against the Ichibi in his condition. The man was mad but determined.

His attention was once more drawn to the fight between Sarutobi and Orochimaru; he saw that the Shodaime and Niidaime had somehow fallen and that the Sandaime was run through by Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword. Before long Sarutobi pulled back and yelled "FUIN" before Orochimaru's arms went purple. Not long afterward, the Sandaime fell.

Naruto watched in concern as Orochimaru was saved by the four Oto ninja that formed the barrier and the five of them escaped.

After a moment Naruto realized what the old monkey did and he was angry as hell. He said under his breath "DAMN YOU SARUTOBI!"

'The old man must have used the fucking Shiki Fuin; it's the only way he could have taken down the resurrected Hokages. If he used that to rip away the soul of Orochimaru's arms then his shadow is useless now! Even if I took it, the zombie created through it wouldn't be able to use his arms either so I have to wait for him to be healed before I can go after him. Fucking old man, irritating me until the end and beyond.'

Then he calmed down a bit and thought 'It makes no difference, I can afford to wait, Orochimaru will find a way to get his arms back, he is persistent like that. I will simply wait until he is healed and then take his shadow, it's nothing too major.'

Then he looked to the battle of the titans to see that Gamabunta and the Ichibi were exchanging Suiton and Fuuton jutsu that would make anyone envious. The only question was where Jiraiya was, he couldn't have been dead otherwise Gamabunta wouldn't be there. He must have been hiding somewhere waiting for something to make his move.

After a little while of watching the fight his question was answered when Jiraiya was spat out of Gamabunta's mouth, through the spray of water that was the remnants of the most recent clash on Ninjutsu between the two great entities which he used as a smokescreen.

The Ichibi couldn't see the old man so he managed to land a solid hit on the sleeping Gaara, waking him up, then as Gaara shook the sleep from his mind the old man slapped a paper with a seal written on it that suppressed Gaara's chakra as well as the Ichibi's causing the body of the Tanuki to crumble away and the pair of ninja, including the now unconscious Gaara, to fall.

Jiraiya was caught in Gamabunta's tongue and Gaara landed on the dirt, probably cracking a rib or two as he did, still unconscious but with the Ichibi sealed he could sleep in peace. Gamabunta immediately leapt over to the hospital to return the weakened Sannin to his bed rest.

Naruto saw the Suna ninja start to retreat with Gaara's defeat, most of the Oto ninja were dead and the remaining ninja also began to escape. The Konoha forces began to harass and skirmish with them to keep them on the defensive and eventually chased them from the village. One of the Suna ninja carried Gaara with him.

Naruto sighed; Konoha had survived the invasion because he underestimated the old man. Then he smiled because he knew that it didn't matter. Konoha was weakened, that was good enough for now. This only meant that he would have the chance to do the job himself. Orochimaru's plan had failed so now he, Naruto, was the most likely person to put an end to Konoha, and he would do his best to make sure that he did not fail where Orochimaru did.

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I meant to do this to commemorate the twentieth chapter but I kept forgetting so I have to do it here three chapters late. Here it is, my first ever Omake

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Omake: Naruto hates yaoi fangirls

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Naruto was straddling a brown haired girl as she said "NaruSasu forever!"

Naruto yelled "Shut the hell up!" then he punched her right across the face.

The fangirl was relentless and yelled "Naruto/Kakashi is sexy!"

Naruto yelled "I said shut up!" Then he punched her again.

The fangirl continued "Naruto/Kiba is awesome!"

Naruto yelled "Why don't you shut the hell up!?" Then he punched her again, desperate to make her stop the needless depravity that had no chance of ever happening.

The fangirl did NOT stop however "Naruto/Minato is excellent!"

Naruto punched her again yelling "He's my father you sick fuck!"

Then the fangirl yelled "Naruto/Inuyasha!"

Naruto just stared at her before smiling maliciously and yelling "We're not even from the same series you DUMB BITCH!" Then punched her again.

The fangirl just frowned and said "Fine! Naruto/Sakura then!"

Naruto just stared at her for a minute and after a little while the fangirl asked "What?"

Naruto had to stop himself from shaking with rage but failed as he raised a fist high and shouted "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME! SHE HAS A BIGGER DICK THAN ALL OF THEM!" Then he punched her again and knocked her out as the screen fades to black

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(1) Literally 'Seal of the condemned'

(2) Think the mark Gatts has on his neck from Berserk

(3) Literally 'Great shadow walk'

Okay that's the end of the chapter. The invasion failed and Naruto has finally left Konoha, leaving an injured Sasuke behind and taking Temari and Anko with him. Naruto's group finally starts to make its move. What shall happen next? Read the next chapter whenever I post it and find out!

By the way what did you guys think of the Omake? That's all I've got for now so I will leave it at that.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	24. Chapter 24

Everybody, great news

Everybody, great news! I finally decided to stop lazing about and fucking update! Hurray! Now comes the next part of the Konoha invasion, the aftermath. The reactions of Team Gai to Naruto's defection, of Sunagakure to Temari's desertion and of Konoha to Anko's leaving.

Also, I'll explain this right now, since some people bothered me asking me about it in a few PM's. In reality the Kazekage never ordered Temari's death nor did the Sandaime order Anko's execution. Naruto placed a Genjutsu over those two ANBU and over Baki. The two ANBU believed that the Sandaime ordered them to kill Anko and Baki believed that he received orders to relay to Gaara which were to kill Temari and Kankurou. Since the Sandaime and the Yondaime Kazekage are both dead, no one knows the truth except Naruto, and no one else can ever find out the truth without him telling them.

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NARUTO SPOILERS  
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In the latest Naruto manga SASUKE GOT HIS ASS KICKED! The bit about getting stabbed WASN'T GENJUTSU HE GOT RUN THROUGH! He would have gotten killed too if it wasn't for Suigetsu saving his ass and getting Zabuza's sword half way cut through.

Apparently Karin can also heal people instantaneously if they suck away her chakra or something like that, Sasuke bit her and all of his stab wounds healed instantly. So now Juugo, Suigetsu, and Sasuke are ganging up on the Hachibi Jinchuuriki three on one since none of them could fucking hope to win on their own. Also he hasn't even called on the Hachibi yet so the fight isn't anywhere NEAR done.

On the Naruto dumbass front, he continues his training with the toads. Apparently only people with immense stores of chakra and who never give up can become sages and feel natural energy, like Naruto and Jiraiya. Also, Naruto keeps turning into a frog only to get the energy knocked out of him by Fukasaku's Ju Ju stick.

Then, after learning that only certain people can do the training, what does the moron do? He dives head first into the frog oil, causing the natural energy to enter his body from everywhere at once and where the elder toad guy can't reach him. DUMBASS! But Kishimoto is writing this idiocy so we know that it will yield positive results.

Anyway, here's hoping that Kishimoto exorcised the fanboy soul possessing him lately and will have Sasuke lose, or preferably die.

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SPOILERS OVER

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Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, if almost ANYONE owned Naruto except for Kishimoto or a Sasuke fangirl, Sasuke would have died long ago. And Naruto would be getting the ladies and Hinata would have a backbone.

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Summary of last chapter

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The invasion began! Naruto gave Sasuke a painful seal and through using Genjutsu on certain people made Temari and Anko believe that their respective villages betrayed them and he convinced them to join him. He also moved the cave system into a mountain in Kusa no Kuni.

Konoha survived the invasion thanks to Jiraiya pushing himself past his limits and leaving the hospital before it was really safe to do so long enough to summon Gamabunta and seal off the Ichibi. Now Naruto has two more people in his group and nothing but ambition, plans, and an army of the undead. Let's see what happens.

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Konoha, three days after the invasion

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It was three days after the invasion of the Sand and Sound Shinobi upon Konoha. The losses hadn't been overwhelming but there was still a large amount of damage to the city itself and the populace.

They were taken by absolute surprise so a decent amount of the civilians were slaughtered, luckily it wasn't too bad, only a few hundred deaths.

What was more important was the fact that a good number of ANBU and Jounin were killed by the rampage of the giant snakes and the Ichibi before Jiraiya managed to seal the beast's chakra and end the threat. There was quite a large amount of property damage as well, a good amount of the residential district was destroyed.

The walls had been breached badly by the summoned serpents and they were getting repaired immediately since it was crucial to restore the village's defenses and secure the countries' borders. They had to make sure that they appeared powerful otherwise Iwa, Kumo, or some other village might start getting ideas about attacking in hopes of finishing the job Suna started.

There had also been a good amount of death among the Shinobi forces, a decent amount of the older Gennin, though the rookies were unharmed, there were a few dozen Chuunin killed and a good amount of Jounin and the ANBU were also killed. Luckily none of the really powerful ninja were killed except for Gekko Hayate who was killed by the Suna Jounin Baki.

Of course, none of these losses were more detrimental then the death of the Sandaime Hokage. This was very bad for more than one reason. The first reason was the obvious one, they lost the most powerful Shinobi in the village, and a brilliant tactician. There was also the fact that losing a Kage was very important symbolically. The Kage was the strongest ninja in your village, to have him killed by a smaller village did wonders in bringing down the village's reputation, and that reached the ears of potential clients and that affected the villages' economy.

There was also the matter that there were no suitable replacements to take up the Hokage mantle, Sarutobi didn't select a Godaime before he died. Under such circumstances, it was up to the village council to select the next Kage.

Usually this would be horrible because the Konoha council were a bunch of power hungry bastards for the most part that would end up bickering over who became Hokage based on their allegiance to the individual council members. Luckily the attack triggered the survival instincts of the corrupt slobs and they made an unbiased decision when they selected Jiraiya for Hokage.

Then something horrible happened when Jiraiya said 'no thanks'. They selected Tsunade as Hokage but they selected Jiraiya to retrieve her. Jiraiya was in a bad way, but he would recover before too long. The main reasons behind choosing Tsunade were two fold, one was because she was one of the Sannin, but the major reason was because they needed a powerful medic to heal Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke's leg had been horribly wounded during his bout with Naruto. Every single muscle tendon in his left leg had been severed, and the bones in the leg had been broken in no less then six places in addition to numerous hairline fractures. He was really fucked up.

Tsunade was the only person that the council knew who could possibly heal the young Uchiha and being the Uchiha lovers they are decided to force Tsunade to become Hokage and return to Konoha. If she didn't return when Jiraiya gave her the offer she would be marked a Nuke-nin.

To add to things were Jiraiya's injuries, they would heal well enough and he would come out of the hospital okay, albeit a little more scarred, but that meant that there would be a decent amount of time during which there would be no Hokage, and THAT is why the shit was starting to hit the fan.

Without a Hokage, the council would have free reign in Konoha until a new one was chosen and inaugurated. The Sandaime, while flawed, still managed to keep the council in check and prevent them from growing more powerful then himself. It wouldn't have happened at all if he stood up to them earlier but he did his best. Now that Sarutobi was gone and there wouldn't be a new Hokage for some time, the council would have more than enough time to secure powers that they didn't have before, putting the next Hokage into the position of a figurehead. Hell, if they weren't in a state of emergency and in need of powerful ninja and a good medic, they would probably postpone the selection of a Godaime indefinitely, taking over the village themselves.

Kage troubles aside, there was one other problem, or rather two. After getting reports from several sources and accounts from several ninja and biased civilians who 'saw' what happened, Uzumaki Naruto and Mitarashi Anko had been declared Missing Nin.

Supposedly they had murdered a pair of innocent ANBU and escaped into the forest, leaving the village behind, most likely to join Orochimaru or another of Konoha's enemies. Most were happy to be rid of the 'Snake whore' and the 'Demon brat' and they were planning to send Oinin after them the moment they had the ninja to spare.

But that wouldn't be for some time. A good chunk of the Shinobi force were lost and those that remained were either cleaning up the mess or dealing with politically significant missions and dangerous missions to keep relations with other villages and countries good and make themselves look strong respectively. Rogue ninja could breathe easy for a little while. They had all the spare ninja they had on standby to go with Jiraiya once he recovered to convince or force Tsunade back to Konoha. Since Oinin were made up of the powerful Jounin and ANBU, they wouldn't be able to send out Oinin squads without significantly weakening themselves until Tsunade became Hokage, at the very least.

Team Gai was helping with the cleanup of the residential district, getting rid of the rubble and such. They had taken Naruto's desertion hard, all three of them.

With Neji it was hard to tell, but he was struck fairly deeply by his desertion. The Hyuuga prodigy didn't make friends easily and he just lost one of the two that he had. It wasn't easy to simply move on after something like that, and he had been slightly more depressed lately.

Lee took it harder then Neji, to him Naruto seemed happy enough, he was powerful and although they had some rather severe differences, the miniature Gai clone believed that they had some kind of friendship going. Now he wasn't really sure what to think. Someone who was only a week ago a powerful ally is now an enemy to be killed or captured, it wasn't easy to go from one to the other, it was almost impossible. Right now what Lee wanted to do was find Naruto. Not to kill him for revenge or something like that, but he wanted to know why he left, why he left their team and their village.

Gai took it the hardest. He hadn't been his normal 'youthful' self since the announcement of his desertion. He knew that Naruto had never had the happiest of childhoods; hell he knew that Naruto had the worst childhood in Konoha's entire history. But he never showed any sign that he would want to turn rogue. He was always aloof and uncaring but he never showed anything other than complete loyalty. He blamed himself for Naruto's desertion more than anybody else. If he talked to him more, perhaps if he tried harder to get the boy to open up to him, maybe things wouldn't have turned out this way. Or at least that was what the green clad Taijutsu master thought.

Other teams took the news much better, depending on how you looked at it. Most of the other rookies had nothing but fear regarding Naruto as an enemy, Shino took it the best but he takes everything well. You could tell an Aburame that his favorite puppy died and you would get nothing more than a calm, monotone 'Thank you for the information.'

The only ones that showed any satisfaction from it were Sakura and Kakashi. Kakashi said that he long suspected the 'demon' would turn on them and that he should have been killed when he was young and weak, while Sakura just said that he probably left out of shame for hurting her 'Sasuke-kun'. She almost never left the Uchiha's hospital bed either.

Sasuke himself was in a bad way. His left leg was all but ruined, he needed an expert medical ninja to even begin to hope for a good recovery. The doctors had set and healed the bones so there were no structural problems but the muscles still needed to be reattached to the bones, if it wasn't done correctly then the muscles could be put in the wrong places or attached incorrectly to the bone, you can only imagine the number of problems that would arise should something like that happen. He probably would have been complaining or brooding if he wasn't comatose.

Jiraiya took a look at the seal Naruto left behind one day when they brought the Uchiha to him for that exact reason. And in Jiraiya's own words 'That thing is a fucking masterpiece'

In Jiraiya's report on the seal, it was deadly and dangerous as hell. The thing looked simple and geometrical enough, nothing complex which would indicate a dangerous and powerful seal but that was deceiving. The entire mark was made of small seals formed of tiny micro-scratches seared into the skin. While a section looked like a straight line, it was an immense tapestry of markings each with different meanings and purposes.

According to Jiraiya the thing must have taken years to complete based on its complexity. There were quite a number of dangerous affects that not even Jiraiya knew the full extent of. One apparent affect was disturbing sleep or forcing nightmares as Sasuke hadn't actually rested in quite some time, he was always tossing and turning in his sleep, muttering into the air.

Another nasty affect was death. There were several seals built into it that would kill the person it was applied to if any one of them was activated and they were all activated in different ways. The only one that Jiraiya was sure about was the one that activated if the seal was tampered with. Removing or modifying the seal in any way was impossible if they wanted to keep Sasuke alive.

There was another effect that occurred at the death of the victim. Anyone who died with the seal applied to them would have any Kekkei Genkai sealed and inaccessible to those that would attempt to dissect the body looking for information on such Kekkei Genkai.

The entire seal was one bad piece of work and would remain untouched until Jiraiya could dissect and analyze it completely and hopefully find a way to safely remove it which, judging by the man's condition, wouldn't be for some time.

Hinata was rather quiet for a while. She cared for Naruto and never got to tell him anything, not that many knew. She was very depressed, not to the point of suicide or anything, well almost to that point. She wanted to find Naruto and find out why he left and confess her feelings for him that she never got to tell him before, and that goal gave her resolve to increase her training, to become powerful enough to be recognized and admired by him instead of the other way around. She thought that it might help her chances of getting him to return the feelings she had. Who knows what could happen.

Jiraiya was struck badly that the son of his student had deserted the village. He thought that maybe if he actually spent time in the village looking after his godson instead of peeping in women's hot springs, perhaps things would have turned out differently. He couldn't actually say anything regarding him though. Despite his presence in the village he couldn't ever find the boy no matter where he looked for him. He took it easier than most, but harder than some. It was mostly regret for not managing to fulfill his student's last request then any amount of compassion for the boy himself though. He mainly focused on healing so that he could go after Tsunade, the sooner they got the Hokage position filled and got things back to normal the better.

According to the doctors and their constant attention he would be able to leave the hospital in three days. It was amazing how much people will do for you when you are an extremely strong ninja in a time of crisis. But he wondered, in that hospital bed, he wondered where the errant Jinchuuriki and no longer loyal snake summoner could have disappeared to and what they were planning. Naruto was devious, he would give him that. There was no way in hell that he would be on his own for long, when Konoha found him, he would have allies that they would have to deal with as well.

There was another thing on Jiraiya's mind. The strange men or things that attacked him in the forest and put him in his current condition. He didn't know anything about them, and hadn't heard any rumors about people like them. He could only guess and keep his ear to the ground about anything like that happening again. There was a chance that they were working with Orochimaru but it was unlikely. He didn't really know what to think of them, but he could speculate and theorize as he tried to get back on his feet. He had a score to settle with the one with the black sword, at the very least.

He thought for a second that perhaps they were related in some way to Naruto, but it was less likely than them working with Orochimaru and he dismissed the notion from his mind.

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With Naruto and Co.

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Naruto and the rest had set up shop in the Gobi's ex-lair. Since they didn't want a gaping hole for a door, Naruto set up a way to prevent the unwanted from entering.

It was a powerful Genjutsu that he worked together with Yukino to create and put it over the hole. Naruto mixed in a mesh of shadows within the illusion in order to give it physical presence. The only way in was by wearing one of Naruto's black gems, they would be able to walk through the wall like it wasn't even there. To anybody else it would be a simple mountainside. The zombies, since they contained some of Naruto's power, were able to pass through freely as well, the same went for Naruto himself.

Of course there was a security measure put in place to prevent a stolen jewel from being used to enter the place. He took each jewel that he gave and encoded it with chakra, keying it to a certain individual. The results were two fold. The first affect was that if anybody not keyed to the jewel touched it, save Naruto himself, the jewel would explode. The second result was that they always knew where it was, being able to sense it at any distance, and would be able to tell when one of the gems wasn't theirs.

They had also searched around a bit once Absalom broke down the back wall, allowing them into the Gobi's former home. The place was just one big cave, nothing special about it or anything. But as they journeyed inwards they found an immense space, apparently the mountain was partially hollow or something because they couldn't see the ceiling. Naruto just said 'This is where we will be creating the Special class zombies.'

He also informed Temari and Anko of what was going on, the zombies, his method of creating them and the operation in general. They had been surprisingly calm, very much so when they found out that it was four of the Generals who put Jiraiya in the hospital. Temari was just amazed while Anko glomped him and said 'Trust Naruto-kun to be able to put a Sannin in the hospital.'

Mind you they weren't thrilled when they met Ryuuma, the only General to be awake all of the time as he was the head of the General zombies, second in command to Absalom.

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Flashback no jutsu

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The mummified swordsman looked at Naruto and the two ladies in the hallway. After a moment the undead thing spoke "Ah, so very beautiful, and I only have eyes for the beautiful. Of course I'm a mummy so I don't have any eyes!"

Then he vanished and reappeared behind the trio, Anko and Temari were shocked by his speed but Naruto was unsurprised, expecting something like that. Then the mummy continued "Sorry, dead joke. May I see your panties?"

A moment later there were twin calls of "HENTAI!" and a loud noise like a body being slammed into a wall.

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Flashback no jutsu KAI!

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Of course their meeting with Absalom was similar to it, only it took a little bit longer. He wasn't known among them as 'Perv-salom' for nothing. The guy was almost as perverted as Jiraiya, though it wasn't as obvious.

Naruto was currently sitting in a comfortable chair in a small library, looking through the newly stolen Taki Bingo Book, Kusa's arch rival, looking for good targets among the ninja, people that really stuck out as something extraordinary. The stronger the body and shadow, the stronger the zombie created with them was.

He was mainly looking for powerful Kusagakure ninja, which were abundant in the Taki Book, not that there were many to choose from. They were close by and he didn't feel like traveling much, otherwise he would look elsewhere for good choices. He was pretty much playing the waiting game at the moment, waiting for Orochimaru and Jiraiya to seek out Tsunade. Who else would they make the Godaime and who else could heal Orochimaru's injuries? Nobody, though Hogback could probably do something about the snake's arms.

Regardless, he was planning to make Orochimaru pay for trying to kill him with that pawn Kabuto, and even if he didn't have anything against him the snake would still be on his list so that he wouldn't interfere with anything later. He had several villages to take over after all and he didn't want any interference from a snake in the grass.

His plan was at this point simply to destroy Konoha, Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. At least that was the grand strategy, he would have to prepare quite a bit before taking on an entire village, undead army or not. But he was patient and willing to take care of the other two targets first.

Right now, Orochimaru was already taken care of, he just needed to wait for the snake to make his move regarding the Uchiha, the rest would take care of itself. The Akatsuki would be a bit more difficult to take down but he wasn't ready to take them on yet anyway.

He closed the book and put it away, not finding any particular ninja that stuck out. The only S-class Shinobi of Kusagakure was the legendary Kusa no Zetsu, who was a member of Akatsuki. The current leader of the village was high A-rank, but he wasn't alone in that category. The only reason he led the village was because of his leadership skills.

He turned to a nearby portrait depicting a witch-hunt and said "Get Yukino, Haruka, and Absalom in here immediately." Most people would expect nothing to happen but the hung witch merely nodded before unhooking the noose that bound her, walking out of the picture and leaving a bunch of angry people holding torches at an empty gallows. If they were animated like the witch was they would probably feel stupid.

About five minutes later the witch returned to her painting and hung herself again after she reported that they would be there shortly. Soon enough a knock came on the door and he said "Enter" before the door opened and the three entered the room and bowed in front of him.

Naruto eyed the three of them, from the young shy girl with short brown hair that was Yukino, to the long blonde haired and protective Haruka to the perverted amalgam of man and beast who was Absalom before saying "I have a job for you three."

The three of them stayed silent, waiting for their orders. Naruto was usually an easy going guy, but this was business. Naruto said "I want you two, Haruka and Absalom, to escort Yukino as she searches for someone in Hi no Kuni. Two people actually, cover our bases. You are to find where the people in question are and report back to me. Normally I wouldn't be quite so serious about this but it is an important matter."

The three of them nodded and Yukino asked "Who are the targets Naruto-sama?"

Naruto smiled and said "The more important one is Tsunade of the Sannin, finding her is much more significant. The second person is Orochimaru; find out where he is hiding if you can. I know you can't see everything Yukino-chan but try your best. You are to return in four days regardless of the outcome. Understand?" The four nodded and he said "Go" before they disappeared.

Naruto reclined in his chair and relaxed, thinking about what he was going to do when he found the two legendary ninja. If he found Orochimaru he could put something really devious into motion, but it was crucial that he find Tsunade before either of the other Sannin did. He didn't mind if she healed Orochimaru's arms, but he couldn't have the Slug Sannin becoming Hokage and he would do his best to prevent it.

Naruto smiled as he thought of what would happen when the Uchiha abandoned Konoha like he was bound to do and went to Orochimaru. That Uchiha would be the death of the snake, his seal would make sure of it.

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And that is the end of the chapter. Next chapter is the beginning of the find Tsunade arc and Naruto meets up with Orochimaru. What will occur between them? Who knows? You'll have to wait until next chapter to find out. Feel free to review while you're waiting.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	25. Chapter 25

I have returned, and I bring gifts

I have returned, and I bring gifts! Well, one gift, the twenty fifth chapter of Kage no Naruto! You can shower me with praise and thanks later, in a review, but in the meantime enjoy the chapter.

Note, I know that this chapter took a while, by my standards at least, but what can you do? I got stuck like halfway through this chapter and had to wait for inspiration to strike for me to continue. I just couldn't get into the writing zone, what can I say? Anyway, inspiration found me and thus here is the chapter. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: If I really owned Naruto, do you think that Sasori would have been killed by that pink haired wench? I think not, even I don't write bullshit like that.

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Summary of last chapter

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There was once a twenty-fourth chapter and filler was his name-o.

Konoha picks up the pieces after the invasion, lamenting on what became of their friend and determined to find out why. Jiraiya concentrated on getting his wounds healed so that he could find Tsunade and convince her to become the Godaime Hokage, and the Council fucked things up, big shock right there.

Naruto prepared to find Orochimaru and Tsunade and sent out Haruka, Yukino, and Absalom to do the job. What shall happen when these forces collide? Read and find out, don't waste your time here!

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Gobi's former lair, Naruto's current lair

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Naruto woke up, with Perona clinging to his side again, just like just about every other morning. What was funny was that Haku knew that she did this and you could hear her teeth grating from though the walls.

Naruto looked around, and pulled a small portrait from the bedside table with his right arm, the only one he could move. He said to the zombie sealed inside "Have Yukino and the others returned yet?"

The portrait just said "No, Naruto-sama."

Naruto frowned before putting the picture down again and then went back to sleep as Perona cuddled into him some more. He hated waking up early, the only reason he did it before in Konoha was because he had places to be. Though he did hope that those three got back with the information soon.

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Konohagakure, hospital

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Jiraiya walked out of the hospital and stretched his arms. It felt good to be out of those damn hospital clothes and back into his normal garb. No open back, and no cheap fabric either.

He returned his arms to his sides and put his mind to the job at hand. Finding Tsunade and somehow convince her to return to Konoha and take up the mantle of Hokage before those council morons could do some kind of irreparable harm.

He took a look around, observing the damage that the Suna and Oto forces had managed to do during the invasion which he was too wounded to stop. He felt some regret for the lives that were lost simply because he wasn't a hundred percent at the time.

Then he felt a sudden twinge in his side which he put his hand to, he still wasn't a hundred percent. Those weird guys were pretty tough and they managed to do quite the number on him. He was functional but it wouldn't be wise to go fighting any Jounin or Kage level ninja for a while. That slash in his side was really deep, but he had no other choice at the time.

The toad sage suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke as he headed toward the agreed upon location for him to meet the team that was to go with him. Due to his condition the all knowing council decided to order a few ninja to go with him to assist him in coercing Tsunade as well as guard him while he was a bit vulnerable.

He wondered who he would get as he arrived at the agreed upon training ground. There were a bunch of possible choices for who would assist him, but he didn't expect something like this.

First off, there wasn't one team, there were two. Second, they were fucking Gennin teams. Team eight and Team Gai to be specific. The miniature clone known as Rock Lee shouted out "Finally Jiraiya-sama has arrived! Now we can begin our mission!"

Jiraiya just brought the two Jounin, Gai and Kurenai, over to one side as he asked "What the hell are Gennin doing here? This isn't going to be kid stuff, if we run into enemies it will be more than they can handle."

Gai just said, serious for once, "The council ordered it. It was originally just going to be my team, but due to the issue with Naruto, they ordered Kurenai's team to come with us as well."

Jiraiya sighed and said "Yes, I get that, but why Gennin at all? Why not the Jounin, or better yet ANBU who would normally handle a job like this?"

Kurenai sighed and said "It's the invasion. Most of the ANBU and Jounin are handling high paying missions that are crucial to keep the village economy stable and keep relations with other nations and villages stable while we pick up the pieces from the attack. As a result they stuck Gennin on a mission like this."

Gai nodded and said "That pretty much covers it. Besides Jiraiya-sama, this is just supposed to be a retrieval, it shouldn't be difficult since we are just bringing back Tsunade-sama. The only reason this mission would be dangerous is the possibility of powerful enemies that are as likely to appear as they are to not appear."

Jiraiya sighed again and said "Exactly, however if enemies do show up then this mission will jump from C-rank to A-rank borderline S-rank depending on who it is. There is a very real chance of somebody powerful like Orochimaru showing up on this one."

Kurenai frowned and asked "What makes you think that Orochimaru will show up on this mission?"

Jiraiya glanced at the Gennin to make sure they weren't being eavesdropped on and said "Listen, Sarutobi-sensei was killed by Orochimaru, but he went down fighting. He left certain wounds that only a very powerful medic could hope to heal. Tsunade is one of three or four people in the world that would be able to do it and of them, one is in Suna which Orochimaru recently betrayed, and the other two are either dead or in hiding. If he is going to attempt to heal himself then he has no choice but to turn to Tsunade. That is why I requested Jounin for this mission."

Jiraiya sighed before he went on "But it doesn't matter does it? The council ordered you two and your teams to come with me and as long as there isn't a Hokage nobody can stop them from doing whatever they want unless the Daimyo takes notice. Get your Gennin in line, this isn't going to be an easy job, either finding her or getting her to come with us, so we can't waste any time."

The two Jounin nodded and went to get their teams ready to leave. Jiraiya looked at the memorial stone and thought 'Minato, see what your stupidity has done? I told you not to do the seal yourself, to let me or Sarutobi-sensei do it, but you ignored me and now look what became of your son. You moron, if you hadn't done that, the invasion a week ago wouldn't have even happened. Hell, there's a good chance that Orochimaru and Naruto wouldn't have gone rogue. You fucking idiot, doing dumb stuff right until the end when I thought I had beat it out of you.'

He was broken from his mental ramblings as Kurenai said "We're ready to go Jiraiya-sama."

The old man nodded and said to them all "Right, I'm not sure how long this mission will take, but we have to try and get it over with as quickly as possible. Failure isn't an option, we HAVE to find her. So let's stop wasting time and get going." They all nodded and Jiraiya led them at a quick pace out of the village, to the next town where they would begin their search for Tsunade, and attempt to get her to become Hokage.

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Some random clearing

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Yukino, Haruka, and Absalom were currently using Yukino's unique abilities to find the two targets. Yukino was watching the multiple mirrors, each showing a different image every few seconds. It was completely amazing that she was able to keep track of them all.

However, keeping track of all of that information takes an inhuman amount of focus, normal people wouldn't have a prayer. The Rokubi Jinchuuriki dealt with this by entering a trance-like state, completely shutting out all outside stimuli, focusing solely on her work, being able to do little more than speak and if she really concentrated, to write a map, though that seriously pushed her focus. The downside of this was that it left her completely open to attack. Hence, she needed to be guarded during the vulnerable time that she was searching for the target, a protection that her good, and only friend, Haruka was more than happy to provide.

Haruka was searching around the forest near the clearing, looking for any possible enemies that would take advantage of Yukino while she was unable to defend herself. In another section of the forest, Absalom was doing the same. Yukino was without a doubt the best tracking ninja alive, if they were anywhere in her extremely extensive range, she could find them. You would have to be at least a country away before you could believe that she wouldn't be able to find you.

They had been at this for over an hour now, Hi no Kuni was a pretty big country, and full of large trees that obstructed the view, not to mention the fact that they were on the far side of it. It would be a while for the shy Jinchuuriki to comb through the miles and miles of forests in search of two specific people.

Haruka sighed as she looked over at her friend, sitting in the grass as numerous tentacles of plant material swayed around her like a mass of seaweed. The tendrils could be used for attacking or defending but the numerous pods that were released from the tendrils would be destroyed immediately, Yukino needed to move each one individually, mentally giving it commands, and they were very fragile. If her concentration broke, they would fall, break, and disintegrate back into chakra.

Haruka was broken from her thoughts when she sensed a chakra signature nearing the clearing, about five miles away and heading straight for them. 'No wait, not just one, multiple signatures, and at least one is large enough to warrant a retreat, while the other two I could probably handle with Absalom's help. A number of smaller ones too. A few Gennin squads maybe? But who are they?' She shook her head and banished the unnecessary questions. Right now, she had to get them out of there. Someone powerful was coming and she didn't want to fight them, not with Yukino in the line of fire.

She turned and jumped into the clearing as Yukino smiled and jotted down a few lines of print onto the paper before her before dispelling the mirrors as the plant material vanished into the ground. She turned to her friend and said "I found them both. Tsunade is in a town called Tanzaku-Gai, and it looks like she'll be there for a while. Orochimaru is inside a small compound in Hi no Kuni, but it looks like he'll be moving toward her very soon. Haruka-chan, what's wrong?"

Haruka was nervous, those chakra signals were getting closer way too fast for her liking. She said "Yukino, a group of ninja are coming here, and fast. We need to get going immediately."

Absalom jumped from the trees and landed heavily nearby. He growled "What's the problem? We're not here to fight anyway, we just need to get out of here and get the information to Naruto-sama."

Haruka looked at the beast man in shock as he said the one thing that they were ordered not to say, the name of their master, especially with enemies so close by.

Her fears were enhanced when they heard a voice in the trees yell "What do you people know of Naruto-kun?"

They looked up to the trees and saw a large amount of people, led by two Jounin and Jiraiya of the Sannin, arranged on the branches of several trees. The one who yelled was a boy wearing a green spandex jumpsuit.

Absalom recognized the member of the Sannin and of his current weakness. He growled "Nothing that would concern you boy, you couldn't hope to match us in any case. Move along or we'll have to reorganize your entrails."

The Hyuuga boy with them scoffed and said "You fools, you will give us your information on our teammate or you will die here, it is fate. WE have Jiraiya of the Sannin with us, you cannot hope to win."

Haruka frowned and Yukino looked up a bit worried at said ninja. They both knew that running wouldn't do much good, they couldn't escape on foot from Jiraiya, at least not with the Jounin helping him. There was the option of using the crystals that Naruto gave them, but those took some time to use. The Kage Hokou technique wasn't anything simple, darkness is connected but it's corrosive, it requires an expenditure of well controlled chakra to protect oneself from the darkness on the way. Naruto had done it so often that it was made second nature to him long ago, but to them, it would take a little while to force the chakra to mold in the correct way.

The bottom line was, that they would have to fight long enough and buy some time for them to get out of there. If it was Jiraiya alone, they would have gone for the victory since he was wounded, but with two Jounin with him, victory was extremely unlikely.

Haruka smirked a bit as she said "You're the fools here, kid. We know that Jiraiya is wounded, not at his full strength. We could probably take you all down without much effort. I don't know why you would bother with Naruto-san anyway, it's not like you could get him to come with you."

The spandex clad boy yelled "You're wrong! Naruto-kun didn't leave of his own will, he couldn't have! He loves Konoha, and always has! There must be some reason behind him leaving that we are not yet aware of, it is the only explanation!"

Absalom smiled, revealing his large, sharp teeth which frightened the Hyuuga girl a bit. Then he said "Standards truly have fallen, and fallen far when it comes to a warrior's mindset. Do any of them realize how the world works? Of course not, they aren't ready for it yet, it would shatter them wouldn't it, shatter the weak minds of your students. You will obviously not leave us in peace so we shall have to leave you a parting gift. Haruka, Yukino, let's show these children what true warriors can do."

Haruka pulled out two kunai, holding one in each hand as she smiled and said "Lead on Absalom, I'm right behind you."

Yukino trembled a little as she pulled out a kunai of her own. She didn't like it when Haruka got bloodthirsty like that, nor did she like fighting. Then she hardened her heart and stared at her opponents. She didn't like fighting much, but she would do what she had to do, to protect herself and more importantly, protect Haruka.

The various ninja before them tensed up as Absalom raised one hand, facing his palm towards them. Then before they could do anything else, he yelled "DEAD MAN'S HAND!" and the trees were engulfed in fire.

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Naruto's cave, formerly part of the Hokage Mountains

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Naruto was talking to Hogback in the doctor's lab. Naruto, who had gotten up about half an hour before, was discussing the results of some tests that the aged doctor had performed on Anko regarding the Curse Seal.

"So Hogback, you're saying that the reason behind the transformation, the power boost, and everything is completely separate from the elements that give Orochimaru control over the subject."

Hogback nodded, excited a bit by some of the implications. "Yes Naruto-sama. The transformation of the body and discoloration of the skin is caused by a separate agent than the controlling element. Judging by some of the mixtures in the blood, it is probably some kind of enzyme. What the enzyme is comprised of and where Orochimaru obtains it from however, I do not know."

Naruto nodded and asked "So what gives Orochimaru the control over the person?"

Hogback flipped a page in the report he was holding and said "I'm not quite sure. Whatever it is, it probably isn't anything medical, more than likely something caused by Ninjutsu than anything else. Whatever it is, it is probably safe to remove it from the host body, there aren't likely to be any reprisals."

Naruto nodded, and asked "So what about the enzyme? Is it possible to remove that?"

Hogback looked at the young man and said "I don't think so. Whatever is in the enzyme that creates the seal bonds with the person on a minute scale. It is theoretically possible to find a way to remove it all, and therefore remove the seal but that wouldn't be a good idea. The enzyme bonds with several important systems in the body, including but not excluded to the digestive system, the nervous system, the circulatory system and the skeletal system. Removing the enzyme would cause these systems to weaken severely, more likely than not the shock would kill the subject outright. Even if it didn't kill them, it would probably leave them crippled. I'm sorry Naruto-sama, but removing the seal is far too dangerous to be plausible, even if we found a way to do it."

Naruto nodded and stayed silent, thinking for a moment before saying "Well, if we can't remove Anko's Curse Seal, then we can still remove the element that allows Orochimaru to harm or control the person right?"

The doctor nodded "Yes, Naruto-sama, that should be possible, though it would take me some time to find out what that element is, if I am able to find it at all."

Naruto nodded and said "Do so, as quickly as possible. I don't intend for Orochimaru to have any control over someone close to me, especially not someone as strong as Anko."

Hogback looked at him a bit shocked "You think that she could defeat you?"

Naruto chuckled a bit and said "Hogback, of course not, I know that she couldn't beat me, but she could cause a lot of damage before she goes down if it came to that. Anyway, try and find out what it is about the Curse Seal that allows Orochimaru to control them, after that we'll work together on a way to remove that element."

Hogback nodded before turning to some nearby equipment to get back to work, calling for his assistant Kagerou to get some tissue sample for him.

Naruto left the lab and left the doctor to his work.

He walked into the dining room and found that most everybody was still missing. Hogback was at work obviously, Haruka, Yukino, and Absalom were still out on that scouting mission and to be honest he was starting to get worried. He might have to send someone else out to find those three.

The only ones that were there were Perona, Haku, and Anko. Temari was probably in her room. She had been staying there a lot, though everyone still saw her. Naruto put it down to the shock of her father and brother betraying her, and leaving her village. It just took a little while to sink in, the severity of the changes that happened in one day. He was planning to talk to her soon and get her to snap out of it. But first, he had breakfast to eat, well it was closer to noon so brunch, but whatever, it was the thought behind it damn it.

Naruto sat down at the head of the table as usual. Whenever Haku and Perona were in the same room there was bound to be tension, and it was here in spades. He was pretty sure that there was more than one catfight when nobody was around to stop them. It would explain why Perona's bedroom was covered in ice that one time and why Haku had to have a gash in her arm stitched up.

Still, Anko was a bit happier than normal. He and Hogback had taken tissue and blood samples from her to form some tests on the Curse Seal's affect on the body and she was told that she would be getting some results today. She was very happy at the thought of removing the seal once and for all.

"So" she chirped, obviously in a good mood "How did those tests turn out Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked at the woman as he poured himself some tea and said "Good news and bad news Anko-chan."

Anko was taken aback a bit and asked "So what's the bad news?"

Naruto frowned a bit before saying "The Curse Seal itself cannot be removed. There might be a way, but it would probably end up killing you even if we did it right."

Anko frowned a bit at that, she was rather sad and angry at the thought that the snake still had some kind of power over her even after all this time. Then she asked, more sullen then before "So what's the good news?"

Naruto smiled as he added sugar to the cup of liquid and said "The good news is that there is a way to remove Orochimaru's control of you through the seal. We just have to find out the exact method. It might take some time, but you'll probably be free of Orochimaru before long."

Anko was stunned, she might still have the mark, but she would be free of Orochimaru? That was the best she could have hoped for after hearing that first bit of news. And it put a complete one eighty on her mood.

She jumped across the table and clamped her arms around his neck shouting "Thankyouthankyouthankyou Naruto-kun!" Then she kissed him right on the lips before letting go suddenly and blushing a bit at her own actions.

"I um-I uh, Ihavesomewheretobebye." Then she vanished into the nearby hallway.

Naruto looked at the open door before saying "Well, apparently she's having a good morning. Never expected Anko to be so friendly, huh what do you know?"

The two girls were just glaring at the open door, thinking something along the lines of 'How dare that harlot kiss MY Naruto-kun!'

Naruto got up from the chair and said "Right, well I am going to check on those three that I sent out yesterday. They should have been back by now and I'm starting to worry. See you later Perona-chan, Haku-chan."

Then he kissed each of them on the cheek before leaving the room, snagging a bagel on the way out, leaving the two women on their own.

Perona just sighed before turning her attention to the ice user before her. Haku just glared right back at her competition.

Perona just said "Why don't you just give up already!? Naruto-kun is mine and always will be!"

Haku smiled a bit as she said "We'll see about that. He had to feel at least something for him to save me from death that day, and he'll eventually realize that I'm better for him than you."

Perona frowned a little before saying, quietly, seriously "Just why do you care for him so much anyway?"

Haku frowned a bit at that, Perona was never asked important questions like that. She thought for a minute and said "I'm not really sure. I just feel this deep urge to be near him, to make him happy. Maybe it's a feeling of debt, that I want to help him because he saved me or something like that. Maybe it's because he gave me a reason to live after Zabuza died. I don't know." Then she paused for a second before continuing "I don't know why I feel the way I do but I know this much, I care for Naruto-kun deeply, and I won't let you stand in my way. I don't care if it takes me centuries to win him, but I will never give up."

Perona was quiet for a minute before saying "Do you really, really care for him so much, are you really that determined, or are you just saying that?"

Haku said, very seriously "I mean that, every last word."

Perona was silent for a moment, weighing her option. She was afraid that she would have to do this, but this would probably be the best decision in the long term. "Fine then, if you really care for him that much, then I have a solution to both of our problems."

Haku was a bit curious, she had never seen Perona like this before "What do you mean by that? The only solution here is for one of us to give up on him. I know that I'll never do that, and I know that, as much as I hate to say it, you feel the same way about him. There's nothing for it except to attempt to outdo each other in an attempt to make him like one of us and forget the other. The only solution you could possibly have is to just give up on him. At least, that's the only solution that I can see."

Perona sighed again before saying "Dear, sad Haku-chan, so selfish. You're thinking only of yourself, not caring at all about Naruto-kun's feelings for either of us. It's been growing more and more obvious over the last few months that he's been growing fond of you, enough so that you're encouraged to take my place at his side. However, it is clear, to me at least, that he cares for us equally, more or less."

Haku wasn't quite sure what to make of this. She asked "Just what are you getting at Perona?"

Perona sighed in irritation before looking the ice girl in the eye and saying "He cares for us equally, so if one of us eventually wins him and nabs him for themselves, he'll be sad because the one who didn't get him will be sad, and if you feel the same way that I do, then that will make you sad by extension because you don't want to see him unhappy. That's how I feel at least."

Haku sighed before saying "Once again, what are you getting at?"

Perona said "The only way for everyone to be happy is if he's happy, and the only way that it will happen is if I am happy and you are happy in whatever relationship occurs. However, we both want the same person, him, so even if one of us gets him, the other will be unhappy and drag the other two with her. Therefore neither of us can have him to ourselves for everyone to be happy and content. Are you starting to get what I am suggesting here?"

Haku thought about it for a second before her face lit up at the implication. "A-a-are you suggesting that we…that we _share_ him?"

Perona nodded slowly.

Haku's embarrassment went into overdrive "But wouldn't that mean that we would all be in bed…together…naked." Her face flushed even more at the thought of the three of them doing…things.

Perona smiled and said "What? Is little Haku-chan afraid that I would outdo her in the bedroom? You don't have to worry about that, it will happen whether you worry or not, but I don't think that he'll like you any less for it."

Haku tried to find a way out of the embarrassing compromise and still salvage a bit of pride "B-but why would you even suggest such a thing?"

Perona looked at the girl in irritation "Didn't I just spell it out? If either of us hogs him, nobody wins, but if we share him, everyone wins. It's the best solution." Then Perona's face got a little red as she stuttered over this next bit "P-plus I've… well I've always wondered what it will be like with…with another…girl you know? Doesn't everyone think like that at least once?"

Haku looked at the blushing Perona and said "Aww, does little Perona-chan think that I will be too much for her? Or do you think that I'll shoot down your little three-way fantasy?" She paused to take in one of the rare moments that Perona blushed before saying "Well, I do have a little secret to tell about that sort of thing."

Perona was a bit curious at that "What do you mean?"

Haku blushed a bit more before saying "Well, when I was pretending to be a boy, and I said I liked girls, I wasn't really lying. It might have been an acquired taste to complete my disguise but I found myself liking girls as much as boys one day, so the thought of sharing him isn't repulsive, just a little…weird." Then she thought 'Not to mention hot as hell, what Perona-chan's chest looks like out of that shirt…NO! Must not have a nosebleed!'

Looking on as Haku reigned in her inner pervert she said "So we have a deal? We share him and stop all this fighting?" Then held out her hand.

Haku managed to suppress a bloody nose and said "Yeah, we have a deal." Then shook the hand of the Ghost Princess.

Far away, a pig took flight and hell froze over, the impossible just happened.

Naruto just finished his bagel as he listened to the conversation from behind the door. He didn't look it, but he was happy. Who wouldn't be happy after hearing that two hot girls decided to share him? He just thought 'Top that you old perv' before walking off.

Inside the room Perona said "Now, we have to deal with another problem."

Haku looked at her new…girlfriend, she almost blushed at the thought and said "Anko and Temari right?"

Perona nodded and said "Exactly, I don't want to share Naruto-kun more than I have to, so I think we should put any hopes they might have to bed right now. Nip it in the bud."

Haku nodded and said "For once you're talking sense. But before then, let's just eat."

Perona nodded and ate one of the eggs "Wow, you're really a good cook Haku-chan."

Haku prevented herself from blushing at the comment and said "Hey, Rei-chan helped you know."

And it went on for the rest of the day like that. But Naruto sent out four soldier zombies led by Gomorrah in search of the missing trio of ninja. They rushed out towards where the three should be, in search of their allies, and any possible foes.

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FILLER, CLIFFHANGERS, AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! NO ACTION HERE HAH!

Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, if you did then review and tell me so. Haku and Perona finally make amends and are in agreement for once, that Anko and Temari must never get close to Naruto, and what shall become of Absalom, Haruka, and Yukino? Where the fuck are Orochimaru and Tsunade? Find out, WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	26. Chapter 26

If you didn't know, or couldn't count, this is Kage no Naruto chapter twenty six

If you didn't know, or couldn't count, this is Kage no Naruto chapter twenty six. Hurrah, I updated! Now your questions shall finally be answered, who will win the latest fight, who will die, will Sakura ever stop being a bitch, will Sasuke renounce his arrogance, will the chapter be long or short, and will I leave you with another cliffhanger? All of these shall be answered, maybe.

Note: Bad news guys, school has started up again so updates might, MIGHT, slow down a bit until, uh, June. So don't start thinking that I'm dead or something if I don't update quite as often as I used to. Sorry, but there's nothing I can do.

Disclaimer: If you think I'm the owner of Naruto you're crazy. Do you think that I would have made Naruto and Sasuke kiss in the first few chapters like Kishimoto did? Do you really think that I am capable of that?

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Summary of last chapter

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Long story, well chapter but still, short, Haruka, Absalom, and Yukino, got confronted by Jiraiya and his entourage of Gennin while they were looking for Tsunade, and they found out that the three of them work for Naruto.

Naruto, realizing that the three of them should have probably been back by now sent the General zombie Gomorrah and four soldiers to find them. Anko is overjoyed that Naruto could remove Orochimaru's control over her through the Curse Seal, and Perona and Haku agreed to share Naruto on the basis that it would make everyone involved happy, and they were both curious as to what it would be like with another girl. Also, they are now working together to prevent Temari and Anko from getting too close to Naruto, god are they jealous.

Anyway, as for what will happen next, read on and review at the end. If you do not I will leave you with even MORE CLIFFHANGERS! Enjoy.

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Random clearing with Jiraiya, Absalom, and the rest

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Absalom extended his right arm, palm facing the grouped together ninja and shouted "Dead Man's Hand!" before an explosion ripped through the trees, forcing the ninja to scatter into three groups to avoid the attack.

The first group, which dodged backward, consisted of Jiraiya, Neji, and Kiba. The second group, which dodged to the right, consisted of Gai, Lee, and Shino. The third group, which dodged to the left, consisted of Kurenai and Hinata. The three glanced at each other, and came to an unspoken agreement on who would face who. Yukino went left, Haruka went right, and Absalom raced forward to face the wounded Jiraiya.

Haruka dashed through the foliage, eventually facing the three ninja before her, the two in spandex and the Aburame. She was concentrating on the fight, but she was more worried as to how the group managed to get the drop on them. She could understand Yukino and Absalom not finding them, Absalom is a fighter not a tracker, and Yukino was devoting her attention to surveying other areas, she wasn't paying attention to what was happening nearby, but she was on her guard, and pretty good when it came to sensing chakra signatures.

Then she felt around a bit and found an oddity. The chakra signatures of her three opponents were farther away from her then they were physically, by a long way. Then Haruka got it, it must have been some kind of Genjutsu. Not cast at a target but used as a defense by casting it around a person or group in order to make it seem as something different. In this case it manipulated the concept of distance, making it seem that their chakra signatures were coming from somewhere else so that they couldn't be easily located. She went through two handseals and muttered 'Kai'. Surely enough, the chakra signatures of her three opponents vanished, only to reappear around the trio of Konoha ninja.

She drew a kunai and frowned a bit, that Genjutsu, while easy to break once you knew what was going on, was still a powerful piece of work, very complex and difficult to pull off. There must have been a Genjutsu specialist among the enemies, though she wasn't sure who it was. It was guaranteed to be one of the two Jounin, since Jiraiya wasn't much for Genjutsu, so that gave her a fifty percent chance at having to fight a powerful Genjutsu specialist. Then she examined her enemies again, all three in varying Taijutsu stances, waiting for her to make the first move. The Jounin here didn't seem the Genjutsu type. Then she smiled widely, unnerving the two Gennin and making the Jounin worry a bit. Haruka thought to herself 'If that red eyed woman was a Genjutsu user, she's a goner with Yukino as her opponent, those two don't have a chance. It will be fun to watch though, but it won't last long so I'll have to end this quick.'

Then she vanished in a flash of speed, appearing beside the spandex clad Gennin, who was surprised at her speed as she attempted to bury a kunai into the boy's neck, only for it to be prevented by the Jounin grabbing her arm, moving to protect his student at the last moment.

Gai tried to end the fight quickly with a powerful punch to the jaw but the figure in his hands only dissolved into mud when the blow struck. It was a Tsuchi Bunshin. Haruka smiled in the nearby trees, this battle could get interesting.

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With Yukino

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Yukino was facing against the two Kunoichi, Kurenai and the young Hyuuga heiress. She had already dispelled the Genjutsu that made it difficult to pinpoint their chakra signatures. It was pretty good, she had to admit, but it was still far inferior to some of the ones that she had come up with in the past.

She wanted to get this done quickly, the sooner she finished these two off, the sooner she could go and give Haruka her assistance should she need it. She could tell that the woman was a Genjutsu specialist of some talent, but still no threat to her in the terms of illusions. The girl on the other hand had the Byakugan which could help her pierce most Genjutsu. Casting illusions would be a lot harder with her around, plus she was the weaker of the two, so she targeted Hinata first.

Yukino didn't like fighting, but she would do what she had to, she took two kunai in hand and threw them straight at the Gennin at a fast speed. Hinata, though young and inexperienced, still had good reflexes, and managed to dodge the two knives and jumped off the branch and onto the branch of another tree.

Kurenai attempted a Genjutsu and soon a tree could be seen growing behind Yukino, ensnaring her in its branches. For Yukino, this illusion was of a far inferior level and easily dispelled it, not even glancing at the illusion or its caster, nor did she need to use handseals to do it. Kurenai was then made aware that her opponent had some master over Genjutsu, to what extent, she didn't know.

Yukino couldn't rely on Genjutsu against a Hyuuga, at least not fast ones, and close combat was out of the question, a single strike from the Jyuuken would screw up her chakra coils enough to make it almost impossible to use the fine control that Genjutsu required. So she had to attack with Ninjutsu to neutralize the threat.

Hinata grew in confidence after Naruto's defection, growing strong with the intention of tracking the boy down and bringing him home. She knew that this woman before her now knew where Naruto was. She was determined not to lose, no matter what. She jumped from branch to branch, moving closer and closer to her opponent as Yukino did several handseals. Kurenai watched carefully, hoping to find a moment when the opponent was off-guard and take advantage of that opening.

Hinata jumped and she would have landed on the branch in front of Yukino, close enough to attack with several Jyuuken strikes and end the battle, but she didn't land on the branch. Yukino completed her handseals and shouted "Raiton: Denkoubou!"** (1)**

Yukino spread her hands in front of her and lightning gathered in her palms. She quickly grabbed several kunai and tossed them in a circular pattern in the air, having Hinata in the center. Lightning arced between the knives, catching the Hyuuga girl in their sizzling grasp, burning skin and muscle.

Kurenai looked in shock as the kunai continued their flight, burying themselves in the wood, dragging the Hyuuga heiress with them. Hinata hung from the net of electricity, the lightning scorching her now unconscious frame as she was held there.

Yukino turned to Kurenai and said "That's the hard bit done."

Kurenai, angered by the defeat and injury to her student, said "Hard bit? I'm a Jounin! Don't think that you'll defeat me easily!"

Yukino smiled sadly as she said "I'm sorry that it has come to this, but you wouldn't let us leave. She can still be saved, if you leave now. You would be easier to beat than she was. I don't like fighting so I'm giving you a way out. What will it be? You can simply say that I escaped and we can call it a draw."

Kurenai frowned and threw a kunai near one of the ones that kept the lightning net in existence. The exploding tag wrapped around the knife exploded, dislodging two of the kunai from the wood and breaking the net, allowing the unconscious heiress to drop to a lower branch.

Kurenai faced the enemy and hoped that Hinata would be alright if something happened to her. Yukino frowned, looking genuinely saddened by the turn of events as she said "I see, so that is your choice, to fight even though you don't have to. I am sorry."

Then she went through handseals faster than Kurenai could see, though she could make out a few of them, but before she could even think of a counter, the world went black for the Jounin.

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With Absalom

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Absalom was facing three heavy combat specialists, well one, but the other two had the potential. Jiraiya, albeit wounded, was still not one to be trifled with. The other two, the Hyuuga prodigy Neji, and the oldest male of the Inuzuka clan, Kiba who was second in line to being clan head since he had an older sister.

As far as the ancient amalgam of man and beast was concerned, the Inuzuka wasn't even worth bothering with, he would be taken out quickly. The Hyuuga would prove little challenge, the main threat was Jiraiya.

The other three meanwhile were concentrating on their single opponent. Kiba was getting ready to rush him with Akamaru, while Neji and Jiraiya were trying to figure out what the…thing, for lack of a better term, before them had done to cause the explosion that separated the group. Neji had seen nothing with his Byakugan, no chakra movement, no special devices, nothing.

Jiraiya was at a loss as he had no doubt that it was Ninjutsu, but he had no idea how it was done. He knew that although some weird things could be done with Taijutsu, he knew that nobody could cause explosions like that, at least not at range. And there was no doubt in his mind that those flames were real, so Genjutsu was out as well. It had to be Ninjutsu of some kind but he had no idea how such a technique would work, or what its capabilities and limitations would be. If he knew any limitations then he could use them to his advantage but it looked as though he would have to collect information during the fight. Then he put a hand to his hurting scar, hoping that his injuries wouldn't slow him down during the hopefully short fight. He was in no shape for a long drawn out battle.

He was about to get the attention of the two Gennin, hoping to get some kind of plan together while the opponent was waiting for them to make the first move, but was interrupted as the figure spoke. He had a deep, gravelly, growling voice that sounded as though a dog had tried to speak, but they understood what he was saying. "So, are you three going to attack me? I could understand Jiraiya holding back due to his age and injuries, but the legendary Hyuuga, afraid? I never saw that coming. Of course, I can understand that Inuzuka mutt standing down, it only makes sense for a weak dog to run away with its tail between its legs."

Jiraiya and Neji were wise and cool headed enough to shake off the taunts, not wanting to walk into anything the enemy might have ready. Kiba, on the other hand, was neither wise nor cool headed, he was quite the opposite actually. He did what no ninja should and let the enemy get under his skin. He yelled "You think that the Inuzuka clan is weak!? I'll show you!" Then he made a seal and yelled "Juujin Bunshin!" A puff of smoke later and the puppy Akamaru became another Kiba, albeit mute. Most would consider it an improvement.

Then Kiba yelled "Gatsuuga!" And the two Kibas became twin whirlwinds of claws and fangs headed toward the strange man, not heeding the calls of Neji and Jiraiya to stop, and not seeing the grin on Absalom's face.

Neji and Jiraiya watched, hoping that Kiba's attack would give them an opening. They watched as the twin whirlwinds neared the person before them. Absalom grinned, revealing sharp fangs, before reaching out and backhanding the two tornadoes, sending each of the two flying through the air. Akamaru reverted to canine form before smashing into a tree, creating a deep hole in the bark before falling to the ground below. Kiba did the same.

Absalom let out a growling chuckle, it was just as he predicted, those two would go down easily. 'Now for the greater threats' he thought as he faced the Hyuuga and the Sannin, who were looking a bit worried.

Neji wasn't sure what to make of this but he was sure that the fight would be a tough one, Jiraiya was a bit worried though. He knew that mechanics behind the Gatsuuga, and it was a powerful technique using a lot of physical force, not to mention puncture wounds and lacerations from the claws of the Inuzuka user. All of that forward momentum combined with a powerful spin makes taking it head on VERY unwise. Even one of the Sannin like Jiraiya would dodge that move, even from a Gennin. If it was from a Chuunin or higher, dodging would become mandatory since a Gatsuuga of that level would be hard to survive, much less deflect. The technique was one of the most powerful in an Inuzuka's arsenal of family techniques, second only to the combined transformation, it was pretty much dodge, or feel a lot of pain, deflecting was unadvisable and extremely difficult, and this person, whoever it was, made it seem easy. This guy was physically strong in addition to having strange techniques, he was going to be quite a handful.

Absalom spent a moment to look at their faces before saying "I have heard that the eyes of a Hyuuga can see anything. Let's see if that is true, shall we?"

Neji and Jiraiya's eyes almost popped out of their skulls when the man vanished into thin air, simply fading out of existence before there was no indication of his presence. Jiraiya quickly said "Neji, the Byakugan!"

Neji just muttered "Already on it." As he activated the Kekkei Genkai of the Hyuuga clan. He saw in every direction for fifty meters, through the trees, through the foliage, there was no way to hide. He saw Jiraiya easily enough, but there was no sign of the man that harmed Kiba. Neji sighed after a moment more of searching and said "There's no sign of him Jiraiya-sama. He must have fled."

No sooner did Neji say that before he heard the man's voice from right beside him. Jiraiya and Neji looked over immediately as the voice said "So the Hyuuga eyes can't see everything, I had a feeling but now you pay for your eyes' flaws. KAIJIN NO TE!"

Then before either of them could do anything something impacted into Neji's jaw and sent him flying, smashing into a tree before stopping and then dropping to the ground below.

Jiraiya looked around as he heard the thing chuckle, the voice seeming to come from all around him at once. Jiraiya got into a defensive stance, crushing his urge to see if the two Gennin were okay. Apparently he was right about the guy being physically strong, he was strong and insanely so. But more importantly, how was he supposed to defeat an enemy which he can't even see?

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With Gomorrah, and the four soldiers

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The four soldiers were following Gomorrah, the physically largest of the Generals, searching for the trio that Naruto had sent out earlier. They had managed to find the chakra signatures of the three after a little searching, and they were heading there now. They could feel other chakra signatures as well, they were fighting enemies, that much was for certain, the only question was who the enemies were.

Gomorrah shouted to the four soldiers to pick up the pace, as he increased his speed. The four soldiers hurried to match the pace of the far superior General, who was swiftly moving from tree to tree in an effortless display of speed. Whoever they were going up against would soon be facing them as well. They were only about ten minutes away if they kept this speed.

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With Haruka

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Haruka was, as we all know, facing off against Gai, Lee, and Shino.

Shino sent his bugs out to find the target, while Gai and Lee split up and reached higher ground as they looked. Lee kept an extra careful watch, Gai wouldn't be able to save him next time.

Haruka watched the three carefully, sizing up which one would be the best target. She pulled a string that released a trap which flung a single kunai at the Aburame from behind. Shino looked backward just in time for the knife to go into his forehead. But the Shino clone soon dissolved into a mass of insects. Haruka smirked, she knew that that one was a Bunshin, and the real one was hiding. Lee and Gai each threw several kunai at the spot where the trap was set, just in case she was actually there, but they were disappointed.

Haruka put her chakra sensing abilities to work, locating the chakra signatures of those around her. She found the signatures of her three opponents in seconds. Gai and Lee were obvious, but there was a clone of Shino coming towards her, the real one was almost directly across from her, hiding in some leafy branches, most likely hoping that she would fall for the clone.

She smiled as she dashed out from her hiding place and moved as fast as she could toward the Aburame. Shino was surprised, he intended for her to stay in hiding until the last moment but she left before the clone could attack. Then he watched as the enemy charged Lee, jumping from tree to tree to gain altitude, only for her attack to be stopped by Lee and the woman finished off by a Konoha Dai Senpuu from Gai.

Shino relaxed a little until the woman dissolved into mud…another Tsuchi Bunshin. 'But where's the real one?' thought Shino, until he felt a kunai at his throat and his question was answered. He heard a faint chuckle before a blaring pain erupted in the back of his head as the world went black.

Haruka stepped away from the knocked out Shino, surveying the two before her. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to take on that Jounin, and there were a few more things to that Gennin than met the eye. In such circumstances, it was best to avoid fighting at all. Haruka spent a moment and came up with a plan as she felt the chakra signatures of two enemies fade a bit, probably knocked out. One was done by Yukino and the other by Absalom, judging by the direction of the signatures.

Then Haruka got her head into the fight and made several handseals, creating two Tsuchi Bunshin from the mud on the ground, which then scaled the trees. One of the two threw several exploding kunai at both of the Taijutsu specialists, destroying the branches under them and forcing them to drop to lower perches out of the sight of the other. One clone attacked each ninja.

Lee fought using his normal style but he wasn't able to get many hits in, the clone however scored several blows on the young, if strange, boy. Gai had it easier, he was far better at Taijutsu then Haruka was. Eventually the two defeated the clones, only for them to revert to mud. They found the unconscious Shino with a nasty bump on his head soon later, but there was no sign of the ninja that attacked them.

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With Yukino

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Yukino left the two Kunoichi as they were and headed toward Haruka. Before long she found her, but a bit sooner then she thought. "Haruka!" She chirped. "You won?"

Haruka looked back and said "No, I ran. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to win that fight, there was something strange about those two that I didn't like. Anyway, you took care of your opponents?"

Yukino nodded and said "It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Anyway, where's Pervsalom?"

Haruka grinned before saying "Still fighting, let's go help him out. Those two that I had will be trying to help their friend at the moment so we can get out of here safely once we incapacitate Jiraiya."

Yukino nodded and they ran toward the last signature, well aware that it was Jiraiya and the flawlessly masked signature was that of Absalom.

Within a minute or so they found the Sannin looking a bit beaten up and somewhat burnt. There were also several trees missing a few yards off the top and numerous debris on the ground. Jiraiya had his eyes closed, focusing on his hearing. Then he opened his eyes and dodged in time to avoid an invisible punch from Absalom, a deep hole forming in the wood, threatening the stability of the branch. Then a plume of dust shot off into the trees, Absalom had retreated in preparation for his next charge.

Jiraiya was in a bad spot. He knew that in a close range Taijutsu fight he would lose. He couldn't use Ninjutsu if he didn't know where his opponent was, summoning was unwise since it would just give his opponent a gigantic target, plus he wasn't entirely sure that he could summon a large enough toad in his condition. The Sennin Moodo was out of the question at the moment. The strain of forming Sage chakra was immense, and there was a very real chance of him either losing control and taking in too much natural energy, which would pretty much kill him, or that the strain of using Senjutsu would kill him in his weakened condition. He would have to wait for an opening to fry him with Ninjutsu and hope that his wounds didn't open up again before he got one.

Haruka got tired of this after a moment and said "Yukino, can you just knock him out?"

Yukino hurriedly looked away, she was staring at Haruka beforehand, and stuttered "U-um, yes, sure no problem." Then she went through several handseals, holding the last one as she said "Nehan Shouja no jutsu"

Jiraiya looked around and realized that there were feathers falling from the sky! He looked around and saw two women, the blonde haired girl and the brown haired girl from before. The brown haired girl was holding the tiger seal. Jiraiya realized that their presence here meant that Gai, Kurenai and the others must have been defeated but first he had to get out of this illusion, he was already feeling sleepy.

He formed a tiger seal and said "Kai!" but the illusion didn't disperse, the feathers didn't vanish, and the sleepy feeling got worse. He tired several more times, but eventually Jiraiya fell victim to sleep, dropping to the branch below him.

Haruka smirked as she saw the Sannin fall. She turned around and said "Good job Yukino. Hah, you took down one of the Sannin on your own, congratulations."

Yukino smiled and released the seal before saying "It wasn't too hard Haruka-chan. It's very hard to break out of one of my illusions especially when I use 'her' chakra. Though I hate the side effect." She reached down and brushed away the plants that clung to her frame. Rokubi was the Bijuu most in tune with nature, she controlled the forests and plants, turning them against her enemies.

Whenever Yukino used the Rokubi's chakra, any nearby plants would grow and ensnare her, trying to be closer to Rokubi. It wasn't deadly or dangerous of anything, but it was annoying. She really wished that she could control them like the Rokubi or the Shodaime did, and after practice, she found that she could manipulate plants and use Mokuton jutsu, but it required the usage of a lot of Rokubi's chakra, so much that two tails formed around her in a green aura, and she had a lot of trouble controlling herself when she used that much of the Bijuu's power. That and she suspected that the demon's energy was changing her little by little. Every time she used enough energy to form a tail, a little more of her skin turned pale green, like a fresh sapling. She kept it hidden but she was afraid that she might turn into something not human eventually.

Taking their minds off of demonic matters for now, they turned their attention to Absalom who appeared on a nearby branch, growling in anger.

"Yukino!" He barked. "Why did you deprive me of my opponent!? I would have killed him if you didn't interfere!"

Yukino cringed but Haruka stepped in "Back off you perverted beast! Don't you remember Naruto-san's orders not to kill Jiraiya if you encountered him? He said to leave the hermit alone, if you killed him Naruto-san would have your head on a plaque and Rei-chan would be serving up a nice mixed meat! You should be thanking Yukino-chan on bended knee!"

Absalom was a bit shocked "H-he ordered us not to kill Jiraiya? When did that happen? I wasn't told!"

Haruka scoffed and said "You were probably too deep into your porn to care for anything else. Anyway, let's get out of here before anyone wakes up, we have to get the information on Tsunade and Orochimaru back to Naruto-san."

Absalom nodded and said "Right." Before leading off toward Kusa no Kuni.

As they ran Yukino said "Umm, thanks for defending me Haruka-chan."

Haruka looked back at her shy friend and said "Anytime Yukino-chan, anytime, you don't even need to thank me." Then she winked at her which made Yukino blush, still unable to tell Haruka how she felt even after all this time.

Along the way, they encountered Gomorrah and the four soldier zombies who were sent to find them and bring them back. Seeing that everyone they were planning on saving were already okay and that they were sent out for nothing kind of pissed the five off a bit, but they headed back to the regular base, albeit with some irritation in the air.

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With Gai and everyone else

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Gai and Lee managed to get everyone together again, in varying conditions. Hinata's injuries were superficial, Kurenai and Jiraiya were in a Genjutsu induced unconsciousness, Shino, Kiba, and Neji were bludgeoned into unconsciousness. They just tended to everyone's injuries as best they could and waited for them to wake up while they stood guard.

Lee and Gai were both thinking of those three people, those two Iwa Nukenin, and the creature with them. 'Just what kind of allies has Naruto-kun gathered in so short a time?' Thought Lee. And these thoughts and musings haunted him deep into the night.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was waiting for his search party to return with the Absalom, Haruka, and Yukino. Those three were important to his overall plans, especially Yukino and her Bijuu.

He knew that Perona and Haku were off devising something or other regarding him…or breaking eachother in, who knows, and Anko was sleeping rather soundly since he told her how he was going to kill Orochimaru.

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Flashback no jutsu

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Anko came up to Naruto and said "Naruto-kun, this is just something that's been bothering me. Why haven't you killed Orochimaru? I'm pretty sure that you would be able to, so why?"

Naruto looked up from the book he was reading at the moment and said "It's rather simple Anko-chan, why kill someone when someone else will do it for me?"

Anko was a bit puzzled and said "What, you have an assassin going after Orochimaru? Are you sure he's good enough?"

Naruto chuckled a bit and said "Not so much an assassin as a Trojan Horse, wait maybe that's not the right term, I'm not sure but it's something like that."

Anko was getting a little irritated now and said "So who is it? Who's going to kill him?"

Naruto turned the page and said "Uchiha Sasuke himself."

Anko was blown away "How the hell is that little bitch going to kill Orochimaru? He couldn't kill a Gennin without someone holding his hand and telling him how strong he supposedly is!"

Naruto smiled and said "He won't be doing it knowingly, or on his own. He'll have a whole lot of help from me."

Now Anko was confused "What do you mean 'help'?"

Naruto turned the page and said "You remember that seal I put on Sasuke's neck?"

Anko started to understand now "You mean the one that will kill him under certain circumstances? Yeah why?"

Naruto smiled widely as he said "Well, one of those circumstances will take effect if Orochimaru possesses him as he intends to. Orochimaru possesses Sasuke, the seal activates and kills them both. I don't have to lift a finger on that account. The moment Orochimaru tries to take what he wants, he'll die. It's as simple as that."

Anko was impressed but there were a few holes in that plan "What if Orochimaru looks at the seal and finds out about that little condition? He wouldn't possess Sasuke then."

Naruto resisted the urge to laugh and said "You're assuming that Orochimaru can find out about that little piece of information that I've just given you. Orochimaru is no seal master like Jiraiya. Given enough time Jiraiya could figure out everything about that seal, Orochimaru couldn't see the difference between a Gogyou Fuuin, and a Gogyou Kaen, he's a novice and won't even see it coming."

Anko opened her mouth to say something else but he cut her off "And he can't screw with the seal either because it will kill the Uchiha. The moment he tries to obtain the Sharingan, he'll die."

Anko fought the urge to squeal like a fangirl she was so happy with this information. She glomped him then and there and said "That's incredible! Orochimaru will die the moment he takes what he wants, assuming that everything will go according to plan AND we get rid of that little Uchiha prick too! I couldn't be happier."

Then she smiled a little and said "Well, there is ONE thing that could make me happier." Then she went and whispered something into his ear, not blushing since she was so used to this sort of thing by now.

Naruto looked at the grinning Anko and said "We could do that. Or we could…." Then he leaned forward and whispered into her ear, and when he was finished, she was blushing like a tomato.

She got off his lap and shouted "HENTAI!" as she attempted to slap him, only for the shadows to block the attack of feminine fury.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh and say "That's what I love most about the shadow shield, I can say whatever perverted things I want and no woman can hurt me!"

Anko pouted, which looked insanely cute on her, in Naruto's opinion and said "Fine then, since you're no fun, I'll find something else to do then."

Then she left the room, leaving Naruto to his book, the silence, and the thoughts of Anko's tight ass. 'I swear you can bounce a quarter off it.' He thought as he returned to his book. 'Come on Tenchi! Grow some balls and fuck Ayeka already!' **(2)**

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Flashback no jutsu KAI!

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Naruto was shaken from his thoughts as the group he sent out returned through the rock wall. Yukino and the others had returned and now he could get the information he needed to confront Tsunade and beat the Konoha ninja to her, and get something he needed out of Orochimaru.

Everything was going according to plan.

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(1) Lighting element: Lightning net

(2) Tenchi Muyo reference for the win!

Right and that is the chapter. What did you guys think? The fighting, the perversion, the light fluff and foreplay, the plan to kill Orochimaru, tell me damn you! REVIEW!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	27. Chapter 27

Greetings my hoards of readers

Greetings my hoards of readers! I bring you updates! Yes, Kage no Naruto chapter twenty seven is finally here, REJOICE! Now read the chapter and hopefully review, reviews are like crack for authors you know.

Author's note: Okay guys, I am just going to make something clear. A lot of people have said stuff over the course of this story along the lines of 'Well, that wasn't explained in much detail' or 'Why did this person do that, it didn't make sense considering his personality' or other stuff like that. Just remember, in my stories, nothing is fully explained at first. Certain things, such as techniques, plans or strategies and the like aren't fully explored at their introduction, and should someone do something OOC, or not take advantage of an opportunity then there is usually a reason for it that hasn't been explained yet. Stuff behind the scenes that you guys don't know about to give you guys a bit more suspense and surprise down the line, you know? Anyway, just trust me, there is a method to my madness, when something odd happens, there's usually a reason for it, when something isn't fully explained or explored it eventually will be.

So basically what I'm saying is: Don't think that just because something doesn't immediately make sense, or something seems odd or out of character that it is an error or something on my part that I missed, there are going to be things revealed later that, when they are, make things make sense when they didn't before. I don't put all the cards on the table from the get-go, there are things that specifically aren't explained at first to give you guys something to look forward to. Anyway, that's what I wanted to say.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, in the latest Naruto manga, chapter 413 in case you were wondering, anyway in the latest chapter the Hachibi Jinchuuriki finally unleashes the power of the Hachibi. Here's a question, why haven't they given the guy a name yet? I mean Yugito, god rest her soul and fine ass, only appeared in like what three or four chapters? But we still got a name, this guy has gotten a much bigger part but we only have 'Hachibi Jinchuuriki', I hope that they at least give the guy a name or something because 'Hachibi Jinchuuriki' is a bit long to be comfortable typing every few seconds on one of these rants.

Okay, the rundown of the chapter is something like this, the Hachibi Jinchuuriki, you know what fuck it I'm just going to refer to him as 'HJ' now so that I don't have to type his long fucking title. Anyway HJ finally uses the Hachibi's chakra and it envelops him in a cloak and forms tails much like Naruto's, only I can't tell how many tails he has because the tails sprout at random, three out of his ass, two on his upper back, it's fucking weird but I think it's like five or six and he's easily controlling them. God Naruto has a long way to go.

Anyway HJ uses the Bijuu's chakra and starts attacking Sasuke, destroying the mountainside in these powerful charges. Anyway, he's fast and strong as hell but he travels in a straight line so Sasuke can track him with the Sharingan and get out of the way.

Then HJ makes the mistake of looking him in the eyes and Sasuke uses that new atomic looking Sharingan and puts him in a Genjutsu as he falls to the floor. Then Sasuke, like a dumbass, turns his back on him because he thinks it's over. Then, here comes the good part, The Hachibi blindsides his ass with a running tackle and blows through his chest and neck! Oh and somehow the guy hits Sasuke from the front when he had his back turned, that's kind of weird.

Okay, so Sasuke is badly wounded as his little squad converges on him. Anyway, Jugo's professional diagnosis is that, and I quote 'His neck and chest are completely blown away' HOW THE FUCK IS THAT PRICK STILL ALIVE! I think that having your heart, lungs, throat, and god knows how many other vital organs blown away would be instantly fucking fatal, don't you? Seriously, you can SEE his torn open ribcage and shattered ribs (best Sasuke picture EVER), how the hell is he still living? I mean, Hidan wound survive that, MAYBE Naruto if he drew upon enough chakra but I don't think humans can take that sort of thing and live.

Anyway, Juugo has this quick little flashback about how Sasuke is Kimimaro's supposed reincarnation and puts his hand to his chest and says that he's going to fuse some of his own flesh and chakra with Sasuke, allowing him to live. Since he has the Curse Mark, he should be able to take it. Who wants to bet that when this works, against all odds, Sasuke is going to be even MORE fucking unbelievably powerful? Powerful enough to take down the now fully formed Hachibi staring them down.

Yeah, the HJ fully forms his Bijuu, like Gaara did in the Chuunin exams when he fought Gamabunta. It's a giant fucking ox with four horns, or at least that's what the text in the side says about it. Here's a question, why the fuck does an ox have sucker cups on its tails so they look like octopus tentacles? That's just weird.

Oh and as for how the HJ escaped Sasuke's Tsukuyomi, apparently you have to have a partner insert chakra into your system, disrupting your own and ending the illusion, we all know this right? Anyway, the HJ's partner for this is the beast inside him, the Hachibi. If this guy can do that then that means that any Jinchuuriki can break any Genjutsu. Kishimoto actually did something fair and gave a way out of the Tsukuyomi though only a Jinchuuriki can do it. I am quoting the HJ here 'Illusions won't work on a host who can control their beast.' If that's the case, why the fuck didn't Kyuubi save Naruto's ass when he got caught in Itachi's illusions? Deus ex Machina anybody?

Anyway, that's pretty much the end of the chapter with that giant ox demon with octopus tentacle tails staring the four of them down.

Oh, just for fun, I am going to list ALL of Karin's lines in this chapter, why not? 'Eek', 'Sasuke', and 'What are you going to do?' Ineffectual much?

Oh, and this is kind of important, in the anime…THEY ARE FINALLY DONE WITH THE FUCKING FILLER! THE KAKUZU ARC HAS BEGUN! WE FINALLY GET TO SEE AN ANIMATED YUGITO, HIDAN AND KAKUZU! ABOUT FUCKING TIME! Oh, and Yugito looks a lot better in color, that's all I will say.

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SPOILERS END

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Wow, that went on a LOT longer than I originally intended, but oh well, moving on. ATTACK OF THE DISCLAIMER!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; I am not THAT bad of a writer

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Summary of last chapter

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Haruka knocked Shino out and escaped from Lee and Gai, Yukino effortlessly defeated Hinata and Kurenai thanks to a Genjutsu, and Absalom beat the hell out of Kiba and Neji before defeating the weakened and wounded Jiraiya. They all escaped and returned to Naruto.

Naruto explained how he was going to kill Orochimaru to Anko and then went back to reading his book as Haruka and the others returned. That's pretty much it. LET THE CHAPTER BEGIN!

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Clearing full of Konoha Shinobi

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Gai and Lee, being the only ones functional, had gathered everyone in the clearing where they encountered the three mysterious Shinobi. They had them lined up on the ground where Gai could watch them all simultaneously. He had just finished bandaging one of Kiba's wounds when Lee commented "I didn't know that you knew medical jutsu Gai-sensei."

Gai looked up from his work and said "Not much Lee, just the basics. Almost every Jounin has to know at least one or two medical jutsu, it's a prerequisite for our rank since we lead missions. Everyone has to have at least some kind of healing techniques on the off-chance that we can't get a medical ninja on a mission. Though I wish I knew more than I do, I simply don't have the talent."

Lee nodded and said "I always thought that you were a Taijutsu specialist though, I never expected to see you use such advanced Ninjutsu."

Gai chuckled a bit as he healed a small cut on Kiba's shoulder. "Just because I specialize in Taijutsu Lee doesn't mean that I don't know other things. Besides, medical jutsu isn't that high level, at least not the basic stuff that Jounin have to know. The lowest tier of medical jutsu is simple, but everything after that is extremely difficult, that's true. The only ones that know those techniques are the certified medical ninja, but almost anyone can do the simple stuff. However, that is the easiest to do and therefore the least effective. I can only heal bruises and small cuts with Ninjutsu, but it doesn't take medical jutsu to set bones or place bandages."

Lee looked at the lined up people, some with more bandages than others. He asked "So just how badly is everybody hurt?"

Gai grunted as he stood up and stretched, Kiba's cut gone. He said "Some are hurt more than others. Hinata has a few burns, but it's not too bad. Whatever hit her probably could have done a lot more but it was used to knock her out rather than hurt her. Shino only has a nasty lump on the head, though it did break the skin, maybe some kind of barb on whatever hit him. Kurenai was nailed by a Genjutsu, which is surprising since she is a Genjutsu specialist, but that speaks volumes about how good that other girl had to have been. I can't tell how bad she was hurt mentally, physically though, she's okay. Kiba, Neji, and Jiraiya however, got it the worst."

He took a breath before continuing "Kiba and Akamaru were hit very hard, two shattered ribs in Kiba's case which had to be set, and a multitude of smaller cuts and bruises. Then he probably fell from one of the trees or something because there is some heavy bruising on his chest and stomach. I can't tell how badly Akamaru is hurt, I'm not a vet. Neji is about the same. A few broken ribs, though his jaw was also broken, badly. I managed to stabilize him though, so it shouldn't get any worse."

Lee asked "And Jiraiya-sama?"

Gai took a breath and said "Well, that's difficult. He was already rather badly hurt and not at his peak condition when he fought whoever he did, but he had two cracked ribs, a number of bruises on his forearms, meaning he probably blocked a powerful strike, and a number of small cuts and a few small burns. In addition to that he had a small case of chakra exhaustion. I did what I could so he'll make it. He was knocked out by a Genjutsu though, so we can't rule out any possible mental damage."

Lee nodded, a bit relieved. "So what are we going to do now Gai-sensei?"

Gai sat down on the grass and said "Right now? The best idea would be to get as many people able to move as possible, meaning you, me, Hinata, and maybe Kurenai and Shino, and carry the worst wounded back to Konoha and report what we know. They will probably wait until Jiraiya-sama is back in good health and then send out a different team."

Lee was surprised at that "You mean we're going to abandon the mission!? That is surprisingly unyouthful from you Gai-sensei."

Gai chuckled mirthlessly and said "No Lee, it is the most youthful thing we can do, to make sure that our comrades are okay and healthy. We'll wait for the few that are able to walk to wake up and then we'll head back to Konoha unless Jiraiya-sama stops us. If he says no, then we will go on with the mission, he is in charge after all."

It was about then, that Jiraiya stirred and sat up. Gai was up in a flash and went to his side. "Jiraiya-sama!"

Jiraiya looked at Gai and said "Gai, what the hell happened? Where are those three?"

Gai put his hands on Jiraiya's shoulders and got him to lie back down. "You shouldn't be active just yet sir, rest a bit more."

Jiraiya obeyed and laid back down, he wasn't in top shape, nor was he as young as he used to be. Jiraiya said "So, where are those three from before? What's the situation?"

Gai sat down and said "Myself and Lee are alright, but everyone else was wounded, though the severity differs from person to person. What happened to you?"

Jiraiya sighed and said "That beast man got the better of me, that's what. If I were in top shape, I probably would have won, but taking attacks meant for the defenseless Kiba and Neji took their toll. He aimed attacks at them, knowing that I would take the hit to make sure that they weren't harmed. After a while he stopped that tactic and I was hit by a Genjutsu from one of the other two, one of the girls. It was a sleeping Genjutsu, nothing major. So how's everybody else? Are Kiba and Neji okay?"

Gai sighed and said "They'll live, a few bruises, a few broken bones, Neji has a broken jaw, but he'll probably be okay if we get him some help. What are your orders sir?"

Jiraiya thought for a second before saying "Okay, there's no way any of them are ready for fighting of any kind. I'll summon a toad large enough to get you guys back to Konoha safely. I'll continue to find Tsunade on my own."

Gai was a bit surprised as he yelled "Jiraiya-sama! You can't be serious, you are in no condition to-"

Jiraiya silenced him with a look and said "Yes, I AM serious Gai. I may not be in the best of shape, but I can hold my own against most people. It may be a risk, but Konoha NEEDS a Hokage, NOW. We can't let the village go any longer without a leader, and Tsunade is the only viable option. I need to find her, and convince her that she needs to come home. Do I make myself clear, _Jounin_?"

Gai straightened and said "Yes sir, I apologize for my insubordination."

Lee was just watching in silence as Jiraiya rose from the ground and after a moment, summoned a large toad, about half as big as Gamabunta and said "Okay, Gai get everyone on his back, you will be continuing on with me."

Lee spoke up "What do I do Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya looked back at the Gennin and said "You will go with the injured, make sure they get back to Konoha and get help. That's all you really can do at this point. I'll write up a report about what happened and send it with you." Lee nodded and helped Gai move the injured ninja onto the toad's back.

Fifteen minutes later, the toad was off toward Konoha, with a number of injured ninja in tow with Lee keeping a scroll well guarded.

Jiraiya turned to Gai and said "Let's get going Gai, we need to get to Tsunade faster than before, and she won't stay in the same place forever."

Gai just nodded and followed the Sannin to the treetops.

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With Naruto and everyone else

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Naruto was talking with the search team he sent out, Gomorrah and the rest were back in their coffins.

They had just finished explaining to him what happened and why they took so long to return. He was currently thinking about something when Absalom asked "Naruto-sama, I understand that you want Jiraiya alive so that you can take his shadow, but why didn't we take him there? You ordered him not to be killed or captured, why?"

Naruto looked at the beast man and said "That's simple, I don't have anything to put his shadow in yet. Sure, there are soldier zombies, but they aren't meant for a powerful shadow like Jiraiya's. There is going to be a specific marionette built for him and when it is complete, THEN we will take Jiraiya, and not a moment before."

Absalom nodded in understanding and said "So, which body is he going to inhabit? Whichever one it is, it is sure to be a powerful General."

Naruto smiled before saying "Who said that it was a General Absalom? No, the vessel for Jiraiya's shadow is going to be quite… _special_."

Absalom was shocked by the implications of that statement. A powerful shadow like Jiraiya's inside of a Special Class zombie? The Special zombies were going to be immense fighters, beasts of incredible destruction. You would have an engine of war strong enough to contend with a summon boss or a lesser Bijuu even if you put a civilian's shadow in one. But a Sannin like Jiraiya, the possibilities were immense.

Then Naruto turned to Haruka and asked "Oh, Haruka-chan, did you use that little mixture I gave you?"

Yukino looked at Haruka and asked "Mixture? What is he talking about Haruka-chan?"

Naruto smiled widely and said "Just a little thing that Hogback and I whipped up, a really nasty little virus. I gave Haruka a small amount of it, and I was wondering if she used it. Well?"

Haruka smiled and said "Yes, I managed to administer it to the Gennin known as Aburame Shino after knocking him out. He is probably on his way back to Konoha by now."

Naruto's smile widened even more at the news. Yukino asked "So, what exactly is this virus going to do?"

Naruto just said "It's a nasty little number. I had to make it contagious, but not to the point that it would become an epidemic. I couldn't have it infecting the world now could I? There aren't many preliminary symptoms, it starts off as a bad cold combined with a comatose state but at that point they are already passing it to anyone who gets too close. It's not as good as it would have been with a normal Shinobi since clan ninja are housed in a private hospital and tended by retained doctors unless their injuries are severe, but we'll probably infect a large number of the Aburame clan."

Yukino just asked again "Just what does this virus do?"

Naruto smiled even more and said "Well, once the preliminary symptoms are done, the person takes ill even more. The virus affects the kidneys and liver, forming toxic compounds from normal human hormones eventually this stops the liver from performing its necessary functions and it starts to shut down. Soon afterward the person dies, painfully. I could have made it worse mind you. For example, the virus is very weak airborne so only people within two or three feet of the person will catch it and it is only contagious in the preliminary stages, when the person is asleep which only lasts for a few days. After that it isn't contagious at all, but it is still fatal. There is a direct casualty rate of fifteen percent, so multiply that by two or three and you'll get the likely number of deaths thanks to lack of care, improper treatment, dehydration, which is another of the side-effects. It's quite nasty. Then, even if the person survives and the virus runs its course, there is another side effect of tendon ruptures, so anyone who catches it and survives will probably be crippled for the rest of their lives. It's not something that you want to have to get away from school."

The three of them were shocked, it was quite a deadly concoction. Naruto continued "The incubation period is about a week, so dear mister Aburame will fall comatose in about a week and infect people around him for about three days after that. It will be interesting to see what happens to his bugs. Now then, to business. We have Tsunade's location and Orochimaru's location so I will be leaving presently. Absalom, you're coming with me, as is Ryuuma and the Shodaime and Niidaime. Yukino, Haruka, if you will go get them."

The pair knew a dismissal when they heard one and left to awaken the necessary undead. Absalom asked "So, what exactly are we going to do Naruto-sama?"

Naruto smiled once more and said "We're going to pay a couple of Sannin a friendly visit, that's all. But I am going to do my best to make sure that Tsunade ends up dead, or undead, one of the two."

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And viral warfare for all! Next chapter we, oh hell I'm not going to tell you here, read the next chapter, whenever I update, and find out!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	28. Chapter 28

OHA LUCKY

OHA LUCKY! Welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter twenty eight! Here you shall find crucial information about the story, maybe. Naruto heads out, Sasuke is still in a coma, Shino spreads a virus, Jiraiya and Gai search for Tsunade, and other such crazy shenanigans abound! Now for the disclaimer, I have a very special guest, I bring you, straight from Midland, Nosferatu Zodd!

Zodd: Thanks Artful, glad to be here, now here's the disclaimer.

Disclaimer (by Zodd): Artful Lounger does not own Naruto, he is not so bad of a writer to make it so Sasuke-centric. If you believe that he owns Naruto, I will hunt you down, wherever you are, and we will have our own little version of the eclipse right then and there!

Thanks Zodd, see you around.

Zodd: See you, Artful, any time you need me, just call

Uh huh, right now on with the chapter, until the ending note then. (Congratulations to anyone who gets the references)

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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I went overboard last chapter with this, so this time I'll keep it short and sweet. Juugo fused some of his flesh into Sasuke, so he's alive again, yet for some reason Juugo turns into a kid, like a younger version of himself.

Anyway, the HJ, I've heard his name is Kira Hachi or something like that, but I'll call him HJ until I see it in the manga. Anyway, he starts to attack, but Suigetsu attacks him in a wave of water that he apparently turned into. That didn't last long though, the fully formed Hachibi blew the hell out of him with a blast like Four tailed Naruto's. You know, the one he used on Orochimaru.

Anyway, things go on and Karin, Juugo, and Suigetsu are ready to bite the big one and the Hachibi is bearing down on them as the scene changes to Naruto. Naruto has apparently gotten out of the oil and can now sense Natural energy a bit. Then he goes and lifts one of those stone toads, only to knock it over in his overjoyed happiness. He doesn't have any control does he?

Then it switches back to a few Kumo nin who sense the Hachibi's chakra and go over to see what's going on. They refer to HJ as 'Killerbee', which is probably a code name. They see the Hachibi and mention that the Raikage told him not to transform, and they see Sasuke and the others who are wearing Akatsuki robes and mention that that's the group who took Yugito.

Anyway, Sasuke regains consciousness, has a quick flashback on how Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin each saved his ass in the fight so far, then they show an image of Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi, then the chapter ends as Sasuke shows his Mangekyou and uses Amaterasu.

Personally, I hope that the HJ kills him, that would be awesome, but we all know that Sasuke's portable Deus ex Machina generator will kick in and save his ass at the last minute. Fucking Kishimoto

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SPOILERS OVER

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Pretty Important Note: Well, this is kind of hard to say…um, wow. Sorry if that doesn't make sense. I just realized that this story has only been around for a month or two and it has almost a thousand reviews. Up until now I was thinking that this is a common occurrence for such large stories, I thought that it was like an unofficial rule, 'If a story has more than a hundred thousand words, it more likely than not has an immense number of reviews.' I thought that was more or less true, a general rule of thumb since I would think that authors would require a lot of positive reviews to keep going for that long. I know that I wouldn't have bothered going all this way if no one liked it. All the positive reviews really inspire me to keep going, just to bring a smile, a laugh, and an epic read to you readers.

But then I looked in the Naruto 100,000 plus words section looking for a good story and found that most don't have nearly that many reviews, at least not in the first two months. Fuck, Black Flames Dance in the Wind: Rise of Naruto by Devilkeys Writing (Shameless plug), one of the most epic stories EVER in my opinion, only has roughly fourteen hundred reviews and it's been around for a YEAR. Am I really that good? I am just amazed by this, I really am, I never knew that my story was so popular. So, basically, thanks guys for supporting me so much. I feel like one of those millionaires who doesn't know the value or a dollar, I really do. So, thanks for all of it, that's all I really wanted to say.

Okay, moment over, on with the chapter

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Summary of last chapter

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Everyone except Jiraiya and Gai head back to Konoha for medical treatment for their wounds while Gai and Jiraiya continue to search for Tsunade.

We find out that Naruto is planning to use Jiraiya's shadow to animate one of the yet to be created Special Zombies, and we also find out that Shino is now infected by a specially created virus and he is heading out to find Tsunade and Orochimaru. Now let the chapter begin!

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With Jiraiya and Gai

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The two had been on the road for a while now, albeit with a number of stops at the hotsprings, which caused Gai to go on a number of 'unyouthfulness rants'. After a while, the old pervert gave up and just got to business. With Gai around he couldn't hope to get any amount of tail, nor could he go unnoticed for his research. The old sage could be very effective at getting things done when he put his mind to it.

After a few days of searching the nearby towns, and calling in a member of Jiraiya's spy network, they eventually managed to locate Tsunade. She was staying in Tanzaku-Gai, a rather large town, very famous for its castle and a popular tourist spot. It also had a large number of expensive casinos. In other words, it's practically Tsunade bait. Jiraiya wasn't too surprised; he knew his old teammate rather well, though Gai went on about the 'unyouthfulness' of gambling. After a while, you just learn to tune the guy out.

Difficulties and eccentric Jounin aside, the two made their way to Tanzaku-Gai, and hoped that they found the elusive Kunoichi before anyone else who had an eye on acquiring her abilities for whatever reason.

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With Naruto and Co.

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Naruto had left the cave, with some of his stronger subordinates in tow. To be specific, Absalom, one of his inner circle, Ryuuma, one of the strongest Generals, if not the strongest. Then there were Hashirama and Hokushin, the Shodaime and Niidaime Hokages to be exact. Then, last but not least, there was Haku. The ice girl demanded to come on the mission, she apparently wanted to prove her worth.

Haku had been training hard ever since she was rescued by Naruto at Nami no Kuni. She had learned from Naruto and the others, and found new and enticing ways to use her Hyouton affinity. She had worked harder than ever before, even harder than when she trained under Zabuza, and she had managed to learn more about her Hyouton affinity then anyone had probably ever learned before. How adding more water chakra created thicker ice, how adding more wind chakra resulted in sharper pieces of ice when it was formed.

She had even managed to learn it to the point where she could freeze objects on contact. She had to be touching them directly though, and channel a large amount of chakra onto the target, causing ice to form. Having a limb frozen solid isn't too good for combat ability apparently.

Naruto had told her stories from Kyuubi's memories of ice users of the past, and one man who stood out as the greatest ice manipulator of all time, a man who was only known as Aokiji. The man had mastered the element of ice to the point where he could transform his body into ice at a seconds notice, and reform himself afterward, making him almost impervious to any attack. He could freeze the ocean under his feet and freeze people where they stood. Haku knew that she most likely would never be that proficient, but a good number of the man's techniques could be duplicated, and she was doing her best.

Naruto led the rest through the forest, heading toward a specific place. He would have loved to use the Kage Hokou to get there, but he had never been to the place before. He was relying on Yukino's directions and predictions so that he could run into Orochimaru before he found Tsunade.

Why would Naruto want to find Orochimaru? One could only guess, but one way or another, it most likely didn't bode well for anyone but him and his.

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Two days later, two miles away from Tanzaku-Gai

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Naruto had found Orochimaru, he watched the snake from a high vantage point as he jumped from tree to tree, a nearby ninja serving as his bodyguard and most likely his doctor during this period of weakness. Naruto came for a specific purpose and for that, he had to have Orochimaru's attention. At the moment the pain was so much that Orochimaru couldn't concentrate on much more than putting one foot in front of the other. So Naruto had to help himself get recognized.

It took some timing but he got the angle right and formed two objects from darkness, the first was a long stick, and the second was a small ball that rested on the ground. Naruto held the stick in both hands and after a moment of timing the distance, swung the stick at the ball and shot it into the air. Naruto only said one thing as the small sphere hit the female medic right in the head and splattered her brain across the trees. "Fore!"

Orochimaru looked over so quickly that it would probably be a good idea to get checked for whiplash. Naruto moved over to a branch where Orochimaru could see him and said "Hey Orochi-chan, how are you doing this fine morning?"

Orochimaru was surprised, to say the least. He never expected to see the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki here of all places, and he was apparently looking for a fight, if his earlier actions were of any indication. After a moment, he hissed slightly and said "Naruto-kun, what a coincidence that we should meet here of all places. Tell me, what is a Jinchuuriki doing all the way out here?"

Naruto smiled coldly and said "Why, to see the sights of course, the castle, the casinos, the blonde big breasted doctors, and many other things. I even managed to pick up a job over here. Apparently they have a real problem with a snake infestation and wanted me to take care of the problem. What do you think Orochi-chan?"

Orochimaru ground his teeth at the insolence of this child, to act so cavalier and confident in his presence, not to mention the insulting nickname. He spat out "So you came here to kill me? Do you really think you can, _boy_?"

Naruto's thin smile widened a bit as he said "I said I had a job, I never said that I would do it. I'm not here to kill you Orochimaru, though in your present state, there is little doubt that I could. I am here to, oh what's the term, talk deal."

Orochimaru was a bit puzzled at this "You want to work out some kind of agreement? What did you have in mind?" Orochimaru was thinking quickly, he was in real danger here and Unohana was just killed. If Naruto attacked, there was a very real chance of him getting killed, but if he could get something out of the Jinchuuriki, then maybe the whole thing wasn't a waste of time.

Naruto just said "I want your information on the Akatsuki organization that you have with you. I know that you carry a copy of your information of them on you at all times, it helps you calm down by reading their known weaknesses. Tell me, does that really help your fear? Well, it doesn't make much difference in the end. Anyway, in exchange for this information, I will leave the Uchiha alive for you."

Orochimaru snarled at the threat to Sasuke and hissed "What? What did you do to Sasuke-kun!?"

Naruto's smile vanished and said "I left him a little gift on his neck, goes real well with the Curse Seal. It will allow me to kill him anytime I wish. However, that has a time limit of two months. You give me the information and I allow the Uchiha to live. It's your choice."

Orochimaru snarled but Naruto interrupted "Now, now, don't get your panties in a knot. I don't really want the Uchiha dead you know, I just put that seal on him to get you to do something for me, in other words giving me the Akatsuki information. Well, and I was bored and it was fun, but mostly because I want that information from you."

Orochimaru was backed into a corner, he had to give this boy the information that he had worked hard to gather, or sacrifice his perfect body prematurely. He came to a decision rather quickly, and took a booklet out of a pocket, throwing at the younger ninja.

Naruto caught the booklet and leafed through it, seeing several profiles that he had not known of before, in addition to those that he did know, he knew that it was the real deal. He smiled and said "Thank you very much, Orochi-chan. I am sure that this will be of great help in the future. As agreed, I will leave the Uchiha alone, do with him as you wish. Good luck getting your arms healed by the way." Then he jumped into the trees, leaving a very irritated Orochimaru in the clearing.

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With Naruto

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Naruto went back to the hotel room that they had in Tanzaku-Gai. They had gotten there the other day but had to wait for Orochimaru to show up. The three Generals were in the nearby forests, waiting for orders, and Absalom accompanied him invisibly. Haku stayed by his side.

Speaking of the ice wielder, she looked up from her book as he walked in and said "Greetings, Naruto-sama. Did you get the information you needed from Orochimaru?"

Naruto nodded and waved the booklet as he said "Indeed I did Haku-chan. Wasn't that hard either, threaten the Uchiha prick and he folds like wet cardboard."

Haku nodded as she turned back to her book. Naruto took a peek at it and saw a familiar title and an orange cover. Haku asked "So, are you going to activate that seal anyway? The look on the snake's face would be priceless when he finds out he's been double-crossed."

Naruto idly nodded as he sat down and said "Yes, it would, but I can't. You see, I was bluffing when I told Orochimaru about the two month thing, the time limit is actually about a week if you want to actively kill the person the seal is applied to."

Haku looked over quickly and asked, surprise evident in her voice, "A week? That's a rather pathetic time span. Why does it even have a time limit anyway? I thought that most seals didn't work like that, at least not the good ones."

Naruto nodded wearily, and said "Yes, that's true, but the fact of the matter is that the seal just isn't complete yet. The amount of detail and intricacy in that mark is second to none Haku-chan. The version I gave Sasuke was one of the more recent prototype models. It's flawed, one example is that the remote activated death feature has a time limit which quickly expires, another effect is that it will react to my presence, causing him to bleed through the mark. I was working on it a lot in that last month, but I couldn't complete it in time for the invasion. Still though, most of the other affects still work, and those are the important ones."

Haku nodded and turned back to her 'book', idly flipping the page as she did so and asked "So when are we going after Tsunade? I'm sure that the Generals are getting bored by now."

Naruto snorted and said "Who cares if they're bored? If I ordered them to stay in those woods for the next two hundred years and not move a muscle, they would do it without question. Hey, where's Absalom by the way?"

Haku sighed and said "He can turn invisible, and Tanzaku-Gai has an enormous hotspring. Where else do you think that the pervert would be?"

Naruto nodded, it was a fair point. He looked out the window and wondered when Jiraiya would get there, things wouldn't get interesting until then. He knew that sooner or later, the Sannin would fight, and that was when he would make his move. Not a moment before.

Haku watched Naruto out of the corner of her eye. She had an idea of when he would order an attack. Probably right after the Sannin stopped fighting and were at their weakest, until then he would play it stealthy. That was just Naruto's style, he didn't like long, drawn out fights, he would strike once, and make sure that it was a lethal stroke. She had to wonder though, did Naruto REALLY like the stuff in this book? It was just too much to contemplate that anyone could be THAT perverse. Though it did look fun, well some of it anyway.

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In Konoha

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Konoha was in a bit of a panic. First off, they had been recently invaded, and everyone knows the results of that. Second, the Uchiha had been badly wounded and affixed with a seal that couldn't be removed. They had ten ANBU led by Hatake Kakashi serving as his bodyguard.

Although peace had been made with Suna, there was still a lot of tension concerning other nations, if they looked weak now there was a good chance that the other villages would jump in and finish what Suna started. They had to keep the borders secure and the most important missions done. They had every man they had to spare sent with Jiraiya to retrieve Tsunade so that she could become the Godaime, but most of them arrived on a giant toad, some of them badly wounded.

The Gennin Rock Lee had given his report to the Council and they were currently in session to discuss it. Apparently the group was taken out by a group of Iwa Jounin, thank goodness they were Nukenin. If they had been active Iwa Shinobi then a declaration of war would have been inevitable.

The most important thing however, was the possibility that the three ninja could be working for Uzumaki Naruto. If that was true then the brat's bounty would have to be increased and Hunter ninja sent out. A large number of councilmen called for two squads to be sent out immediately, but they were immediately shot down. They were too short on ninja to go chasing after rogue ninja, even the Jinchuuriki. Until they beefed up their numbers again, Rogue ninja would have to be ignored, except for the most important ones like Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi.

Hiashi was particularly passionate about sending out a few squads, his own daughter had been hurt in the attack, as had his nephew whom he had started to get along with again, the Aburame clan head, Shibi, was not present, helping to take care of his son.

The Inuzuka had been surprisingly clear headed about the issue, actually helping the advisors for once in convincing the others not to send out Oinin, they were the best of the best and at the moment they needed them close. Not that Naruto was off the hook though, Tsume said, and I quote 'When I find that brat or the man that did that to my son, I'll tear him apart and feed him to the wolves.'

So, they were pretty much letting the whole thing slide for now. They just didn't have the resources to go after him at the moment, especially if he wasn't alone.

Most of the injured weren't badly off. Hinata got off with a few light burns that were healed in about a minute, Kiba was in the hospital but he was stable and conscious, though Akamaru would be in a bed for a while. Neji was pretty much alright, though he was still in the hospital due to his broken jaw. The other injuries were all taken care of. Shino was being taken care of at the Aburame compound so nobody had any word from him.

Kurenai, well that one would be hard to answer. She was physically okay, there was nothing wrong with her, she just wouldn't wake up. They tried everything from slapping her, to shots of adrenaline, to a cattle prod, and they still hadn't gotten any kind of response out of her. They were planning on bringing in a Yamanaka to take a look in her head in a few days.

So, all in all, things were okay, if tense, but the loss of the Hokage was a horrible blow, the sooner they got a new one, the better.

But, what was happening to Aburame Shino? Let's find out.

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Aburame Clan Compound

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The Aburame were a cold, logical people, everyone knows this. They reacted with little to no emotion at all, even in the worst of circumstances which makes them ideal Shinobi recruits. However, there are times when even an Aburame would show emotion. For Aburame Shibi, this was one of those times.

He sat beside his son's bed and rarely left it. The Aburame doctors weren't quite sure what was happening with the boy. He woke up not long after he was brought back, but he acted very strangely, unusually irrational and aggressive for some reason, easily angered at the slightest provocation. A day or two later, he had become very tired and stayed in bed, eventually falling asleep and staying that way. When the doctor arrived to take a look at him, he was running a high fever and was immediately put into care.

As time went on, Shino became more and more sickly, losing weight rapidly, and was found with symptoms of dehydration. Not long afterward, other members of the Clan fell victim to similar circumstances, acting irrational and aggressive for a day or so before becoming bed ridden.

Whatever was happening was bad, constant medical attention was helping him, but they could find no cure for whatever was happening. They had been forced to conclude that it is some form of virus and sealed off the compound, not letting anybody in or out in order to protect the rest of the village.

Things were getting worse and worse as time went on, blood tests showed some kind of toxin that his insects could not process, as a result every bug in Shino's body was dead. The same went for the other members of the clan, the insects died, simply as that.

Test indicated that it may have had something to do with his liver, but before anything more could be found, a number of the doctors fell ill as well. A large number of the clan were being infected with this strange disease. One of the only good parts was that the virus was contained, no one could leave the compound or enter it with all the precautions set up around it. Plus the virus was not contagious post-mortem. They had already had several people die from the disease, roughly one in five cases were dead quickly due to liver failure. Others died of heart attacks or simply stopped breathing in their sleep.

This plague, this scourge, had crippled the Aburame clan; almost everyone who had caught the disease had suffered tendon ruptures as well, giving them crippling injuries for life.

Each and every day, more people had grown ill. The Aburame clan wasn't large, only thirty people or so and it grew smaller with every generation. Aburame members tended to have difficulty finding husbands and wives. Shino was actually the only member of the Aburame under twenty five.

Still, they couldn't find the cause of this virus, only help treat the symptoms and make the people comfortable. Shibi was one of the four members who weren't yet infected, and one of the ten not dead at that point. Shino was the worst of the six, his skin sallow and pale, with a slight yellow tinge, his ribs showing, his muscles degenerated, his legs and arms nearly useless. But still, Shibi did not leave his side.

Soon, the only doctor among them had fallen ill, and other members soon fell as well. At this time Shibi still did not leave, only leaving the once to visit his sickly wife and perform necessary functions. Soon he too fell ill. Shino simply stopped breathing, and a few hours later Shibi Aburame took his own life, the last member of his clan, weakened and sick, triggering explosives throughout the compound, destroying the bodies, any remnants of the disease, and the chances that anyone else could be infected. Even after the tragedy of his clan, thirty people dead in three days, he still thought of Konoha.

And to think of it all, no one knew what happened. That day, explosives ripped the clan compound apart, and incinerated everything inside. The rest of the village simply counted it as an act of an unknown enemy and prepared for the funeral. Not many liked the Aburame, and in fact many were happy to see the 'freaks' dead and gone, but still, no one knew of the Aburame Clan's tragedy, of their sacrifice, and the melancholy that they all felt being slowly killed by creatures too small to see. And they never would know the truth, Shibi guaranteed it in his last act.

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With Hogback

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Hogback was in his laboratory that he shared with Naruto when they created the virus that infected Aburame Shino, at least one form of it. There were more effective versions, but they sent one of the weaker ones into Konoha.

He strolled among the various, clear walled cells, surrounded by festering death, moans of pain, and a full range of pleading expressions, Hogback recorded test results with utmost care, scientific accuracy required it. Hogback strolled from chamber to chamber, a smile on his face as he recorded the specs of the most deadly version of the virus that he and Naruto had cooked up.

The infection rate was almost seventy percent, and the expected casualty rate was roughly forty three percent of the victims with this new virus. They included the part that induced tendon ruptures, so that even the survivors would be crippled for life.

A few of the victims shrank back from the doctor, cowering in their filth smeared cells. Others stretched out their hands beseechingly, their sickness dulled eyes desperate; Hogback decided that those prisoners must have been delirious or delusional. But of course, irrational behavior and paranoia were expected effects of the virus.

This virus was an airborne retrovirus that was easily spread through the mucus membranes and open wounds Upon entering the body, it infected the liver, which was surprising at first, and from there replicated rapidly and produced an enzyme which converted the body's own hormones such as Testosterone and Cholesterol into a compound similar to an anabolic steroid.

The liver could not effectively break down 'Compound X' as they called it, nor could it be easily removed from the bloodstream. Since natural hormones were depleted due to the conversion to the new compound, the body then overproduced them, which led to an increase in the poison, which a buildup of caused striking mental and physical symptoms.

In the final stages of the disease, death took roughly forty percent of all victims. In addition, liver failure was common and heart attacks and strokes caused by malignant hypertension often proved fatal. In a smaller number of victims, thyrotoxic crisis caused the body to simply shut down due to hormonal imbalances.

By that point, the extreme fever put most victims into a deep coma that lasted a day or two before the patient stopped breathing. In a high percentage of victims, tendons easily ruptured, crippling the victims for life.

As Hogback examined the twisted positions of death, wishing that he had a way to analyze the amounts of agony each specimen felt as they died, he chuckled to himself. He and Naruto, working together, could do some very, very great things. He couldn't wait until this particular batch was released, it would make the 'A-strand', as they called it, look like a common cold!

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Tanzaku-Gai

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In a hotel room, Haku looked up from her book and looked at her most important person and said "Did you feel that, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto woke up and after a moment, smiled. He just said "Yes, yes I did Haku-chan. That chakra signature is unmistakable. Jiraiya is here, now the real fun will begin. When the Sannin fight, I wonder who will win. Well, I guess it doesn't matter. We'll be there to take care of the survivors."

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And there ends the chapter. Sorry it took so long to update compared to how it normally goes, but I have a life you know. Anyway, review and tell me what you think, and let me tell you, next chapter I have some plot twists set up that will make your head spin! I will leave you on that note then. Farewell.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	29. Chapter 29

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, and whoever or whatever else may be reading this, welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter twen

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, and whoever or whatever else may be reading this, welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter twenty nine! What shall happen in this chapter shall shift the plot, fry your brains, and make you drool and beg for more just as I mercilessly nail you with a cliffhanger. What's the point in lying, we all know that that is what is going to happen.

Disclaimer: Didn't Zodd just explain this to you last chapter? (Sigh) idiots. I do not own Naruto! Stop insinuating that I do! Honestly, do you think that anything which I write could ever be so mundane!?

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Summary of last chapter

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The plot moved. What, that's what happened. You guys want more? You greedy bastards. Fine, here's a more 'in depth' explanation.

Jiraiya and Gai made their way to Tanzaku-Gai and finally got there as the chapter ended. Naruto exploited Orochimaru for information on Akatsuki, Hogback tested diseases, and The Aburame clan went out with a bang, literally. Mostly thanks to the disease that infected Shino but that's what happened in the end.

Naruto hid in Tanzaku-Gai with Haku and some of his strongest Generals along with Absalom in tow, waiting for Jiraiya, and that's about it. There, happy?

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With Jiraiya and Gai

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Jiraiya and Gai finally arrived in Tanzaku-Gai. They could have gotten there earlier if the old sage hadn't spent so much of his time peeping, but they got there eventually and that's what matters. They just had to hope that Tsunade was still here or, if she did leave, that they could get a solid lead as to where she went. If they couldn't, then they were stuck.

Jiraiya said to Gai "Alright Gai, we're going to split up and search for Tsunade. It would probably be best to find some high ground and get a bird's eye view in this case. If I remember correctly this town is famous for a large castle, that should be a pretty good vantage point."

Gai nodded and said "There's only one problem Jiraiya-sama, I don't see any castle here."

Jiraiya looked at the Jounin oddly and said "What are you talking about? How can you miss it, its right there." Then he pointed near the center of town, where there was nothing but air. Then he looked where he pointed, where the castle should have been and said "What the hell happened to it?"

It was unfortunate for those two that Orochimaru got there first, and after running to his nearest base of operations to get a new assistant, returned and with that assistants help summoned a snake which destroyed the castle to get Tsunade's attention. Then he offered her a deal to heal his arms in exchange for bringing Nawaki and Dan, her little brother and lover, back to life.

Seeing that there was no castle to overlook the town, the two decided that there was obviously something wrong here and searched together. Where did they search? The bars and casinos of course.

After about two hours of looking around, they finally entered a bar which had two unusual patrons. The first was a girl with short black hair with a pig of all things, and the second was an incredibly busty blonde with brown eyes. This blonde eyed the white haired pervert and just said "Jiraiya?! What the hell are you doing here?"

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With Yukino (Didn't see that coming did you?)

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Yukino was conflicted. She had long since come to terms with the fact that she liked Haruka as more than just a friend, but she had never been able to tell her how she felt. Knowing that she had never got to tell her how she felt before Haruka died had been horrible, it felt like a part of her died as well the second that she heard the news. She had gone into a murderous depressive slump until Naruto arrived and found her.

Then, when he told her that he could bring Haruka back, she went with him with all her heart, willing to do anything just to have a chance to fix past mistakes, to tell her how she felt, even if she did not reciprocate those feelings. That was how she left Iwagakure and joined Naruto's mysterious group. And as he promised, he gave Haruka back to her.

However, even after feeling the immense pain that came with Haruka's death without at least letting her know how she felt, she still hadn't managed to say it to her. She was wasting her unexpected second chance and she knew it. It tormented her that she could not muster up the courage just to say a few words, even after the years of trying.

But that was going to change today, she was going over to Haruka's room to tell her how she felt, even if she decided to be her friend no longer. Managing to get these feelings off her chest was more than worth it. After that, her proximity would be enough for her.

She moved over to Haruka's door and opened it unannounced. They had been friends for so long, through thick and thin, that it had become a habit for both of them. What she didn't expect was to find Haruka in her normal combat gear and all her most important possessions in a bag nearby.

Haruka was, to be expected, quite shocked. Sure, she knew that if Yukino visited her room, she would barge in unannounced as she did for her, but that was still pretty rare. But to come in NOW of all times, that was just the pinnacle of the unexpected.

Yukino gulped and then said "Uh, Haruka-chan, what's going on?" She hoped that it wasn't what she thought it was. "Did Naruto-sama send you on a mission alone or something?" That wasn't what it was and she knew it, Naruto always sent the two on missions together.

Haruka was still a bit shocked as to what had just occurred. She just hoped that she could rely on Yukino one last time. Haruka sighed and said "No, Naruto-_sama_ didn't send me on a mission Yukino-chan, and you know that already, I can tell. This is exactly what it looks like, I am leaving Yukino-chan."

Yukino was quite surprised at the news. It was one thing to suspect it with utter certainty, it was quite another to actually hear it, it made the dreaded feeling more real. Yukino closed the door behind her and slowly walked deeper into the room. She just asked "Why? Why are you leaving Haruka-chan? Is it me? Something I did? Was it-"

Haruka cut her off before she lost control, already there were tears in her eyes, however slightly. Haruka said "It's not you Yukino, I am leaving because I cannot stand being around that monster any longer. I know that I couldn't possibly escape while he's here, so this is my best chance."

Yukino was a bit calmed at the news that it wasn't something she did, but she still wondered "But why, Haruka-chan? Naruto-sama has been so good to us for all these years, he gave us a place to stay, he gave us freedom from Iwa, he brought you back to life for goodness sake?! What makes you want to leave?"

Haruka scoffed and said "Yeah, gold, jewels, world peace, and everything I could possibly want, revenge on Iwa included. All at the small, small price of my soul."

Yukino was a bit startled, figures, everyone always gets so serious once the S-word is used. "Your soul, but what happened, what did he do, how would he take your soul?"

Haruka laughed a little, humorlessly "I don't mean anything physical or metaphysical or anything like that Yukino. I mean the core of who I am, the values that I hold dear. I cannot go with him any further, it's more hollow and more meaningless every day. Sure, going with him means that I would have everything I could want in the end, but what would the cost leave me with? Nothing but a heap of bodily processes, and regret."

"I still don't understand Haruka-chan, what is it that is causing you to leave?"

Haruka smiled again, once again without joy and said "How could I possibly stay here and still call myself human? We're nothing but pawns, resources, the Three Enigmas, Hogback, Absalom, and Perona, those three are important to him, I'm not sure about those two new girls, but I am nothing more than another soldier to him. I simply can't stand it any longer. What that man does and will continue to do I cannot and will not go with. I put up with it for too long, I only regret that it took me this long to make this decision."

Yukino still wasn't sure what she meant, what had triggered this sudden response. "Haruka-chan, what specifically did he do? And even if you do leave, where would you go?"

Haruka picked up the bag and slung it over her shoulder "Those viruses were the final straw really. Did you see the results for the plague that was distributed in Konoha? Thirty people dead in three days! And it was only that low because the Aburame clan was smart enough to quarantine themselves away. If they hadn't, god only knows how many people could have been exposed. He'll destroy the world with those viruses Yukino, I have no doubt. That's why I am leaving, at least part of it. His entire operation repulses me and I refuse to tolerate it any more. I know I can't challenge him without getting killed but I can at least leave now that he's gone and we aren't stuck in a mountain. I have explosive notes planted in the storage vaults where he and Hogback keep the plague organisms. They're so weak right now that the fire they cause will be enough to kill them all without fear of having anyone infected. I'll set them off as I leave."

Then she walked past Yukino, toward the door. Yukino just said "Where will you go?"

Haruka reached the door and stopped before saying "I don't know, but whatever happens will be better than staying here."

Then she moved to turn the handle of the door but stopped as she heard something rustling behind her. She looked back to see that Yukino had taken a second bag from a hook on the wall and had started filling it with the clothes and weapons that she could not fit in her own, they were of similar size so they would fit either of them reasonably well. She just asked "What are you doing Yukino?"

Yukino looked up and said "I am coming with you Haruka-chan. Where else would I go?"

Haruka was more than a little surprised at this. She had thought that her friend would stay behind and keep quiet about her leaving. She seemed happy enough where she was, she never seemed to have problems with anything that she was ever ordered to do, so why? She asked Yukino just that.

Yukino looked up briefly as she put a stack of explosive notes in a pocket and then returned to her work, saying "Haruka-chan, I joined Naruto-san in the first place because he was able to bring you back to life, I stayed with him ever since out of my gratitude toward him for that. If you're gone, why should I stay? Besides, why would I want to stay here anyway? Humans should have more freedom than what those poor creatures have, I can hardly stand to look at them, especially Rei and Kagerou, given movement merely to serve their master's will."

Then she hoisted the full bag onto her shoulders and smiled as she said "The only reason I joined him was because of you, it only makes sense that I should leave him with you as well. After all, you are my only friend."

Haruka was still surprised, she just stuttered "But, Yukino-chan, you're much more wanted than I am, you would be hunted down by Iwa and Akatsuki, not to mention Naruto would hunt us down to keep the zombies' weakness a secret."

Yukino went up closer to Haruka and said, with conviction in her voice, "I don't care, Naruto and the others can go to hell as far as I am concerned. You're the only one I care about, no one else. Besides, we'll have a better chance of survival if we work together."

Then Yukino smiled, for the first time in a long time, and Haruka realized that she was serious, that Yukino would put herself in that immense danger, just to stick together with her. She just chuckled slightly and tried to rein in her emotions. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and said "If that's the case Yukino," then she opened the door, "Then let's get the hell out of here!"

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With Hogback

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Hogback was in his lab, as usual, but he was putting the finishing touches on the most recent strain of the virus. This was undoubtedly the most deadly version yet. It wasn't that conspicuous, a light blue liquid in a vial. Mind you that liquid would kill you in a dozen painful ways but it didn't look that dangerous. Maybe that was why he was carrying it with a set of clamps wearing oven mitts and a breathing mask. Or maybe he was baking a pie, who knows. Either way that was what he was doing.

He carefully made his way to the already opened vault and carefully, carefully, set the vial into a corresponding slot. Then he backed away from it as fast as possible. Then, as he was about to seal the airtight door and seal in the deadly organisms in their glass cages, he noticed something strange. A few slips of paper were placed throughout the room. One was on the side of a shelf, near a tray of vials and beaker, a second was on a wall near another set of plague organisms, a third was attached directly to the tray that held the most recent batch. He had been so focused on not dropping the vial and killing himself, and then hastily getting away, that he didn't notice!

Then, something very bad happened, the papers each caught fire. He watched wide eyed as the fires consumed the paper and then…exploded. Fires spread throughout the small vault quickly and soon every virus was boiling in its test tube. Hogback knew immediately that every plague organism was already dead. The reason they were put in the vault in the first place is to keep them safe from extremely high temperatures and other normal things that were deadly to them. They simply weren't ready for distribution yet.

The Doctor immediately went to damage control, sealing the vault and locking it. It was airtight so any surviving organisms wouldn't be able to spread. The flames would quickly die out with the lack of fuel and the remaining organisms would die in the air. They would still have to sterilize the room but it was a good precaution for now. At least the flames wouldn't spread to the more resilient projects such as the new General body that he had been constructing with Perona. A most unusual body, that one, and it would be a real terror with the right shadow to bring it to life.

But for now, the doctor had more important matters to deal with. He strode out of the laboratory, calling his assistant Kagerou to assemble the important members of the group while he awoke the remaining Generals and got a message to Naruto. He would find out who did this, and they would pay.

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With Haruka and Yukino

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The pair of ex Iwa ninja fled through the trees, heading toward the border to Taki no Kuni. The escape had been simple enough, after all Yukino helped to design the security system and even then the place was meant to keep things out not in.

The two had rushed to the entrance after setting off the explosives by remote, as they reached the door Yukino removed the Genjutsu that she put over the entrance, revealing the matrix of shadowy wires that criss-crossed the entrance in order to add physical substance. Determined to leave Naruto with one last kick in the teeth, Haruka did a few handseals and used the only fire jutsu she knew, the Katon: Endan, and burned the shadows away, leaving the place wide open for anyone coming after.

The two ran as fast as they could, discarding the black necklaces they wore as they moved. They were finally free, as far as they were concerned. They knew that they were vulnerable and soon they would be hunted, but it was better to be free and hunted, than safe in a comfortable cage as far as they were concerned.

As for Yukino and her decision earlier, she could wait a little longer to tell her how she felt, but until then, Haruka's mere proximity was enough, it had been more than enough for more than ten years, it would be enough for a little while longer. Haruka was simply overjoyed to be out from Naruto's thumb.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was taking a nap when he was rudely interrupted by a high pitched yelling emanating from his pocket. He woke up and after grudgingly standing up, he put his hand into his pocket and pulled out the small picture frame containing the zombie that had been trying to get his attention for a while now. Haku looked up from her book. She had moved on to the second in the series.

Naruto looked at the miniature undead sealed into the small canvas and said "What is it? And it had better be good."

The minion nodded and said "Naruto-sama, something horrible has happened!"

Naruto yawned again and said "Surely it can't be that bad. What's going on?"

The zombie said something but this time he couldn't make it out. Naruto said "Speak up would you?" and then held the frame closer to his ear. As the zombie spoke, Naruto's eyes went wide and he took the frame from his ear, moved it in front of his face and said "You have got to be fucking kidding me. Please tell me that you are joking." The zombie shook its head no, it was serious.

Naruto was silent for a moment, then said to Haku, "Haku-chan, hold down the fort, I'm going back home for a moment." Then he left before she could say a word.

Haku looked at the space where Naruto had previously been, muttered "He could have at least told me what's going on. Oh well, it probably isn't important. Now then, what will Tamaki do with Haruhi in that position I wonder." Then she flipped the page as her face turned red.

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Back at the bat cave, I mean Naruto's hideout. Give me some time, I'll think of a name people

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Naruto emerged from the shadows in the cave, right into a meeting between Perona and Hogback. He immediately took control of the situation. "What the hell has happened Hogback? If I heard right then our entire stock of diseases has been destroyed along with the front door. Honestly, I'm gone for a few fucking days and this happens!? What the hell!"

Hogback bowed deeply and said "Please forgive me Naruto-sama. I'm not sure how this happened but I will do my best to remedy the situation."

Naruto nodded tersely and asked "So what has happened exactly, and where are Haruka and Yukino anyway?"

Perona took the time to enter the conversation this time and said "It was those two bitches that did this in the first place! They betrayed us, destroyed everything in the vault, and ran off, destroying the front door in the process. I don't know where they are now, but they probably headed for the border. Ame is closest if I remember correctly."

Naruto nodded and was silent for a moment. If Haruka and Yukino had pulled a full on Judas then there were few options. Something told him that trying to get those two to join him again would be a futile exercise, so that only left one option left.

Naruto looked at Hogback and said "Dr. Hogback, assemble the Generals we have on hand and send them out with a squadron of soldiers. They are going to hunt down and kill our little traitors. Make sure that they are some of the faster ones as well, the sooner we take care of them and eliminate the liability they represent the better."

Hogback nodded and said "Yes Naruto-sama!" before dashing off to assemble the soldiers for the job.

Perona asked "What am I supposed to do Naruto-kun?"

Naruto said "I need you to take an astral form and follow them. Make sure that the Generals can spot them. The only reasons that you should stop following them is if you get spotted. Yukino's Genjutsu can still affect you even if you are a ghost. I'm going to be constructing a new front door since they were so rude as to destroy the one we had before."

Perona nodded and dashed to her room so that she would have a safe and comfortable place to leave her body as she went out as a spirit. Naruto moved with precise movements, heading for the entrance to the caves. He also remote detonated the necklaces of Haruka and Yukino. Those gems gave them access to the base and that was probably how they got into the vault as well. There was also the chance that they were still wearing them and were killed, but that was unlikely.

Naruto arrived at the doorway and examined the damage to the web. After a second he came to the conclusion that it was completely gone. Burned by a Katon jutsu probably, judging by the scorch marks. A weak one, but it was strong enough since those threads were pretty fragile. He sat down on a nearby rock and started to think up a new security system.

Before long he saw Perona flying by before she vanished and soon afterward three General zombies, Sodom, Gomorrah, and Samson dashed past with a dozen soldier zombies behind them. They would hunt those two down and make sure that the secrets they kept remained secret. In the meantime he had a doorway to design and build.

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With Haruka and Yukino

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Haruka and Yukino dashed through the trees as quickly as they could, well aware that they were probably pursued by now. They knew that Ame was closer, that was why they were headed to Taki, to throw them off. They weren't safe once they crossed the border, but they had been to Taki before and they could hopefully lose their pursuers there. Last but not least, Haruka had a contact in Takigakure, if they really needed to get away. The creatures that were sent to pursue them wouldn't venture into a Hidden Village unless absolutely necessary.

Night fell, and they still kept running, they couldn't be caught, not now. They had finally broken free from their prison, but they weren't in the clear yet. They couldn't afford to rest. They would keep running at the very least until they reached the border, at least.

There were only two problems with that plan. The first was that their pursuers did not know fatigue or the feeling of being tired. The second was that they were already being watched. Being watched by a figure swathed in a black cloak with red clouds emblazoned upon it.

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And that is the end of the chapter. What, I told you at the beginning that I would leave you on a cliffhanger didn't I? Why are you so surprised? Anyway, plot twists for all! I couldn't let everything go perfectly for out evil main character could I? That just wouldn't be any fun so I have to throw some god hand into the machine every now and again. Well, I hope I left your mouth watering for an update with that cliffhanger, and with that, good day.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	30. Chapter 30

Do I really need to say it

Do I really need to say it? Didn't that little e-mail you get every time I update tell you enough? Do I really need to come up with a clever little opening bit every time? (Sigh) You guys are so greedy. BLOODSUCKERS! ALL OF YOU! It's chapter thirty by the way.

Disclaimer: (Sob) Why? Why won't you leave me alone about this? Why don't you get the message? You fucking lawyers, screw you all. I don't own Naruto, there, now piss off!

Quick not: I just wanted to point out that this story now has over one thousand reviews! Congratulations go to TheBarefootBandit for being the thousandth reviewer. Not sure if I got his name exactly right, but it's close enough.

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Naruto Spoilers

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WHAT THE FUUUUCK!! Sorry, that was just my original reaction, Guess what bullshit Kishimoto pulled this time? Sasuke used the Amaterasu and set the Hachibi on fire. The Hachibi starts flailing around in pain and almost crushes Karin with one of his tails by accident and Sasuke slices it off with one of those Chidori shot things. Anyway, then the Amaterasu flames start to burn Karin. The flames that can burn through anything.

Now, Sasuke concentrates with his Mangekyou on and actually extinguishes them and tells Juugo to save Karin, which he does thanks to stretching his arm like twenty feet. THAT'S not ripping anything off, COUGH ONE PIECE COUGH LUFFY COUGH! Oh, sorry. My question is, HOW THE FUCK DID SHE LIVE THAT LONG!?

Then, and this is some true bullshit right here, then Sasuke puts out the flames on the HJ and guess what, HE'S FUCKING UNCONCIOUS AND STILL ALIVE! SASUKE BEAT HIM, IN HIS FULL BIJUU FORM WITH ONE MOTHER FUCKING AMATERASU!! WHAT THE FUCK! KISHIMOTO YOU MOTHER FUCKING FANBOY! Oh, and it turns out that the brother of the Hachibi Jinchuuriki is actually the current Raikage, and according to the two Kumo ninja watching the fight, he will take this personally. One MORE powerful opponent for Sasuke to magically defeat.

Oh, and Naruto gets a copy of the first book that Jiraiya wrote, the one that has the character that he was named after in it. Supposedly Jiraiya put his heart in that book. I mean figuratively in case you guys were wondering. Something tells me that either this book corresponds to the code on that toad's back or tells Naruto something emotionally important, but either way it will probably be boring shit regardless.

Sorry that went on so long, but that chapter was utter shit, Sasuke beat a fucking BIJUU, not any Bijuu but the HACHIBI, the second most powerful one, with ONE FUCKING ATTACK! Kishimoto has crossed the mother fucking line, right there. If he can beat the Hachibi that fucking easily and can control the Kyuubi, WHAT IS STOPPING HIM FROM DOING ANYTHING! THAT'S THE FUCKING PEAK, WHERE ELSE DO YOU GO FROM THERE?! Seriously, he might as well go ahead and say that Sasuke is the most powerful ninja in the world. Just go for broke and have him kill Madara, Pein, Kisame, Zetsu, and Konan all in one fight. We all know that something gay like that is going to happen. Fucking shit, beating a mother fucking Bijuu with one attack, utter horseshit.

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Summary of last chapter

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Right, long chapter, well medium chapter, short, Haruka betrayed Naruto, taking Yukino along with her. They destroyed the front door and the vault of viruses before they left. Now they have three Generals, Sodom, Gomorrah, and Samson to be precise, after them with a group of twelve soldiers in tow, and Perona is trailing them invisibly.

Oh, and the Akatsuki are there. Which one? How did he know to be there at that time? Read on and find out. PREPARE FOR A PLOT TWIST! More like an explanation for Haruka's actions last chapter, but a plot twist nonetheless. After this, no other plot twist will shock you ever again so I will take advantage of this last opportunity to shock you. ROSEBUD IS THE SLED! Read on and review at the end.

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In the forests near the Kusa/Taki border

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Haruka and Yukino still ran as fast as they could, they knew that they were pursued by now. The only question was who and how many zombies did they have with them. They knew the weakness of the zombies and had a supply of salt with them but if there was more than one General then they would probably die. Especially if Naruto called back one of the Hokage's or Ryuuma from Tanzaku-Gai. Not to mention the possibility of one of the other human members of his entourage following them, or Naruto himself. They didn't know how long they would last.

They weren't alone in that area of the forest either, two figures in black cloaks watched from a distance. Yukino was too distracted by the deadly forces undoubtedly following them to notice, but Haruka knew that they were there, she had known for a while. The strange thing is that she was totally at ease, her guard not even up. It was as if she considered them not dangerous at all.

Gradually, Haruka slowed in her stride, her breath catching. She hadn't really been the running type in the first place, that plus the fact that they had run from roughly the center of Kusa no Kuni to the border of Taki, a distance of over one hundred and fifty miles, she was quite tired out. Yukino showed some signs of fatigue, but she was a Jinchuuriki, she could handle much more than she could.

Eventually Haruka came to a stop completely, unable to go any farther. When she fell to her knees on a tree branch, Yukino was there in an instant, putting any danger to Haruka first on her list of priorities. "Are you okay Haruka-chan?" She asked, desperately hoping that she was okay.

Haruka nodded as she pulled a canteen from her bag and took a deep drought of the liquid. "I'm okay Yukino, I just need a moment to rest, that's all. Adrenaline and fatigue really don't go well together. I'll be on my feet soon enough."

Yukino nodded and stood guard, not doubting Haruka for a moment and determined to give her the time she needed to get the rest she obviously required. She wouldn't have stopped them otherwise. Yukino asked her "How many do you think he sent after us?"

Haruka sucked in another breath and after a moment said "There's no way to be sure, but there's guaranteed to be at least one General among them." Yukino simply nodded in reply, all she really could do.

Yukino, after a moment, said "Haruka, do you think that we'll get out of this?"

A normal person would say something like 'Of course we will, there isn't a doubt.' But that would be a civilian kind of answer. When a ninja asks a question like that, they want the cold hard truth, in other words, 'Do you think that we are going to die?'

After a moment, Haruka said "I'm not sure. We have some salt with us, more than enough to kill several zombies but if there's a General then there is a really good chance of us dying. Those chances are almost guaranteed if there is more than one General, and we are guaranteed to die if one of the others is sent after us. Well unless you… you know."

Yukino nodded, she knew. If she used the Rokubi, fully manifested the demon, they were all but guaranteed victory, but at a cost. The Rokubi took over when it is fully manifested, Haruka would die for sure, and there's no guarantee that Yukino would be okay afterward. That's why she used it only as the last of last resorts.

After a moment she said "So, what are the chances of more than one General coming after us?" There was a bit of fear in her voice, a note of mortality that most don't show under most circumstances.

Haruka said, after a moment, with resignation in her voice "About ninety percent, maybe more. There's a sixty percent chance of one of the three being with them as well." She was referring to the Three Enigmas, Naruto's chief adjutants in his organization, Hogback, Absalom, and Perona.

Yukino turned to Haruka after a moment of silence and said "Haruka, since we are probably not going to make it out of this, I kind of have something to tell you." There was fear in her voice now, thick with other emotions as well. She was frightened and happy at the same time for some reason.

Haruka asked "What is it?"

Yukino stuttered a little before saying "I-I- I, I just can't say it." She turned back suddenly, a few tears in her eyes. Tears of disgust for herself, not managing to take her second chance.

Before Yukino knew it, Haruka was at her side, tired but standing. She put a hand on Yukino's shoulder and said "Yukino-chan, whatever you have to say, say it. I won't think any less of you, no matter what."

That did it, hearing the compassion and friendship in Haruka's voice brought Yukino to tears. Jinchuuriki are very unstable, emotionally, it was to be expected given their upbringing. There were usually really vulnerable and needed caring for when it came to emotions, cold to the point of not being human, or insane. Yukino was of the first category apparently.

Yukino hugged Haruka close and pressed her face into Haruka's shoulder, surprising the blonde as she mumbled something into her shirt. Haruka smiled and said "What was that Yukino-chan?" Unknown to Yukino, Haruka's hand went to her belt and withdrew a needle.

Yukino just managed to say "I love you Haruka-chan." Before turning away with a red face. But inside she was cheering, she had at least managed to say the words she had wanted to for so long, in what would probably be their final minutes. The zombies had most likely caught up a lot of distance by now, since they didn't get tired. A fight was almost inevitable.

Haruka was stunned, but not for long. Somehow she always knew. She turned Yukino around, surprising the Jinchuuriki who was expecting rejection and disgust but receiving acceptance, and her eyes widened as Haruka kissed her full on the lips. Yukino melted into the kiss, but before long Haruka broke it and Yukino rested her head on the taller girl's shoulder.

Haruka said "I have something to tell you too Yukino-chan."

Yukino smiled and said "Whatever it is, it can't be bad. What is it Haruka-chan?"

Haruka just said "I'm sorry." And plunged the needle in her hand into one of Yukino's veins, releasing a powerful knock out drug into her system.

Yukino slid off of Haruka as the fast acting serum did its work. She just managed to get out "Haruka…why?" before she fell to the ground, unconscious and to remain unconscious for several days at least.

Haruka turned to the trees, not showing any of her previous signs of fatigue and shouted "I know you're there. You can come out Sasori no Danna!"

A few seconds later, a short, squat figure dropped from the trees, landing heavily on the next branch over. The figure's face was obscured by a straw hat, but she knew who it was. Akasuna no Sasori, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, puppet masters in history, S-rank Missing-nin of Sunagakure, and a member of Akatsuki. The only one with whom the loyalty of Suzushiro Haruka resided.

The figure spoke, in a deep gravelly voice. It said "Hello Haruka, it has been a long time, five years correct? I was very surprised when you moved away from Iwa, went across the world and ended up in Kusa of all places. Nor did I expect you to bring the Rokubi with you."

Then another voice sounded from the trees, from another figure whose features could not be determined. "Hmm, Zetsu is going to be pissed off when he finds out that we took his target, yeah. And it's like you said Danna, once the seal is broken and their memories restored, they go back to being loyal subordinates."

Sasori merely nodded and said and then asked Haruka "So, Haruka, what information have you garnered? What is the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki up to?"

Haruka knelt before the figure as she enunciated "The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's abilities are greater than we expected Sasori-sama. One of his more prominent abilities is the ability to steal the shadow of any person. This is done by animating the shadow and then physically slicing it away. Those who have their shadows removed automatically fall unconscious for at least two days and cannot be seen in mirrors or pictures. Also, they will dissolve upon contact with sunlight."

Sasori stayed silent, absorbing the information as he gestured for Haruka to continue.

"Also, he can place the shadow into a corpse, which will animate it. It will have all the techniques, experience, and personality of the person whose shadow he stole and be completely obedient. He has several hundred of these creatures under his command. They are created using specially prepared bodies made to be stronger than normal humans and the shadows of ninja. These are known as the 'Soldier zombies', and they rank from Mid-Chuunin to mid-Jounin in ability. There are also the 'General Zombies' which are made from specially formed bodies or the bodies of famous and powerful ninja, and animated with powerful shadows. These Generals rank from Mid-Jounin to low-Kage level. He currently has two or three hundred soldiers and six animated Generals. However, there are several General bodies waiting to be awakened, including the bodies of Momochi Zabuza and Hatake Sakumo. These creatures can take almost any amount of damage without dying. The only way to kill them is to release the shadow by feeding the zombie salt. Any other method is futile short of physically paralyzing them."

Sasori nodded, taking the information coolly. He asked "So, what are his plans and ambitions?"

Haruka frowned and said "I do not know sir. He has three people in his group, Perona, Absalom, and Hogback, which act as his Chief Adjutants. They are the only people with such knowledge. He trusts nobody else as is demonstrated by the fact that those three are allowed to command the zombies as they like, nobody else has this privilege. He also has Mitarashi Anko and Sabaku no Temari in custody."

Sasori nodded, and started to ask another question, but was interrupted by a small white, vaguely humanoid figure that soared over soundlessly and pressed itself against the back of Haruka's head. The whole thing took less than a second. Then a loud snap was heard from the surrounding area and the figure exploded violently, causing Haruka's head to erupt into a fountain of blood.

The two Akatsuki members scanned the trees, looking for a possible enemy but found nothing. They could hear some approaching figures, but they wouldn't be there for at least another five minutes.

Then a voice sounded from the trees, with no owner in sight. "Horohorohorohorohoro, foolish little girls, you should have known that you wouldn't make it. We don't tolerate traitors. Akatsuki members, be warned, if you continue to move against Naruto-sama, you will face the same fate as Suzushiro Haruka!" Then the voice faded away, as did whatever presence they sensed. Soon afterward, the figures in the distance stopped, and started going the other way.

Deidara said "I think that we should get out of here Danna. There are way too many strange things around here." He formed a bird which increased in size as Deidara jumped upon its back.

Sasori nodded as he glanced in the direction the voice had come from. Hogback, Perona, and Absalom. If he was to gain any information on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, he would have to capture one of these individuals. Sasori picked up the figure of the fallen Yukino as he jumped onto the bird. 'So be it. But I will have to spread that information about the salt.' Thought the old puppet master.

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With Naruto

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Naruto had finished constructing the new door. It wasn't much like the old one. This was constructed of a solid shadow placed over the entrance and having its color changed to fit in with the mountainside. It was rigid, and felt exactly like rock, and it could only be passed by those who wore one of his necklaces, or one of the zombies who have been animated by him and could pass through such barriers. The downside was that it was quite vulnerable to fire and lightning.

Naruto was waiting in the dining room, eating his dinner, when Perona and her forces finally returned. He was a bit worried but had faith that Perona would eliminate the threat. As soon as she returned to her body, she walked to the dining room and sat down near Naruto.

Naruto chewed the steak he was currently eating, swallowed and asked "So, what happened?" As he cut another piece of steak.

Perona took a breath and began her report "I managed to find Haruka and Yukino, though it took me some time. I expected them to flee to Ame since it was closer but they headed for Kusa instead, so I was a bit thrown off. When I finally found them, I saw Yukino unconscious and Haruka was kneeling in front of a small man in an Akatsuki cloak."

The moment she said the word 'Akatsuki', Naruto looked up. If they were involved somehow then things were a good deal more serious than he though. He nodded at her to continue as he held his glass to the waiting Rei, who filled it with wine.

Perona took a breath and went on "She was apparently giving some kind of report. There was a very good chance that she was working for this man all along. I heard her mention the names of myself, Absalom, and Hogback, she also mentioned Anko and Temari. I eliminated her immediately afterward before retreating. I don't know how long she had been giving her report, so I can't be sure how much information she gave to them. Immediately afterward, I followed standing orders and fled due to the presence of Akatsuki members and took the zombies with me. Just who was that man Naruto-kun?"

Naruto swallowed and said "If that man was who I think it was, then it was Akasuna no Sasori. He is the only Akatsuki member with the stature you mentioned. He is an S-rank Nukenin, as are all Akatsuki members, and he hails from Sunagakure. He is an excellent puppet master, one of the best in history, and he developed a rather interesting seal from what I've heard."

Naruto took a drink before continuing "The seal suppresses the memories of him and their affiliation with him. These people are always one of his subordinates which he then places into someone's organization. Years later, he breaks the seal and the person remembers their orders to meet him at a certain place at a certain time. Once there, the person will give him the information that they had gathered after several years before the seal is replaced. The seal also acts as a tracking mechanism and is completely undetectable short of dissecting the person's brain and finding the physical evidence. Very impressive stuff."

Perona thought about it for a second and said "So Haruka was one of these sleeper agents?"

Naruto nodded and said "Most likely. Her orders were probably to find information on Iwa and when it came time for them to meet, to bring Yukino with her if she could, when Sasori saw that she left Iwa, he most likely spied on her and remote activated the seal early, probably leaving directions for her to find somewhere. Either way, she found him and some information has been leaked. Yukino is in the hands of Akatsuki, correct?" Perona nodded and Naruto went on "Then we don't have to worry about her talking, her Bijuu will be gone and she will be dead within a few days."

Naruto took another sip of the red wine and said "But now comes the part of deciding where we will go."

Perona looked at him and asked "Go? Why are we leaving?"

Naruto smiled a bit and said "Perona-chan, Sasori knows that we are here, soon the rest of Akatsuki will know and we will have the lot of them attacking us at once. We will have to move, and soon. We will leave after this business with Tsunade is over, I will have a new location planned by then."

Then Naruto finished his dinner and stood, leaving Rei to push in his chair as he walked away saying "I am going back to Tanzaku-Gai. Matters there will be getting interesting there very soon." Then he stopped and thought for a second before saying "There is one good thing about all this though. We don't have to attack Iwa anymore, I really have nothing against them so that makes my to-do list a little smaller."

Perona watched as he vanished into the shadow of the wall, wondering where they would end up next, and when the Akatsuki would make their next move.

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With Tsunade

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Tsunade was thinking about what to do. Jiraiya and Gai had shown up the same day as Orochimaru, claiming that the Council wanted to maker her Hokage of all things! So, she had a choice, help Orochimaru and guarantee the destruction of Konoha, or go with Jiraiya and be bunkered down for the rest of her life with a boring and dangerous desk job.

She wasn't really sure what to do at this point. At first the choice seemed obvious, work with Orochimaru and get Nawaki and Dan back. Then Jiraiya said something that wouldn't leave her thoughts. 'What do you think Nawaki and Dan would have you do?'

She punched him through the wall when he said that but the thought simply wouldn't leave her mind. Add to that the fact that there had been a subtle tension surrounding the town. Maybe it was experience or just women's intuition but she couldn't help but think that there was something waiting out there, like a snake coiled to strike and waiting for the right moment.

She just couldn't make up her mind. Orochimaru wanted her answer tomorrow and she wasn't sure what to do. Sure, she could have Nawaki and Dan back if she helped him but what would they say to her for her decision? Would they come back at all? Orochimaru wasn't above going back on his word, so she couldn't be positive that he simply wouldn't back-stab her once he had his arms back.

And she couldn't help but think about what Dan would say, or Nawaki. She could almost hear their voices as she thought of what they would tell her, what she knew they would tell her. She just couldn't make up her mind.

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Sorry for the shorter chapter guys but such chapters are necessary from time to time. So, Haruka's true motives are revealed, Yukino is captured and Naruto doesn't care, and the Akatsuki know of the salt weakness. What shall happen as Naruto plans to make his move as the Sannin clash? Read the next chapter whenever I post it and find out!

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger


	31. Chapter 31

Welcome, one and all, this is Kage no Naruto chapter thirty one, where we finally get back to the situation in Tanzaku-Gai

Welcome, one and all, this is Kage no Naruto chapter thirty one, where we finally get back to the situation in Tanzaku-Gai. What will happen? Who knows? Well, you will once you read the chapter so you had better get started.

Note: Why did Perona run from the two Akatsuki members rather than fight them? The answer is simple, while she may have been more or less invulnerable to physical damage, Genjutsu would still affect her. She did not know the capabilities of the two Akatsuki members, she didn't even know who they were. Facing off against two people that are guaranteed to be powerful and have unknown capabilities is a very quick way to get killed. She took the better part of valor and retreated rather than fight powerful enemies with unknown abilities. It's survival instinct, and a good idea as well. Naruto would be able to identify them thanks to the book he got from Orochimaru but he hasn't had a chance to spread the knowledge just yet.

Note: Why didn't she kill Yukino since she was defenseless? See the above note. She had one sneak attack and she used it on Haruka, the greater threat. After that, Sasori and Deidara were on guard and Yukino would have been protected from Perona's attacks. She took out the important target and ran off before she was in any danger. Plus, Yukino would be killed anyway, so she wouldn't have to worry about any more information being leaked.

Third note: God, am I chatty today or what? Anyway, this is addressing an issue that several people have asked me about in reviews for several chapters now. Regarding the harem, IT IS SEALED! There will be no more people added. I have had several questions regarding the harem, such as adding Yugito or Tsunade and the answer is, universally NO! Though I will make a compromise with you Yugito fans. Since it was so close, in the next story I write, whenever that may be, Yugito will be in the pairing. Whether or not she'll be alone in that regard has yet to be decided but she will be in, guaranteed. There, now quit bugging me about a closed issue.

Fourth note: I'll make this a short one. I now have a lemon writer, some of you may already know him, but regardless. My lemon writer is kyuubi16. So, whenever you see a lemon in this story, save the one in chapter twenty one, all credit goes to him.

Disclaimer: Dear god, you people just don't get the message do you? I do not own Naruto, can you hear me? You, in the back? I don't own Naruto, stop thinking that I do god dammit!

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Summary of last chapter

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Right, Haruka knocked out Yukino and gave a report on Naruto to her real master, Sasori. However, she was cut off thanks to an exploded head courtesy of Perona. After that, Perona retreated and reported to Naruto, who is now returning to Tanzaku-Gai and planning to relocate once more after the whole Sannin business is over with.

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With Naruto, Tanzaku-Gai

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Naruto was in Tanzaku-Gai once more, now that the whole traitor business was under a measure of control. He wasn't worried about Yukino. From what Perona told him, Haruka had knocked out Yukino, betrayed her, and the Jinchuuriki knew it. If Yukino was still the same as she was when he met her, then such a betrayal would weaken her mental defenses, allowing the Rokubi to influence her more. Such influence would lead to a murderous rage like the one he found her in when Haruka died. Yukino wasn't physically strong but when enraged was a force to be reckoned with. They wouldn't have much of a choice but to seal the Bijuu immediately.

What he was more worried about was the intelligence that Haruka might have leaked before Perona got to her. If the information about the salt weakness was revealed then he had to take immediate steps to work out the weakness. Sadly, he couldn't eliminate it altogether with Fuuinjutsu. He had been trying for several years but the weakness to salt is simply built into them, there was nothing to be done. The only choice is to stop any enemies from forcibly feeding it to them. Once the salt was actually inside them, the bond between body and shadow would be broken, killing the zombie. Almost anything else would be ineffective, they would continue to live and come after the enemy as best they could.

The only question was which method to choose, which one would be the most effective. He couldn't just sew their mouths shut, any zombie could find vital information that needed to be conveyed, it simply wasn't an option. There was a possibility of fitting them with filters such as those that Ame ninja wear, but he didn't know how to make them, and he knew that Amegakure didn't sell them , they were very secretive. Perhaps just use a bunch of face masks and be done with it, that might be best. Naruto stood up from the chair he was sitting in and looked out across the town from the window, detesting the sunrise that indicated morning. He would have to think about it later, he had more important things to do at the moment. Such as thinking up a new location for his base of operations.

Naruto looked over at the three beds in the room, two of which were inhabited by Haku and Absalom. Haku had simply gone to sleep after he left and she finished her book, and Absalom had simply arrived after the hot springs closed, late at night, and went to sleep. Naruto sat down again and thought, 'Where would be the best position? It would have to be out of the way, hidden, unknown of by most people if not everyone, and have easy access to the world. But where would that BE!?'

Naruto was quite irked by this, although he detested the hot temperatures that Gobi's cave had and the humidity of the jungle outside, it was a well hidden place that had access to many other places via major roads. Kusa no Kuni was a major trading country so it had quick access to a lot of places and a lot of resources. Their goods mostly included rare chemicals and concoctions made from very rare plants that grew only in Kusa no Kuni, or were simply difficult to make. Poisons made from such plants went to Kusagakure and there alone. It was one of the reasons that Kusa ninja were feared. But where would he find someplace with similar conditions…and preferably a lower temperature.

Naruto fumed over this for quite a while, mentally going over the maps of the Elemental countries that he had long since memorized in search of a suitable location, but he could think of nothing. There were a few such locations but he knew that they were already occupied. He could take them but then that would pretty much broadcast his location since most of those locations were used as hideouts for large organizations, and one or two belonged to Akatsuki, which he wanted to avoid at all costs at this point.

After a few more minutes of frustration, an answer came to him. It came in the form of a breathy alto voice in his mind, one that he hadn't heard in quite some time. 'Perhaps I have the answer to your problems, kit.'

Naruto was a bit shocked, Kyuubi hadn't talked to him in quite some time, she preferred to observe more than get directly involved, and he rarely asked her questions since they tended to aggravate her. But still, he was more than willing to accept her advice. He thought back to the imprisoned demon 'What do you have in mind?'

A few moments later, Naruto grinned fiercely, a bit stunned at the location that Kyuubi had sent him. Such a place, if it was where Kyuubi said it was, it was absolutely PERFECT! And so his choice was made, when the business with the Sannin was over, he would go and inspect it, and then his little army would have a nice, new and hidden home.

But in the meantime…. Naruto looked out the window and saw Tsunade walking toward the ruined castle. In the meantime, he had a future Hokage to eliminate. He briskly walked over and woke up Haku and Absalom. A few moments of grumbling later and the three departed from the room. They kept their distance and followed Tsunade from afar, keeping watch over the meeting as Orochimaru appeared before her.

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With Tsunade

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Tsunade walked over to the place where she agreed to meet Orochimaru and waited patiently. She had thought it over and she had made her choice. The choice was simply to help Orochimaru and almost guarantee Konoha's destruction, go with Jiraiya and become Hokage, or run for it.

She gave the third one some serious thought, but she decided against it. Orochimaru might have been pathetic at times but if he found her once he would eventually find her again, and he might not be more or less alone the next time. She wasn't that worried about herself though she would be in danger, but she had to think of Shizune as well, and she would be almost guaranteed to die if Orochimaru turned his sights on her for some reason.

Then there was Jiraiya, he may have been a perverted old man, but his spy network is vast and wide. Wherever she decided to run to, he would hear of it and come running. She would be found and it probably wouldn't take too long either. The choice was clear, running simply wasn't an option.

So, she had a choice, Jiraiya or Orochimaru? Konoha's death or salvation. The choice was immense and not at all easy. You can't really understand until you've had the lives of thousands in your hand. She watched her ex-teammate appear in a small explosion of smoke with that medic next to him. He wasn't sure who he was but he was probably a Jounin. She would simply have to hope that he wasn't experienced enough to get in the way.

Orochimaru chuckled a little and held out his arms. "So, you decided to agree with my offer then Tsunade? Excellent. Mind you, the jutsu will require two human sacrifices so I must assume that you have them elsewhere. No matter, once I have my arms back I will be more than grateful to accompany you to them. Let us get this over with Tsunade, shall we?"

Tsunade merely nodded at the old snake and held her hands about two feet apart as a pale green chakra formed between them, creating a bubble of chakra around her hands. She walked forward and moved it forward so that Orochimaru's hands would be enveloped in the energy.

It was then that the medical ninja acted. He had eyed the chakra bubble suspiciously ever since it formed. Something just didn't seem right about it. Then, in a flash, he realized what it was and rushed forward yelling "Orochimaru-sama!" as he crashed into the snake ninja. Orochimaru was flung aside and Tsunade's hands made contact with the medical ninja's chest.

The moment that green glow touched his skin, he twitched suddenly and grabbed the area Tsunade touched as he fell to the ground. After a moment, it was apparent that he was dead.

Orochimaru looked at the fallen medic and then at his former teammate as the green glow around her hands vanished. After a second, he realized just what must have happened. "So" He snarled "You decided to betray me instead Tsunade? A very foolish choice. Even in my weakened condition, I should be more than a match for you. You will regret your treachery."

Tsunade looked at Orochimaru with anger in her eyes as she yelled "The only one who is going to pay is you Orochimaru!" Then Orochimaru jumped back to the top of the wall behind him as Tsunade smashed the stonework where Orochimaru's head was a few moments ago.

Feeling the stone crumbling beneath him, Orochimaru jumped back, retreating to the branch of a tree as he retreated once more. He knew that fighting Tsunade in closed quarters was near suicide. He had to lure her into the open.

Naruto, Haku, and Absalom watched in silence as the blonde chased Orochimaru further away from the town. Naruto silently rose and jumped across the way, following them discreetly. Haku and Absalom did the same, following his lead.

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Random plain outside of Tanzaku-Gai

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Orochimaru and Tsunade eventually stood facing each other on a large grassy plain. You could see the path that they had taken from the town as a trail of large craters where Tsunade's fist had barely missed Orochimaru as he slipped away. Orochimaru was panting lightly, while Tsunade wasn't fazed at all. She had expected a similar turn of events. She just hoped that the idiot known as Jiraiya didn't come after them. Most of his wounds were healed, but that one cut in his side still needed some time. She had slipped him a drug that affects chakra and chakra control in hopes of discouraging him further. She didn't need to drag a wounded man into this.

Orochimaru panted a bit more, his condition and decaying body taking a rather large toll on him. Then, he did something that Tsunade didn't expect. He smiled. He hissed out, in a malicious tone "Tsunade, is it you who was chasing me here, or me who was leading you here?"

Tsunade heard that line and almost immediately realized what had happened. Orochimaru chuckled a little and loudly said "Come out, all of you, and be sure that she can see you."

Answering to their master's call, human figures appeared in the grass nearby. At first there were only two or three. Then more joined their number. Before long twelve Shinobi wearing the symbol of Otogakure stood alongside Orochimaru. Said snake laughed a little at Tsunade and said "Did you really think that I would come to you without expecting betrayal? What do you think I was doing for the last two days?"

Tsunade took a slightly different Taijutsu stance; this one meant more for battling multiple enemies than a single foe, re-evaluating her chances all the while. If they were all Jounin then there was a very real chance of her dying. With Orochimaru there, she couldn't afford to take her eyes off of him. He may have been a pedophiliac Cobra Commander wannabe but he was still one of the Sannin and for good reason. Among the best of the best he was second class, but that still made him quite powerful. A turned back to someone of that level would be more deadly than chugging a gallon of cyanide.

Tsunade worked quickly, flashing through odds and statistics before coming to a conclusion. Twelve Jounin and Orochimaru, albeit wounded, against her and her alone left her with far from ideal odds. In all honesty, her chances of outright victory were about four percent. Her chances of being killed in battle were about seventy percent, though she would take several of the Jounin with her. There was a twelve percent chance of her being captured alive, and a fourteen percent chance of escaping, just running for it. Less than ideal odds.

Orochimaru smiled and said "Now then, perhaps you would be so kind as to accompany us to my base. I am sure that we would be able to work out some kind of agreement beneficial to us both once we've had a little time to talk. If you don't come with us than something, unfortunate, may occur." Translation: _Come with us willingly and heal my arms and maybe I will let you live afterwards. Or you can die right here._

Tsunade had a choice, heal Orochimaru or fight for her life. She already knew what her choice was. Tsunade smiled brightly, mocking her old teammate as she said "Orochimaru, the only unfortunate thing that could possibly happen here today is you slithering out of her alive!" Then she darted forward, closing the distance quickly.

Orochimaru hissed out "Take her alive!" Then the Jounin scattered, seeking to surround her. Well, all but one. Perhaps he was new, or perhaps he didn't know what Tsunade was capable of, but he dashed forward to meet her head on. That didn't last long, Tsunade blocked the feeble, by her standards, punch and knocked his head off, literally.

Losing one of their number didn't seem to cause any dismay to the rest of the squad, they rained kunai and shuriken upon the female Sannin, aiming at her legs and arms, hoping to disable or cripple her. Unfortunately for them, she wasn't one of the Sannin for nothing. The projectiles were easily dodged before she pumped chakra into her legs, sending her speeding forward toward another Jounin, hoping to get into close combat.

However, this Jounin was not as stupid as his late comrade in arms. He knew when to get the hell out of dodge and this was it. He moved back, getting some distance between him and Tsunade, relying on some covering fire from his comrades to keep her back, which was provided. Tsunade stopped in her tracks to avoid getting pierced by the weapons, and dodged aside almost immediately, narrowly avoiding getting strangled courtesy of Orochimaru's tongue. Before the long muscle could retreat into Orochimaru's mouth, Tsunade took advantage of the opportunity it provided.

She grabbed Orochimaru's lengthened tongue, albeit grudgingly, and swung him around, loving the surprised look on his face all the while. She actually managed to hit one of the Jounin with his body before bringing it up and smashing it against one of the large rocks that littered the ground. Then she darted forward toward the fallen Jounin. His comrades threw weaponry to try and prevent her from getting to him, but she grabbed one of the kunai from the air and knocked the others aside. She quickly reached the stunned ninja and crushed his head underfoot with a super powered stomp. That was quite messy, but it got the job done and quickly.

Then she looked over to the supposedly fallen Orochimaru only to see what she expected, a mass of mud. Orochimaru wouldn't have been dumb enough to attack himself. It was quite fortunate for the snake that he had mastered the Tsuchi Bunshin to the point where he no longer required handseals to perform it, a benefit of decades of practice and his powerful Earth elemental affinity. Still though, that was the only jutsu he could do without handseals.

While Tsunade killed the second ninja, the remaining Oto ninja gathered into a rough circle around her. Eight of them performed several handseals and launched multiple jutsu of various elements toward her while the other two did the exact same thing, try to lock her in a Genjutsu. To be specific, the Nehan Shouja no jutsu, the Temple of Nirvana Technique that put the victim to sleep.

With various elemental Ninjutsu aimed at her and coming in quickly, she had to do her best to resist the Genjutsu while she got out of the way. Sadly for the Oto ninja, Tsunade had some of the best chakra control in the world, and that made it very difficult to catch her in a Genjutsu. She broke it like a flimsy paper chain and took the opportunity to send a fist into the ground, thus creating a large crater.

This crater shook the ground and destabilized the surrounding terrain, causing a few of the Jounin to stumble. Surprised by this unexpected tactic they were quite vulnerable, Tsunade took advantage of this. She pulled the kunai she stole from the place she had kept it in her belt and threw it into the skull of one unlucky ninja, reducing the count from ten to nine. A second later a decent sized stone went through the head of another staggered ninja. Tsunade's strength also made projectiles quite deadly, although it was difficult to time the release of force precisely.

Tsunade jumped away from the remaining ninja, taking in her position. She was doing a good deal better than she expected she would, she apparently hadn't lost her touch. Although the fact that these supposed Jounin weren't very tough compared to Konoha's brand definitely had something to do with it. Her main problem at this point was Orochimaru, he was simply nowhere to be found.

Her question was soon answered as the Jounin charged once more and Orochimaru surged from the ground, Kusanagi first. Either he had an antidote for his own poison for later, or he had given up on Tsunade helping him and decided to kill her. Either way, it didn't matter. Tsunade dodged the blade, albeit barely, and sent a powerful kick at Orochimaru's ribs, hoping to shatter them. Once more however, it proved to be a Tsuchi Bunshin. Her lack of attention for the Jounin approaching was quickly rewarded with a kunai in the arm.

Tsunade grimaced in pain and jumped back, pulling out the knife and using it to knock three more out of the air. She panted a bit at the sight of two of them doing handseals as the others drew another brace of weaponry. She took the moment to re-evaluate her position again. That cut was pretty deep, actually cutting into her bicep muscle and lowering her attack strength in her right arm. In addition to that she had eight more Jounin to deal with along with a maimed Orochimaru who was nowhere to be seen.

Still, she wouldn't go with Orochimaru willingly, nor would she go down without a fight. She leapt toward one of the large boulders that littered the ground and with a chakra enhanced kick, sent it flying toward the Jounin not unlike a catapult. The Jounin scattered before the large stone and Tsunade took that opportunity to complete the string of handseals she began when she kicked the stone, sending a ball of flame to roast one of the Jounin.

The ninja in question rolled on the ground, trying desperately to put out the flames that had burnt his clothes and had started to burn his skin. One of his fellows turned to assist him with a weak Suiton jutsu, but that was a fatal mistake. You should NEVER turn your back to an S-class ninja under any circumstances. This Jounin learned that with a kunai to the neck. Tsunade stomped the ground again, causing a chasm to open beneath the flaming ninja. Said ninja then fell into the cleft in the rock, hitting his head upon the hard stone at the bottom before going still. Now there were six.

The Jounin gathered in a line with a decent amount of space between them as several of them launched various projectiles toward her, the others prepared Ninjutsu.

The ones who threw the kunai threw them like true professionals. Two groups came to either side of her, preventing exit that way as another volley came straight at her. She took the only way she could, up…and that was a mistake. While she was in the air, she avoided the kunai and shuriken, but she was almost completely unable to dodge, leaving her at the mercy of those with Ninjutsu prepared

As the two ninja were about to launch a pair of fireballs toward the old woman, the sound of salvation came. A cry of "Konoha Dai Senpuu!" alerted the people there to the arrival of a new ninja. And he just killed the two Jounin about to attack Tsunade.

Tsunade landed as Gai stood in the space previously occupied by the now dead Oto Jounin. Before long Jiraiya and Shizune appeared too, Shizune looking exhausted and Jiraiya weakened. Apparently those Genjutsu lessons Tsunade gave her apprentice had not gone to waste.

Tsunade smiled genuinely at the sight. She had just re-evaluated the chances and her chances of outright victory just jumped up some more to a grand total of seventy five percent. These ninja were going down once and for all.

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With Naruto

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But where was Naruto during all this? Where was our main character during this epic battle? He was right there all the while, and he wasn't alone. He sat in a chair of darkness, with Absalom's hand on one shoulder. Haku, Ryuuma, Hashirama, and Hokushin, now returned from the forests, all kept a hand on Absalom and the beast man kept the six of them completely invisible.

Naruto watched the fight with joy, smiling widely as he sipped some extremely sweetened tea. The more the Sannin fought, the weaker they would be at the end of the battle. The weaker they were, the easier it would be for Naruto and his group to finish things up. Naruto would order his subordinates to strike the moment the victor was decided. Whoever won the battle of the Sannin, whatever happened, they would all lose in the end.

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Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and in commemoration of chapter thirty, which I forgot to do last chapter, here is another Omake. Get used to them every ten chapters or so.

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Omake: The average SasuHina story on

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Sasuke is walking down the streets of Konoha, minding his own emo business, when Hinata comes out of nowhere and grabs onto his arm.

Hinata: Oh, Sasuke-kun, I just realized how hot you are and you trying to kill the man I loved until now is SUCH a turn-on to me.

Sasuke: Want to go have sex?

Hinata: Oh god yes.

(Insert lame, fangirl induced SasuHina lemon)

Part of dialogue extracted from lemon:

Sasuke: This is my first time with a woman

Hinata: Oh, I didn't know you were a virgin Sasuke-kun.

Sasuke: Who said I was a virgin? I just said that this was my first time with a woman.

THAT'S ABOUT IT!

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Right, I hope you all enjoyed the Omake, and the chapter in general. Why did I leave off right there? Because I love to leave you guys on cliff-hangers, it's like cocaine for writers. Anyway, review and enjoy.

Oh, and to those offended by my immense and justified dislike of SasuHina, a pairing that could never realistically happen in any sort of satisfying setting, feel free to try and justify SasuHina to me in a PM. WARNING: THOSE WHO ATTEMPT TO CONVINCE ME THAT SASUHINA IS A WORKABLE PAIRING WILL HAVE THEIR PM'S LAUGHED AT, BEFORE AND AFTER THEY ARE SHOT DOWN LIKE A DUCK IN SEASON. Good Luck!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	32. Chapter 32

Welcome one and all to Chapter thirty two of Kage no Naruto

Welcome one and all to Chapter thirty two of Kage no Naruto! Here, the fight I started last chapter will be continued as Naruto watches in joy as his enemies weaken each other. Who shall win? Who shall lose? Who shall die? Read the damn thing and find out, unless I leave you with another cliff-hanger, in which case you're stuck till next chapter!

Note: It has been brought to my attention that I forgot something last chapter, Tsunade's hemophobia, or fear of blood. Right, I will be honest and say that I genuinely forgot about it, it has been a while since I've seen the Tsunade retrieval arc in the original Naruto. So, do me a favor and forgive me on that one. I'll show a believable reason as to why she doesn't have it. Moving on….

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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I'll keep this short and sweet since, in all honesty, nothing really happened in this chapter, it was boring as fuck.

Long story short, Naruto reads that book of Jiraiya's and gets all teary eyed and emo about it for some reason. Flashback with Naruto and Jiraiya talking about how to gain peace and all that, then things return, once again, to the emo queen herself, I mean himself, Sasuke.

Basically he tells Madara that the whole thing about killing only the elders of Konoha was something he just told his team, he really intends to kill every man, woman, and child. Then he goes on an emo rant about how they would feel his hatred, and he would have revenge on Konoha and all that bullshit. Then he walks off. He's planning to attack Konoha once everybody's wounds are healed from the last battle.

Then things get slightly interesting at the last two pages. They show the Raikage, and apparently a Kumo ANBU is tracking Sasuke. Now the Raikage is all pissed off at the Akatsuki and is planning to go down and kick some ass. Who wants to bet that Sasuke manages to somehow beat him like it was nothing? If I were you, I wouldn't bet a pound.

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END OF SPOILERS

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Disclaimer: If you think I own Naruto, then you are insulting me horribly.

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Summary of last chapter

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Tsunade betrayed Orochimaru and he led her out of town, into an ambush by a dozen Oto ninja. She defeated six of them while keeping Orochimaru at bay, and Gai arrived and killed two more as Jiraiya and Shizune arrived as well. Meanwhile, Naruto, Haku, Absalom, and the three Generals watch in silence, waiting for the winner so they know who their target is. Then there was an awesome Omake. READ ON!

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Plain outside of Tanzaku-Gai

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Tsunade of the Sannin stood on a large grassy plain, before her stood four Oto Jounin. Behind them stood Jiraiya of the Sannin, her assistant Shizune, and Maito Gai, one of the strongest Jounin in Konoha. Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen. The Jounin weren't sure what to do, they had deadly enemies on both sides and if they stayed still they were screwed.

Tsunade didn't wait for them to make up their minds on what to do, she ran forward and crashed her fist into the jaw of one of the ninja, chattering the bones and taking him out of the battle if he was still alive. The ninja closest to him now attacked Tsunade with a small fire jutsu, but it was avoided and the ninja was met with a kunai to his forehead courtesy of Shizune.

Gai and Jiraiya however attacked the last two Jounin. A ferocious kick from Gai snapped the neck of one of the two, while Jiraiya simply slit the throat of the other one with a fast swipe of a kunai. This entire process took less than a minute.

Then Jiraiya looked over at the Jounin that Tsunade had disabled, who was rolling around on the floor holding his jaw, and tossed a kunai into his throat, finishing the ninja off very quickly.

Then the four spread out a bit, making sure they were on their guard. Orochimaru was still there, the only question was where. Did he run off, or did he stay for some reason? They stayed on their guards and hoped to avoid a surprise attack.

Then, Tsunade heard a very bad noise. The sound of handseals coming from over a nearby hill. She sprinted to the top and looked down only to see another Oto ninja, one that did not appear with the others doing handseals while Orochimaru had blood smeared upon the tattoo upon his left arm. Orochimaru looked up and smiled at the sight as the ninja finished his handseals and slammed his hands upon the ground, resulting in symbols forming in the blood and an extremely large burst of smoke.

Tsunade jumped back and the others immediately looked up at the enormous cloud of smoke, all of them knowing exactly what it meant. Before the smoke cleared, Tsunade and Jiraiya did the exact same thing. They bit their thumbs, smeared blood upon their hands, and went through five handseals before touching their hands to the ground, resulting in large bursts of smoke.

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With Naruto

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Naruto saw the turn of events and took immediate action. It was NOT a good idea to be on the ground during a fight between Boss Summons. He molded the darkness of his own shadow, spreading it into a sheet beneath him and his group. It stayed in contact with Absalom so it was completely invisible.

When the new platform covered the ground they were standing on, it lifted into the air, getting them all off the ground while Absalom kept them from being detected. The Generals and Absalom were completely stoic to this, but Haku was a bit surprised by the sudden lift into the air and grabbed Naruto's shoulder since that was the only part of him she could reach without letting go of Absalom as well.

Naruto flinched slightly at the contact. Haku's improving mastery of her bloodline had a few unexpected side effects regarding her own body temperature. She was currently ten degrees colder than normal humans, her hands constantly chilled. It didn't bother her at all which was to be expected but still it could be unpleasant and surprising sometimes. Hell, if she kept improving her average body temperature would probably continue to decrease to the point where her breath could be seen.

Naruto put the thoughts of Haku out of his mind and looked down upon the vanishing smoke. As he expected, three large creatures had appeared, Gamabunta, Manda, and Katsuyu, the three Boss Summons of the Densetsu no Sannin. Naruto couldn't lie, it was an impressive sight. He watched the turn of events like a hawk, waiting for exactly the right moment to strike.

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With the Sannin

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Gamabunta looked at the situation he was suddenly forced into. Honestly, can't a giant toad have dinner with his wife in peace? After a moment he said "Manda and Orochimaru, Katsuyu and Tsunade. The six of us all together attain, do you have a hankerchief Jiraiya, I might cry."

Jiraiya just smiled grimly and said "Huh, you old fool. This isn't time for nostalgia. This time we're ending this petty rivalry once and for all!"

Katsuyu simply watched in silence, prepared to obey the orders of her lady.

Manda looked at the other two Boss Summons and said "Orochimaru, why have you dragged me here? You know how much I dislike being summoned!"

The Sound Jounin who assisted Orochimaru is summoning Manda shakily said "Please, Manda-sama, do not be angry, we will be more than happy to-"

Manda interrupted "Shut up you insignificant bug! I was talking to Orochimaru; if you speak out of turn again in the presence of your superiors then I will eat you myself!"

Orochimaru merely stayed silent before the anger of the gigantic snake. Summoning Manda was an extremely risky move. If Manda found out about his injuries then he would not hesitate to eat him and his servant before departing again. He had to agree to Manda's price and hopefully let him win the battle without getting into heavy combat himself.

Manda looked at Gamabunta and said "Very well Orochimaru, I will help you, but my services will require one hundred human sacrifices!"

Orochimaru simply nodded, agreeing to Manda's price. He had paid steeper prices in the past for Manda's aid.

Gamabunta drew out his enormous Tanto a few inches and said "Oh joy, what luck, I've always wanted a snake skin wallet."

Manda turned to the gigantic amphibian and said "Wait just a moment and you'll wish you'd never been born you stinking toad!"

At that moment, without any visible prompt from Tsunade, Katsuyu raced forward and said "Zetsushi Nensan!" Just as she spayed a large amount of an off-yellow liquid toward the large purple snake.

The Serpent however was swift and quickly slithered out of the way of the liquid which immediately started burning through the ground.

Then, Manda had wrapped himself around Katsuyu fast as thought, constricting the slug as he hissed "I'll start with you." Then, as soon as he said it, he moved his head back to avoid being impaled by Gamabunta's Tanto, which he then clenched his jaw down upon to prevent the toad from taking it back for another strike.

At the same time, Manda was also increasing the pressure put on Katsuyu, crushing the enormous slug. Then Tsunade gave her summon the okay, and Katsuyu burst into hundreds of smaller slugs, which slithered away from the gigantic snake.

Manda regained the balance he lost when Katsuyu burst and reaffirmed his hold on Gamabunta's sword, yanking it from the toad's grasp and tossing it straight at its owner.

Gamabunta jumped back and to the side, avoiding the gigantic blade which stuck into the ground. Jiraiya shouted "'Bunta, oil!"

Gamabunta nodded and after a moment spewed forth a torrent of oil, just in time to be caught by Jiraiya's fire jutsu, resulting in a gargantuan firestorm heading in Manda's direction. Gamabunta watched in satisfaction as the flames consumed the snake.

Jiraiya said to the toad "This isn't over yet, that was too easy." Then, he was proved right as the smoke cleared revealing a gigantic burning snake skin. Manda shed his skin and avoided the flames.

After a while the ground started rumbling. "Gamabunta!" Jiraiya shouted.

"I know" replied the enormous toad, knowing what the tremors meant, keeping a close eye on the ground. His diligence was rewarded when the ground in front of him exploded and a sinuous length of purple darted from it, only to be caught in Gamabunta's hands. This however, was nothing more than Manda's tail.

"His tail!?" Shouted Jiraiya as the ground BEHIND Gamabunta exploded, revealing the head of Manda darting forward, fangs revealed and prepared to stick into Gamabunta's vulnerable back.

Gamabunta was helpless as Manda's fangs drew closer. The great serpent was about to bite down as something interfered with his attack.

That interference came in the form of Gamabunta's short sword, wielded by Tsunade in her enormous strength, to come crashing down through the top of Manda's head, piercing upper and lower jaw and pinning its mouth shut. "HAH!" Tsunade yelled from the top of the hilt.

Orochimaru however was lamenting his bad judgment. Fighting one of his two former comrades would have been hard enough, but fighting two was a very bad move, especially in his current condition. He decided on a plan of attack and acted upon it, his tongue shooting from his mouth and reaching forward until it wrapped around Tsunade's throat, fast as thought.

Orochimaru smiled as Tsunade grasped at the tongue that was closing her airway and strangling her. Jiraiya was too far away to make any difference. 'I have often wondered what it would be like to wring your neck Tsunade, it looks like I've finally got my chance.'

Tsunade's thoughts were racing. 'How long? How many more seconds can I keep this up?' She was tired. She hadn't fought anyone in over five years, at least not at this level, and her skills had somewhat atrophied due to lack of practice. Her chakra capacity had also shrunk quite a bit, and it was starting to come back and bite her. She was tired and weary after fighting those Oto Jounin, and she still had to contend with Orochimaru. She could release her seal, but that would only serve to shorten her life at this point. The time where it would have been useful had passed. She did her best and struggled, managing to get one of her arms under the tongue, and soon she pried the long muscle from around her neck, holding it in a tight grip.

Orochimaru was shocked as all hell as Tsunade employed some of her monstrous strength and pulled Orochimaru from the ground, through the air toward her. Tsunade yanked her former teammate into the air before her and brought her fist crashing into his jaw, sending him flying backwards.

Tsunade panted heavily as she fought the urge to fall to her knees for a brief rest. If that had been at full strength the strike probably would have killed Orochimaru, but she was tired and weary, she couldn't muster the chakra required for such a powerful blow at this point. She had used a lot on the hits that didn't connect as she chased Orochimaru to the field, and then even more to deal with the Jounin, and then a massive amount to summon Katsuyu. She didn't have much chakra left at that point.

She recovered enough, and reached out to grab the tip of Orochimaru's retreating tongue, pulling the serpentine ninja toward her, and then flinging him into the air.

She jumped into the air and landed a few quick blows on her former comrade, they were chakra enforced but not to the point where they could shatter the ground as usual. She simply couldn't send out massive strikes like that at this point, she had to preserve as much chakra as possible.

However, that was not enough as her punches got weaker and eventually she fell to her knees on the gigantic sword, Orochimaru dangling over the side, still conscious yet wounded.

Katsuyu watched as her summoner fought and saw what was happening to her. 'She has reached her limits, she cannot go on much longer.'

Tsunade was amazed that the battle hadn't ended yet. 'After all of that, all of those blows that I landed, he's STILL conscious!? What do I have to do to finish this bastard off!?'

Orochimaru realized that Tsunade was at her limit and smiled despite his bad position. "Everyone has their limits Tsunade." He said "Even you are not exempt from that rule."

Tsunade growled as she yanked him toward her again "SHUT UP!" She yelled as she landed another blow to his stomach and sent him flying down to earth, jumping after him soon afterward.

She reached Orochimaru in the air and rained punches upon him. 'I can't rest' she thought as she pummeled him 'I can't let up for even a second! I have to keep going and end this bastard! He's too big of a threat to me, Shizune, and my grandfather's village! I have to end him HERE!' As she thought that, she put more chakra into a punch that connected square with Orochimaru's jaw, hitting him hard enough to peel away the fake skin that covered his stolen face.

"Orochimaru-sama!" shouted the Oto Jounin, who had been too scared to even move in this enormous battle. His cry did little, but it did awake Orochimaru from the blacked out state he entered before.

Orochimaru landed on one of Manda's horns, Tsunade behind him as he ducked a punch from her, using the opportunity to dash away from the fallen snake.

"You won't escape! This isn't over yet!" Shouted Tsunade as she ran after Orochimaru, jumping into the air and landing in front of him as she threw another punch. This one however was sidestepped, though she hit him with a backhanded punch with her other arm. Orochimaru dodged the next two kicks and jumped back, only to be followed by Tsunade as she rained more punches upon him, launching him slightly into the air with a kick.

Orochimaru's tongue flashed from his mouth, wrapping around the waist of Tsunade, who had jumped into the air to follow him. With her arms pinned to her sides, Orochimaru retracted his tongue, rushing forward through the air as the Kusanagi emerged from his mouth over his tongue, aimed at Tsunade's heart. This blade was stopped however, Tsunade kicked the blade to the side, resulting in her sandal getting cut, but she avoided getting skewered.

Tsunade forced herself free as she fell to her feet, dashing forward to punch Orochimaru again. She went forward and continued landing punches on Orochimaru, thinking all the while. 'I keep pounding him and pounding him, but something's wrong. WHY DON'T I FEEL LIKE I'M GETTING ANYWHERE!?' She mentally screamed as she punched him once again.

She landed two more punches before she launched him into the air with a third, jumping up to kick him back to the ground.

Orochimaru skidded to a stop on his hands and knees while Tsunade panted a distance away, trying to regain her breath and gather the chakra needed to finish him off.

Orochimaru shakily stood up as Tsunade stalked towards him. 'No matter.' She thought as she went through several handseals, creating a familiar blue glow around her right hand. All of her chakra was gathered into her right hand.

"THIS IS OVER!" She shouted as she ran forward to the exhausted Orochimaru and slammed her fist right into his jaw, sending him flying back. He slammed into the hilt of Gamabunta's sword and went still.

The Jounin looked on in shock at his fallen master. Tsunade wielded insane strength and he took the full brunt of it. His musings were cut short however as Gai, who had been standing on the sidelines until now since he lacked a summon, jumped into his peripheral vision and with one swift kick, snapped the man's neck.

Jiraiya, who had let Tsunade finish the battle since he was in hardly any condition to fight, said to Gamabunta "It's finally over." Gamabunta just nodded as he eyed the fallen, defeated Orochimaru.

Manda spoke through the blade pinning him to the ground. "Orochimaru you made me clumsy and careless. I'd eat you now but I won't be eating solid food for months thanks to this hole. But if we meet again…well you had better hope that we don't!" And with those parting words, the lord of the snakes vanished in a large gust of smoke, leaving Gamabunta's sword in the ground.

Tsunade fell to her knees as she watched the fading smoke, panting loudly as Shizune came to her side.

Jiraiya gasped as the smoke began to clear. It revealed a standing figure, slightly hunched, but breathing.

Orochimaru stood roughly where he fell. His voice sounded, raspy but clear. "Tsunade, you refuse to heal my arms despite what I have offered you? Fine, I do not require you, there is one other way to revive my arms." Then Orochimaru lifted his head, revealing a large patch of skin missing. Behind that skin was skin of a different color, the face of another person. "I will destroy Konoha! I hope we can meet once more when I have my arms back. But until then my dear old friends." Then Orochimaru began to sink into the ground.

Jiraiya made to leap forward but he felt an icy pain in his side. He looked down and saw red had stained his jacket. He grimaced as he realized that the exertions of the battle must have re-opened his wound.

Orochimaru's last words as he faded away into the ground were "When I return with my arms intact, I will show you the power of TRUE IMMORTALITY!" and then the snake Sannin was gone.

Tsunade tried to stand but stumbled. Shizune was there in a moment and started tending to her. Gai went over and helped Jiraiya to the two healers as Gamabunta and Katsuyu vanished.

After a few seconds though, Shizune stopped her healing and everybody looked over at one place. The reason they turned to that spot was because there was noise emanating from there. Specifically, the noise of clapping hands.

The Sannin and their entourage looked in surprise as six people materialized from nowhere. One looked like a cross between man and beast, which Jiraiya and Gai immediately recognized as the man who hurt Kiba and Neji. The second was a young girl who nobody recognized, the third and fourth were familiar to everyone there as they were quite famous. The Shodaime and Niidaime Hokages, looking exactly as they did when they were alive, only the Niidaime had two blades of metal through his belt instead of the Raijin and they both had a patchwork of stitches across their bodies. Their skin lacked any sort of healthy glow and they could have been dead if they weren't moving however slightly.

The fifth person was only recognized by Jiraiya, the samurai who attacked him in the Konoha woods and gave him the very injury that was afflicting him at this very moment.

The sixth and final person of the group was the one recognized by Gai and Jiraiya only. He sat in a chair formed of an inky black material, and wore a black trench coat and strange hat with its slightly glossed brim that made it hard to look him in the face. That was the man who was clapping.

"Bravo, bravo, an excellent battle as to be expected of the Densetsu no Sannin, even though they have aged."

Uzumaki Naruto looked the four people in the eye, one by one, fangs poked past his lips as he smiled when he looked upon the severely weakened Tsunade. "Now then, what will you do now, oh great members of the Densetsu no Sannin? What will you do now?"

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Okay, that is the end of chapter thirty two. I know, I'm evil to leave you where I did, but do you really think that a saint could write something like this? I'm not sure if I shouldn't just delay the next chapter simply to torture you all, oh the possibilities! Anyway, review, leave me your thoughts and comments, and wait in constant anxiety for the next chapter to arrive!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	33. Chapter 33

It's a bird

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Kage no Naruto chapter thirty three! Here it is, the chapter you guys have been waiting for and can hardly wait to read. The one where Naruto and Co. ambush Jiraiya and Tsunade. Who shall win the battle? Who shall survive the battle? Who shall gain what they want or lose something dear? Why the hell are you reading this rather than reading the chapter? If you read the chapter then you might know the answers to these questions!

Note: One thing that I messed up on last chapter. Gai does have a summon contract, the turtles tortoises whatever, but anyway, it doesn't really matter in a battle like that unless you can bring out a boss summon, hence he stayed out of the fight.

Second Note: Some of you guys are probably going to hate me after this chapter, by the time you read the entire thing, you'll know why.

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Naruto. Zodd is still kicking the shit out of Kishimoto but he hasn't given up the rights yet. Give me time people!

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Summary of last chapter

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Tsunade kicked Orochimaru's ass, simple as that. They had just started healing their wounds when Naruto and his chosen entourage made their appearance. Who shall win this epic battle? Didn't we just go over this? Read the damn thing and you'd know already!

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Plain outside of Tanzaku-Gai

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The four of them could not have been more shocked if you linked them up to a city power grid. They thought that they were in the clear only to have a group of enemies appear out of literally nowhere. Gai and Jiraiya didn't know what to say. They had been hoping that the information that blonde girl let slip was false, and that Naruto had nothing to do with them, but here he was, obviously at ease with the beast man's presence. Also, there were the undead creatures which only Jiraiya recognized as undead. Everybody already knew who they were, who DIDN'T know who the Shodaime and Niidaime were?

Naruto chuckled a bit at the sight. "Two of the Densetsu no Sannin, absolutely speechless. I can't imagine that this happens very often. Do you know what happens now, or do I have to spell it out for you?"

The four of them regained their self control as Naruto smiled a chilling little smile at their actions. He had to wonder how they were planning on escaping. He would allow them to, of course. Jiraiya was needed to complete the first Special Zombie, he would be allowed to live until he was needed. Gai's body was powerful, but he didn't feel like he would be able to obtain it today. It was mere intuition but he had the feeling that Gai's body would not be attained here and now. Shizune was insignificant in all ways, her only use would be as a hostage. The main target here was Tsunade.

Tsunade would have to die here today. Her refusal of Orochimaru's proposal almost guaranteed that she would go with Jiraiya and become the Godaime and he could not allow that to happen. If Konoha was kept unstable then very soon another nation would declare war. The moment that happened Konoha would be fighting a fresh new enemy while they were still licking their extensive wounds. They would be destroyed. If Tsunade fell here, then so did Konoha unless Jiraiya took up the title. Either he destroyed Konoha or bogged down Jiraiya in a single place, one way or another there was nothing but benefit for him should Tsunade die.

He considered taking her body and using it as a marionette, but her body wasn't that special. It was her mind that made Tsunade great, not any physical attribute. Her shadow might be valuable, but he couldn't take it here in the sun, she would die before he could anchor it, and he wasn't likely to get her anywhere before Jiraiya or someone else caught up to him. She would simply have to die.

Naruto eyed the four and said "Well, since none of you seem to know what this means I will have to spell it out for you. This is endgame boys and girls, where you die." Then he nodded at the forces behind him and Absalom lifted his right hand.

Naruto had already assigned them their targets during this mission. Hashirama and Hokushin, the Hokage brothers, were to work together and keep Jiraiya out of the battle without killing him. Ryuuma had similar orders pertaining to Gai.

Absalom would take care of Shizune, he was allowed to kill her if he wanted to. Haku was to stay back and provide support should anyone need it.

Naruto, on the other hand, Naruto would take care of Tsunade himself.

Naruto stood up as the chair disintegrated into a multitude of dark curls which vanished into the air and smiled as his shadow took physical form beside him. "I hope that you don't mind if we simply skip the introductions and move on to the main event. There are normally a few proprieties to observe in these situations but I think that they can be safely overlooked since none of you are going to leave here."

He nodded toward the beast man and Absalom yelled "Dead Man's Hand!" as a blast rocketed toward the four.

Jiraiya and Gai jumped away in separate directions. Shizune jumped away from Tsunade but only after reaching to her mistress' pocket for a second. Tsunade jumped away from the others and all of them avoided the blast.

Hashirama and Hokushin moved together toward Jiraiya as Ryuuma sped off toward Gai as he drew his sword. Absalom moved casually toward Shizune in a stalking gait, a growl upon his lips.

Naruto and his shadow turned to Tsunade and slowly stalked forward. "Well Tsunade-hime" he drawled "Shall we get this over with?"

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With Jiraiya and the Hokages

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Jiraiya jumped back from a punch from the Shodaime, being sure to avoid giving them a shot to his right side. Shizune had managed to close the wound but it wouldn't be wise to go into heavy combat at the moment. In addition to that he had just got done with a fight with Orochimaru so he was already rather tired out. Things didn't bode well for him.

Jiraiya had to block two quick punches from the Niidaime, and Jiraiya grabbed the undead man's arm, swinging him through the air and throwing him to the side, only to be assaulted by the Shodaime again.

Jiraiya kept the pace but he was tiring quickly. These opponents were insanely strong. Each and every blow that he blocked had a possibility of breaking bones. Their punches and kicks were no comparison to Tsunade's but they still weren't something you would want to take head on.

Things got a bid worse for the Toad Sage as the Niidaime rose and drew his two blades, forming a ball of lightning between them and firing it toward Jiraiya.

Most ninja probably would have been caught by the attack, but even wounded Jiraiya was still one of the Sannin, and the Shodaime's Taijutsu skills were only on par with an ANBU. Stepping back from a kick, Jiraiya grabbed the Shodaime's leg and hurled him into the ball of electricity, smiling grimly when the electrocuted man fell smoking to the ground. 'One down' he thought.

And that was only thought. Jiraiya was surprised when the Shodaime stood once more after a moment. Then the undead warrior performed several handseals and shouted "Moku Bunshin no Jutsu!" shortly afterward three clones of wood appeared beside the undead Hashirama.

They charged just in time for Jiraiya to finish a set of handseals and yell "Katon: Dai Endan!" and blow a massive ball of flame toward the four.

The Niidaime quickly did several handseals and yelled "Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu!" At his command, a great vortex of water appeared around the Niidaime and raced forward toward the flames.

The water put out the flames as a great cloud of steam rose into the air. When the steam cleared it revealed three mounds of ash where the flames flash-fried the clones and a standing Hashirama, intact and whole, not even bothered by the flames.

Jiraiya frowned at the two. This was going to be more than a little difficult.

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With Gai

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Gai was having a lot of trouble with Ryuuma. He wanted to finish his fight quickly, so he brought out his nunchaku.

The zombified samurai dashed forward at a terrifying speed from Naruto's side, blade extended to pierce Gai's heart as dust billowed behind him at the speed of his charge.

Gai waited till the last moment and dodged aside, bringing the spinning half of the nunchaku slamming into Ryuuma's nose and sending him flying backward.

Ryuuma flipped in midair, landing on his hands and propelling himself back into the air to land on his feet, holding his sword ready. Gai held the nunchaku in one hand, spinning one half on them in preparation for another blow.

Ryuuma moved forward in quick little dashes of speed, moving from one place to another in a diagonal pattern, eventually appearing just forward and to the left of Gai, dashing in for a diagonal slice.

Gai grabbed his nunchaku with both hands, maneuvering the chain expertly to slide the blade away from him. He made sure that the chain did NOT come in contact with the sword's blade directly. If that happened then the chain would be cut through and his weapon rendered useless.

He took the opportunity to slam his leg into Ryuuma's abdomen, sending him back once more, only for Ryuuma to slide to a halt and take a stance.

He brought his black sword forward in a thrust yelling "Oobaado kuu Doroa!"

Gai jumped aside immediately, not knowing what it would do but not wanting to find out. Behind the spot where Gai stood, there was a rock with a new three foot wide hole in it.

Gai dashed forward as fast as possible, avoiding a downward slash from Ryuuma and slamming one end of the nunchaku into the side of the zombie's head. Ryuuma's head snapped back at the force of the blow and a sickening snap could be heard. But Ryuuma's left hand clenched into a fist and slammed into Gai's stomach, knocking the wind out of the Jounin before the zombie dashed away from Gai.

Ryuuma turned back to face the green clad Jounin and reached up and grasped his head, and with another crack, moved his head back into its normal position. Gai could hear the undead creature from there as it chuckled, and then laughed "Yohohohohohoho, this should be most interesting. How long will you last before you are finally cut down? I am dying to see. Even though I'm already dead! Yohohohohoho!"

Then the samurai rushed forward once more attacking Gai with several quick stabs and thrusts, seeking to run him through. Luckily for Gai, he was skilled enough to either dodge them or use the chain of the nunchaku to slide the strikes away without actually forcing the chain to take the full brunt of the attack.

Gai returned the strikes with a fast Taijutsu combo. He had removed his weights before coming to help Tsunade, so these strikes mostly connected. Several cracks were heard from Ryuuma's ribcage at this time.

Despite the damage, Ryuuma didn't drop like Gai expected. He reaffirmed his center of gravity and immediately made a lightning fast thrust to Gai's arm.

Gai, with his great speed, was shocked that the blow grazed him, cutting into his arm an inch deep. The Taijutsu master quickly moved back, running through possible options of attack.

The major point was that the samurai, whoever or whatever he was, was almost as fast as he was without his weights. He could open the gates to gain a momentary edge but there was no guarantee that his attack in that state would be enough to finish the battle. If he opened the gates and didn't finish him off, then he would get killed. Even if he DID win at that moment, he would still be vulnerable to the other enemies. He would have to attack without the gates and hope to win that way.

Ryuuma had taken another stance, and brought his sword forth in several quick, diagonal strikes in Gai's direction yelling "Koutetsu no Minuetto!" **(1)**

The result was several dozen flashes of purple light forming from the blade, speeding out toward Gai in long arcs. Some of the blades went off their mark, cutting several deep trenches into the ground. Gai saw this and made it a point to avoid them. He bobbed and weaved through the lengths of light, occasionally taking the edge of one or two of them but only receiving small cuts from the attack.

The strikes he dodged went out behind him and crashed into the ground, slicing and dicing the earth without remorse, sending up great clouds of dirt and gravel.

Ryuuma sped off toward Gai, and when he got in range stabbed toward his face as fast as he could, resulting in several strikes in less than a second. Gai moved his head to the side in an instant, still getting cut twice on one cheek as he retreated.

There was a swirl of dust through the air that Ryuuma had cleaved. The undead swordsman did not waste a moment, he turned to Gai and thrust his sword forward once more, yelling "Fuzei no Borero!" **(2)**

The blade moved the air so quickly that it streamed forth in a similar pattern to a Fuuton jutsu. It caused the air to divide into incredibly small streams that cut through what they grazed against. In this case, Gai. The Taijutsu master was sliced rather deeply in several places. Two cuts on his left forearm, another cut on his left thigh, and another on his right shoulder.

Gai looked at the swordsman before him and thought 'This will be very difficult.'

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With Shizune

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Gai and Jiraiya were having trouble, but Shizune was doing worse then either of them. Absalom strode forward casually, as though he were walking in the halls of his own home rather than on the battlefield. Shizune took the opportunity and shot several needles from the device on her arm, aiming right at his throat, but Absalom reached up and simply raised his right arm so that the needles would be blocked by his forearm. Shizune smiled thinking that the battle was over with, but the needles simply fell out of the air, as though bouncing off of something that couldn't be seen.

After that Absalom raised his right hand and simply said "Dead Man's Hand" As a blast roared toward the medic.

Shizune jumped aside and avoided the blast, but the strike sent up a lot of dirt and dust, clouding her sight for a short time. When the dust cleared, Absalom was nowhere to be seen.

Shizune looked around frantically, one did not let an enemy out of their sights and live for very long. She thought that it was a Genjutsu and took standard methods to break it, but nothing worked. She still could not find him! She was in a very bad position and she knew it, but she was not out of this battle yet. If one could not rely on their sight, then they should rely on their other senses.

She closed her eyes and listened hard, hoping to detect some trace of her enemy. 'I have to find him!' she thought 'The sooner that he is defeated, the sooner that I can help Tsunade-sama! She cannot fight alone, not in her condition. I gave her some help already but that will only last so long. I MUST FIND HIM!'

Sadly, her attempts were wasted. Strength and speed were not the only things that Absalom gained from his altered body, he also inherited the grace of an animal as well, able to move in places such as this grassy plain without making so much as a sound. He moved slowly and carefully toward the alert Shizune, but she could not detect his presence. He had very little chakra, so little that it would be almost impossible for one to sense him. The most he could do is walk on water for a few hours before he would have to be hospitalized.

So, thanks to Absalom's bestial grace, Shizune did not hear him at all as he strode up behind her, grabbed her arms and hoisted them over her head, holding her up by her wrists.

Shizune could not see what was happening, all she knew was that she was suddenly lifted in the air by her wrists and now she could barely move her arms. 'What's going on?" She frantically thought 'Is this the enemies' jutsu? If it is, then is it Genjutsu or Ninjutsu? How do I break the enemies' technique?'

Then she felt something warm and wet go from the nape of her neck to her left ear. Then she felt hot breath upon her earlobe as a deep, throaty voice sounded nearby. "Hmmm, very pretty, that's for sure, but too strong for my tastes. I've always preferred weak women and this one is too strong for my tastes. Such a pity. KAIJIN NO TE!"

Shizune heard the voice and while he was talking put two and two together. 'Does he have the ability to become invisible!? If that's the case then I must get out of his hold and warn everyone else!'

It was as she finished that thought that her life ended. Absalom brought his fist crashing forward and it ripped through Shizune's ribcage, tearing through her spine, lungs, and heart, before emerging from her chest.

Shizune was completely in shock at the blow, she could see the world becoming darker around her. She didn't know what happened, what was happening, what to do. 'Help me Tsunade-sama.' She weakly thought as she lost consciousness.

The last thing Shizune felt before she died was a large hand, the same hand that ripped through her chest and was still lodged there, casually feeling her left breast as a deep voice growled "Nice chest size too, such a pity she was too strong…."

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With Tsunade

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Tsunade's situation was as bad as Shizune's. She did most of the work in the fight with Orochimaru, and in addition to that she was out of practice and almost out of chakra. Against an opponent as tired as she was, like with Orochimaru, this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but up against a fresh opponent, it was about as bad as things could get.

Naruto didn't even fight her himself. He manifested his shadow and let it do the dirty work as he went and sat on a rock as he poured himself a cup of tea. He knew that Tsunade was at her limits. He wouldn't be needed for anything more than support for this fight.

Naruto's shadow rushed towards the weary Sannin, only to be met by a solid punch in the face, courtesy of said blonde. The shadow exploded into several dozen pieces, splattering on the ground like drops of tar. Tsunade smiled and yelled to Naruto "Is that all you've got brat!?"

Naruto smiled at the angry Sannin and said "Not even close. I recommend you pay attention to my shadow."

Tsunade grimaced and shouted wordlessly as she ran forward, determined to drive her fist into the boy's face.

The only thing was that her strike was blocked by a solid black hand when she was about ten feet from her target. This hand reached out from a pool of black material. Specifically the black material that splattered the ground when Naruto's shadow 'popped'. The other pools of black around the plain gathered into that one spot and Naruto's shadow formed, reborn, from that larger pool. The only difference was that this time, the shadow was about five times larger than it was before, towering over Tsunade.

She jumped back as the shadow brought one enormous hand down to smash her. She just got out of the way as it crushed the ground where she once stood.

She looked up into the shadow's face, only to see that it was no longer there. She felt a sudden coolness and looked back to see one of the shadow's enormous feet coming down on her. Feeling strangely like an ant, she scurried out of the way. The foot crashed down and the ground shook slightly. The gigantic figure turned quickly, and slammed a fist down upon her, once more avoided, albeit barely. The shadow had increased drastically in size, but it had barely lost any speed at all.

Naruto simply watched the one-sided fight, merely enjoying the show as he took out a box of chilled éclairs.

The shadow shrunk incredibly quickly, going from the size of a giant to the size of a cat in the blink of an eye. The newly shrunken shadow was speedy as hell and dashed forward at a near impossible pace. The moment that it reached Tsunade, It grew once more into its normal size and threw a punch into her face, this time however, Tsunade brought her arm in from the side and deflected the punch.

She didn't stop there, she trapped the arm in a lock and brought the shadow over her shoulder, slamming it against the ground.

The shadow hit the ground and shattered into several dozen medium sized black spheres that hovered in the air. These spheres changed quickly and quickly became large bats with extremely large fangs. These shadowy bats immediately swarmed Tsunade, sinking their fangs into her flesh.

The Tsunade that was supposedly swarmed and torn apart vanished in smoke to become a rock. A Kawarimi no jutsu used to escape the very bad situation.

A number of kunai soon pierced several of the bats, revealed to be Tsunade near where she had fought the Oto Jounin. There were a lot of ninja weapons littered in that area for her use. A large barrage soon saw all of the bats pierced by the metal knives.

Tsunade had a very bad feeling that this battle was nowhere near over and she was proven right when the shadow bats dissolved into that same black material that was neither solid nor liquid and began to converge once more. She panted a bit at the brief reprieve. She had no idea how long she could last like this. She didn't have much chakra left, only enough for one or two more Kawarimis. Once she ran out of chakra, she would be quickly killed.

She clenched her fist in anger. If she wasn't fucking exhausted after fighting Orochimaru she would have been able to stand a fighting chance but without chakra her strength was normal and human, she was unable to use the monstrous blows that could rip the ground apart.

In her panting though, she moved her hips in a slightly odd fashion. This caused a small, hard object to dig into her thigh.

She wondered what the thing could be, and then she remembered that Shizune reached to that pocket just before they scattered and reached into it to satisfy her curiosity. She pulled out the round object and looked at it quickly.

Tsunade could only think one thing. 'Shizune I think I love you.' For what else was in her hand but a Hyourougan, a soldier provision pill made specifically for a ninja to regain their chakra and energy quickly. Shizune must have had the foresight to give her mentor one of these pills to allow her to recover some much needed chakra.

She put the pill in her mouth and bit down on it quickly before swallowing. The effects were almost immediate, a rush of energy flowing through her limbs, the buzz of chakra now present in her body when before there was only a spark. She felt like a new woman, a new woman who could defend herself. For with Tsunade, with chakra came strength.

The shadow reformed itself and surged toward her, the lower half staying on the ground as the body stretched. Tsunade smiled and dashed forward to meet it, smashing her fist into the face of the human shaped darkness and she watched in satisfaction and Naruto watched in surprise as the shadow exploded into hundreds of pieces that scattered in a much large radius then the last time.

Tsunade smiled at the surprised Naruto and said "I won't go down that easily, Gaki!"

Then she heard a sudden sound of tearing flesh and cracking bone nearby and she turned immediately to see what it was. Gai and Jiraiya, in their fights, performed similar actions.

They all saw as Absalom ripped through Shizune's chest. Tsunade was stunned, and then angered horribly. "Shizune…no" She muttered to herself.

Naruto shrugged and said "Well, that was quick, apparently Absalom wasn't in a playful mood today or something."

Tsunade looked at the now visible Absalom as he pulled his hand from Shizune's chest, let the body drop to the ground, and wiped the blood off on the back of Shizune's clothes.

"You, you BASTARD!" Tsunade yelled as she ran forward, toward the now standing Absalom, ready to tear him apart.

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(1) Minuet of Steel

(2) Bolero of Air

Hohoho, it's Christmas in September and Artful Clause is here. Guess what you're getting for Christmas boys and girls? CLIFFHANGERS! I hope you enjoy!

Anyway, Shizune is dead, Tsunade is pissed, and IT IS ON! What shall happen remains to be seen, so you'll have to wait until the next chapter which could come anywhere between tomorrow and six months from now. See you around.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	34. Chapter 34

Welcome all, to Kage no Naruto chapter thirty four

Welcome all, to Kage no Naruto chapter thirty four! God, do you guys realize that this story is over one hundred and fifty THOUSAND words, and I haven't even gotten to Shippuden yet? This is fucking insane.

Disclaimer: I FINALLY OWN NARUTO! I beat the hell out of Kishimoto and he coughed up the rights to it! Wait a second… THESE ARE FAKE! Where did the bastard run off to… oh and enjoy the chapter.

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Summary of last chapter

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Several epic battle began, and one ended quickly. With Jiraiya tired and outnumbered, Gai caught in a slow battle that will almost inevitably lead to his defeat, Shizune dead, and Tsunade dead tired fighting Naruto himself, what shall happen now?

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Random plain outside of Tanzaku-Gai

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Tsunade was enraged and in denial at the same moment. Just a moment ago, she saw the beast man tear through Shizune's chest. Intellectually, she knew that she was dead and there was nothing that could be done, but she did not believe that. Shizune was practically her daughter and she couldn't believe that something that bad could have happened to her.

She raced over towards the scene, to where the creature had killed her student and was currently wiping her blood off on the back of Shizune's kimono. It was simply too much for her, first Orochimaru shows up whispering false promises in her ear, and she so badly wanted to believe him. But she realized that he was telling lies and put him in his place. Now this strange person shows up with an entourage of dead looking individuals and a man-beast hybrid in tow. She may have been out of action, but she knew that it was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki that she was fighting. She kept up with the Bingo Books at least. She didn't expect him to be so strong at such an age.

In addition to that he had two individuals that looked almost exactly like her grandfather and grand-uncle who had been dead for over thirty years. She had put the fact out of her mind at the moment, she couldn't afford to dwell on something else during a fight. She would try and find out what was happening in that regard later.

But now Shizune was hurt very badly, but she didn't want to believe that she was dead, she couldn't believe it. It was like seeing Nawaki or Dan die again, and it tore her up inside. She hid her pain with anger and rage, rushing towards the creature who hurt her surrogate daughter, fist raised and prepared to smash his lion-like head in. "Get away from her you bastard!" She yelled as she jumped in the air ten feet away from the calm Absalom, only to feel a sudden tug at her ankle just before she was suddenly pulled back through the air to land on her back about thirty feet away.

Jiraiya and Gai wished that they could help, but they were pre-occupied with their own fights at the moment. If they tried to attack the beast man or help Tsunade then they would be attacked from behind. There was nothing they could do. They would have to wait until they won their fights before helping anyone else.

Tsunade lay stunned on the ground. Something that felt like a cold, wet, gelatinous rope was wrapped around her ankle. She looked down and saw that there was a tendril of black material wrapped around her limb. That tendril extended toward the reformed shadow of Naruto.

She heard Naruto's voice as she quickly grabbed the tendril and got out of its clutches. "Your fight is with me Tsunade, so I don't recommend turning your back. Well, technically your fight is with my shadow, it doesn't become a fight with me until you actually manage to hit me."

She glanced over at the person in irritation after she stood and got some distance. She had the feeling that she wasn't getting anywhere fighting this shadow, so she would go after the real one. The temporary rush that the Soldier Pill granted was gone and she was forced to realized that only about one fifth of her chakra had returned. She would have to use her attacks carefully. She would have to help Shizune later, she wouldn't have a chance to do anything if he was getting in her way.

She looked across at the black shape that she had been fighting until now. She wouldn't be able to destroy it, no matter how much she damaged it. Every time she tried it would simply regenerate.

She looked at Naruto who was watching the battle with a small smile on his face. Attacking him was the only way to win, but to do that she had to get rid of the shadow thing first. That means that she had a very small window to attack him while the shadow regenerated.

The shadow shed its human form, becoming a wave that sought to sweep Tsunade away. Knowing that if she got caught by the shadow, she would probably die, she did the smart thing and got out of the way, albeit barely.

The shadow returned to a human form and extended its arm, its hand losing its shape and becoming five thick tendrils that rushed forward to pierce and strangle her.

She dodged the first three as they stabbed into the ground, cracking the earth beneath them, and then caught the fourth as it sought to wrap around her neck, and the fifth as it tried to pin her arms to her body.

She employed a portion of her great strength and pulled the shadow in. Caught unawares, the shadow went flying into the air, to be met by Tsunade's fist before it popped and had its substance scattered across the field.

Tsunade wasted no time. The moment the shadow 'died', she ran toward Naruto, fist raised. Naruto stayed calm, not even moving. He had run through this scenario in his head. He had done some research into Tsunade and had calculated the amount of chakra that went into her super strength. From there he soon found out just how strong she was and prepared the shadow shield to be able to withstand the blow.

Sure enough, as her fist reached down to crush him, the darkness that was once the shadow of the rock he sat on drew up and intercepted the blow. It stretched, but soon Tsunade was bounced back by the flexible nature of the shadow.

Tsunade was irritated, but she did not give up. When it came to piercing defenses, she had just what was required. She ran forward again, fist raised once more. Only this time there was something different.

Naruto watched happily as Tsunade attempted another futile punch. 'It's quite hopeless. That shield was prepared to take her strikes without being penetrated. I don't know why she doesn't just give up.'

Naruto's smile vanished as Tsunade's fist tore straight through the shield and came rocketing towards his head.

Tsunade's attack would have worked, if it hadn't been for one thing. The fact that Naruto's shadow had regenerated. While it was manifested it was almost impossible to hurt Naruto. While it was manifested and in human shape, Naruto could use the Kagemusha and escape any attack. If it was not in human shape then the technique could not be performed, but it WAS in human shape and Naruto escaped the attack. Tsunade's fist slammed into the shadow again, and it 'popped' once more, splattering the ground like small pools of liquid tar.

Naruto's mind was racing 'How the hell did she do that? That shield should have stopped her punches, no matter how much chakra she put into them. There's only one explanation, my calculations are off. There must be some variable that I am not yet aware of, and that tipped the scales in her favor. I will have to look into this and see if there is anything that I can do to stop it from happening again. But if it's something that I can't stop then this little game will have to come to an end.'

Tsunade wasted no time in rushing Naruto again. Long range combat was NOT something she wanted to get caught up in; she had next to nothing when it came to long range. She did the same thing that she did before to pierce his shield, but hit time, Naruto was watching carefully, and he caught on to what she did.

Naruto saw what was happening and immediately knew that it wasn't something that he could stop short of completely locking her down. He just muttered "Soru" under his breath and vanished, appearing ten feet in front of Tsunade.

"So, that's your secret Tsunade." He said as his eyes locked onto her. Now that she provided a slight threat, she wasn't going to last much longer. The only reason that she really lasted this long was because she was so impotent that she couldn't do much to defend herself.

"What are you talking about, brat? Almost everyone knows the secret behind my strength, the only reason it hasn't been copied is because it's much easier said than done."

Naruto smirked just a little and said "Not that, I was referring to your addition to your attack to pierce my shield. I never would have guessed that you would have a Raiton affinity, that's quite rare, especially in Konoha. Then again, it explains how you came up with your Ranshinshou technique. I doubt that you could create an electric field to disrupt your opponent's nervous system without a Raiton affinity."

Tsunade was suddenly on guard. She didn't expect him to realize what she did so quickly. By changing her chakra into lightning chakra and using that instead of the normal stuff in her punches, it gave it the penetration needed to get through the shield. After all, when it came to penetrating defense, Raiton was the way to go.

But now that he knew what she did, he would quickly find a way to counter it, she would probably have to think up a new plan of attack. However, there was a downside to the strategy. Simply put, it cut down her chakra supply quickly. It takes chakra to turn normal chakra into lightning chakra, resulting in a smaller amount of a stronger product. So the lightning punches took up a lot more chakra than the normal ones. Currently, she had enough chakra left for two more such lightning strikes, and then she would be done for. Out of chakra, out of options, and out of luck. Her only option was to finish him quickly, using her remaining chakra to the best possible extent. She would destroy the shadow again and then do her best to hit him.

Naruto smiled again after a second as he said "Let me guess, you're intending to destroy my shadow again and then come after me, hoping to finish me off in one blow, right?"

Tsunade jumped at the suddenness and accuracy of the statement. Could he read her mind? Could he read her well enough to know what she was thinking? Or did he simply consider her resources and think of how he would use them in her situation? Either way, he caught onto her plan almost as soon as she thought it up and that did NOT bode well for her.

Naruto saw the steely determination in her eyes and smiled again. "Are you still planning to try it even though I know what you're going to do? If I were you I would simply give up, accept the inevitable. But if you want to go out with a bang, I won't try and stop you. It is your last act after all, it should be at least a little memorable. Go ahead. In fact, I'll make things a little simpler for you."

As he said that, the shadow finished reforming, only to jump away and sit on a nearby rock. "There" He said "My shadow will not interfere, go ahead and do your worst."

Tsunade ground her teeth together in sheer irritation, how dare this brat make fun of her?! She was Tsunade, one of the most powerful ninja in the world! She ran forward, ready to deal a mortal blow to her enemy.

Naruto waited until she was five feet away before saying "Soru" And vanishing.

He reappeared inches in front of Tsunade, one fist held back. Then he said "Juugan, Ouren!" And brought his fist forward. As it moved though, it seemed to blur, looking as though he had more than one forearm attached to his elbow. That arm collided with Tsunade's midsection, and she went flying back as she let out a small cry of pain.

Naruto straightened himself and said to Tsunade "I said to give me the worst you could do, I never said that I wouldn't defend myself." Then he started walking forward.

Tsunade landed roughly ten feet away from where she got punched. She only had to feel her mid-section to know that several ribs were broken at the least. She had no idea what happened. It looked like he only punched her once, but she felt several different injuries. In other words, her thoughts were pretty much 'What the fuck just happened?'

Naruto walked forward calmly as Tsunade started to regain awareness of something other than the pain in her abdomen. He loved that move. Several dozen strikes all performed in under a second. Mind you they all had to be delivered to a rather small area. His hand moved so fast that it looked like it was in several places at once. That would explain why it was the second most powerful form of the Shigan.

Tsunade finally got up, only to find herself staring into Naruto's eyes as he kicked her teeth in. Her head snapped back and blood dribbled from her mouth as she quickly got up, albeit more slowly than usual thanks to her fractured ribs. She leapt back while Naruto watched and blood dribbled from her mouth. She could feel that one or two of her teeth were loose.

She was in some severe trouble and she knew it. She couldn't take another of those hits and hope to get up, much less continue to fight. If she was fresh, at full strength, then she would give this bastard a run for his money, but he attacked her when she was at her weakest, and it was showing. She moved her battered body into a defensive Taijutsu stance, ready for his next attack.

Or at least she thought she was. With Tsunade this weakened, she was easy prey for a Jounin, much less Naruto himself. There was no guarantee that she would survive any of his attacks. Naruto smiled and shook his head at her insistence to go on, to continue to fight. He found it rather amusing.

But still, business was business as far as he was concerned. Naruto used another Soru and vanished. He appeared beside her, much to her surprise. She attempted to backhand him with her left arm, but he grabbed her shoulder, where the chakra was least concentrated so he wouldn't have his hand ripped off, and that was that, she was cut off from her chakra.

Tsunade wasn't sure what happened just then. He grabbed her arm and all of a sudden, she didn't have chakra anymore. It was a strange feeling, to NOT have chakra, to not feel its energy flowing through her. It was a feeling she hadn't had since she began the academy over forty years ago, before she even knew what a jutsu was and her grandfather took her to school every day. She was fighting with very little, but now she might as well have been a civilian for all the good her ninja knowledge would do her now.

The moment Naruto grabbed Tsunade, he pulled her forward and with his right hand landed two quick and painful punches to her kidneys, then placed his hand on her stomach and utilizing his grip on her left arm in conjunction with the upward force provided from his right hand, lifted her over his left shoulder and slammed her into the ground, turning as he did so.

Naruto put his left foot under Tsunade and flipped her over while she was still stunned, so that she was on her stomach. He removed his sword from his right sleeve, moving into his left hand as he stepped upon her wealth of blonde hair and placed the blade on the back of her neck. Tsunade, who had been starting to move, immediately froze as she felt the cold metal upon her skin.

Naruto smiled at the downed Sannin. He could feel it, she had some fight left, enough for two more of those defense-piercing punches, but she couldn't move. Because she knew that if she moved, he would cut through her spine. He simply said "I must admit, I expected more for a person of your level, but I attacked you when you are tired, so perhaps I should have expected a mere exercise rather than a challenge. Oh well. Farewell, Senju Tsunade, say hello to Shizune for me."

Then he raised his blade, intending to cut down and behead the Kunoichi and Hokage to be, but he snapped his blade to the right, to intersect a kunai that had pierced the shadows that rose to stop it, and was aiming right at his neck.

It took Naruto less than a second to realize who threw it based on its direction and chakra content. It was filled to the brim with a potent fire chakra, it must have been Gai. He saw the situation and did his best to help Tsunade despite his fight, charging a kunai with his fire-element chakra that he knew would penetrate his shield and tossed it with deadly precision.

Sadly for Gai, Naruto's reflexes were sharp, he caught the blade out of the corner of his eye and faintly felt the chakra as it sped toward him in time to maneuver the blade to deflect it, fast as a striking snake.

Sadly, reflexes don't count for much with a point blank strike. Tsunade took her opportunity. She heard the clang of the metal in the air and knew that this was her last chance. There are no chakra coils in the hair so despite the fact that Naruto was in contact with it, her chakra wasn't cut off. She placed a full charge of lightning chakra into her right hand and delivered a powerful punch roughly where his right knee should have been, the one that was stepping upon her hair close to the scalp to keep her in place.

Her fist, lightning charged, pierced through the shadows that rose to defend like a bullet through tissue and her fist came into contact with Naruto's right knee, punching it in sideways. Several strange crackling sounds came from the joint.

Naruto screamed, he couldn't help it. His lower leg was bent in roughly the opposite direction from where it should have been and it hurt like the intense fury of a thousand suns. The Generals heard it, Gai heard it, Jiraiya heard it, Absalom heard it, and Haku heard it. Naruto, for the first time, had been grievously injured. He was distracted and struck out of nowhere.

With Naruto's leg no longer holding her down, Tsunade rolled out from under the unwillingly suspended limb, and jumped away, toward the downed Shizune.

Naruto immediately used the Kagemusha and replaced with his shadow. He sat down on the rock immediately to take pressure off of the badly injured leg and shouted to it "KILL HER! KILL HER NOW!"

The shadow obeyed, rushing forward at immense speeds, shifting from human shape to dozens of large bats that flew through the air at a faster pace and quickly caught up to Tsunade. They joined together into three shapes that became gigantic wolves that bore down upon the wounded Sannin. Haku and Absalom also raced towards the Sannin.

Naruto examined his leg quickly and with a critical eye. He did his best to ignore the pain as he examined it. Quite simply, it was bad. His right kneecap punched straight through the joint between thighbone and shinbone and was pressing into the underside of the skin on the inside of his knee joint. The lower leg was forming a one hundred degree angle with his thigh and pointing slightly to the left, held into the air thanks to the reversed kneecap. His leg joint was effectively crushed.

What was worse was that he couldn't use the demonic chakra to heal it completely. There was a limit to the healing factor of a Jinchuuriki. Healing flesh wounds and the like was fine, even some organs, but healing complex joints was NOT a good idea. If some tendon went into the wrong niche… he didn't even want to think about it. He would have to have Hogback do some surgery when he got back.

Tsunade faced the three oncoming shadow wolves, long black fangs poised to tear into her flesh and rend it from the bone. She timed it well, and brought up her left leg, smashing through the wolves with a lightning enhanced strike, keeping the power to minimum to conserve energy. She had about enough for one last weakened attack at this point.

The three wolves splattered into several dozen pools of black liquid that rained upon the ground. She spotted the rock where Naruto was sitting and immediately took action. She picked up a dozen of the hundred or so kunai that littered the battlefield and put all the lightning chakra she had left into them before letting them fly in Naruto's direction, all of them aiming at his head, neck, and heart.

Haku went into action. She drew her needles and let them fly toward the kunai coming toward the man who saved her life. The problem was her position. She had placed herself to be equidistant from the three fights, so that she could get to any of them quickly should she be needed. And even with her sudden sprint, there was significant distance between her and the projectiles and the kunai would travel faster than her needles thanks to Tsunade's superior strength. Her needles flew, but they knocked down three or four of the twelve knives.

Naruto saw the knives incoming, and he knew that they were lightning charged. He also knew that he couldn't walk, or run out of the way. His shadow was still re-forming itself so he couldn't use Kagemusha to escape. One would think that he was screwed. One would be wrong.

There were six techniques in the Rokushiki style. So far, he had only shown five: Shigan, Rankyaku, Soru, Geppou, and Tekkai. Now it was time for the sixth Rokushiki art to be revealed.

Naruto stood, shakily, standing on only his left leg as he faced the knives. It was necessary for him to be standing for this to effectively work. As the knives entered a distance of five feet he muttered under his breath "Kami-e"

The first knife soared right between his eyes, but it passed through him. There were suddenly two torsos, one standing upright, the other, still connected to the waist, leaning to the side. The second and third knives were to take him through the stomach. A third torso appeared, a flicker of movement between the second and third, bending over at a ninety degree angle to his waist, and avoiding the knives. This continued, flickers of movement leaving after-images in the air as he bent quickly at normally insane angles, avoiding all of the knives. The sixth Rokushiki technique, Kami-e, the ultimate dodge.

Naruto, panting, sat back down. Using a Rokushiki technique in his condition was unwise, but it was better than being killed. However, even injured, he could still finish his fight. Naruto's shadow reformed itself once more, and he decided to pull out the second most powerful of his shadow techniques. As Naruto's shadow became a single piece again, he used his chakra and channeled it through the shadow through their bond, giving it what it needed to do what he wanted it to do. As the shadow moved toward Tsunade he simply muttered "Kage Kakusei"

Tsunade became aware of a presence behind her and turned to see the shadow rushing toward her. She saw Naruto dodge the kunai and was amazed, she simply decided to get Shizune's body and get out of there, simply hope that Jiraiya and Gai got out all right. But it looked as though she wouldn't be getting out of the fight that easily. Even crippled, he was still attempting to stop her.

She took a swing at the shadow, no chakra in the blow, but hoping that pure physical strength might have been enough. The shadow however, did not dive toward her like she expected, but dived into the ground. Or, to be more precise, it dived into Tsunade's shadow.

Tsunade looked around for the shadow, not knowing where the hell it went. Then she felt a tug at her arms, and to her horror she found her arms being drawn behind her back by an invisible force. She was being forced to her knees by this same, invisible force. She tried to resist, but her muscles simply wouldn't obey her.

Naruto wasn't exactly lucid at this point, but he muttered how the technique worked under his breath. "The shadow must hold the same shape as the substance it copies; this is a law of nature. The shadow is forced to copy the movements exactly. Kage Kakusei reverses that law of nature, forcing the substance to copy the movements of its shadow, no matter what form it takes. I could rearrange the shadow to become circular, and the person would twist and fold into a ball, I could shrink the shadow and they would also shrink. One oddity is that no matter how much the person is twisted or bent, no damage will come to them, it's quite strange. However, the shadow of the target must be possessed by my own shadow to do it, as my shadow overpowers the shadow of the target and forces it to move as I will it. You cannot resist, the only way to get out of it would be for your shadow to overpower mine and that will never happen. No matter how strong the body is, the shadow is still weak, my shadow is not weak, it can overpower any other shadow. This technique also explains why people, once they have their shadows removed, dissolve in sunlight, they must follow the movements of their shadow, if their shadow is nothing, then so are they."

Mind you, nobody heard this little speech. The pain was simply too much for him and his mind was being affected. That and shock was starting to set in. He had NEVER been hurt like that before and it was taking a whole bunch of tolls. Mind you, it wouldn't stop him from killing Tsunade now that he was royally pissed.

He raised his right hand, and pointed a single finger at Tsunade. Darkness coalesced at his fingertip, it resembled nothing more than a man-sized ball of solid black smoke so dark that light seemed to dim around it, constantly shifting and moving as it floated in the air. He moved his finger, a little jerky motion in Tsunade's direction and the sphere zoomed in her direction. Naruto watched happily, breathless in anticipation for the violent method of death that the sphere of darkness would ensure its victim.

The sphere moved quickly, hurrying to Tsunade, to embrace her, and to bring an end to her life. However, while it was in motion something else could come in contact with the sphere and take Tsunade's place as the victim. Jiraiya took his chance.

He had been fighting the two Generals for some time now and had been fighting defensively, managing to get in a few blows that actually should have killed a normal man. The Shodaime's throat was cut for example. However, no matter what damage he dealt them, they simply got up again and continued fighting, not bothered in the slightest unless he did something like shatter a bone, but even that didn't slow them down much. He could only last so long.

But now Jiraiya had a method to do some damage to one of them. He doubted that the sphere of darkness was victim friendly in whatever it did and he was going to take advantage of that.

Jiraiya had one major trump card that no other ninja in the world had, the ability to take in and use Natural Energy. Natural Energy came with several side-effects, such as becoming a frog if you OD on it. But it had several advantages too. It allowed muscle enhancement over one hundred times what was possible with normal chakra. However, he could barely control Sage Chakra so he used it rarely, and even then always having help from the toad elders. This time, he did not have such help.

Jiraiya took in Natural Energy and formed Sage Chakra in his right arm. His arm turned bumpy and green as he did so, he had not mastered this art yet. But still, for a time, a punch from that arm would make one of Tsunade's punches look like a love tap. And he brought it all square into the Niidaime's jaw.

You could hear the SNAP as tendons ripped and bones snapped in two just before the Niidaime went flying through the air. He moved quickly through the air, and before the Niidaime or Naruto could even process what happened, the dead Hokage slammed into and was enveloped by the sphere of darkness. Almost immediately, Jiraiya collapsed, exhausted of his last energy, and simply unable to go on anymore. He had gone past him limit to last this long, and he simply didn't have anything else to offer.

Almost immediately after the Niidaime made contact, the sphere stopped. There was a quick flash of purple light from inside of the sphere and several liquids poured from the sphere, forming an immense puddle on the ground. The sphere dispersed and a small sphere the size of a man's knuckle fell to the ground. That was what was left of the Niidaime.

The sphere took in an object and pressed in with gravity on all sides, crushing the person to the point where their body liquids are forced from their body and the body itself was crushed and condensed to the size of a small rock. Even a General could not survive that. Well, technically it was still alive, the shadow was still animating it, but what good was a General when their brains, bones, muscles, and internal organs are all crushed into paste and that paste is condensed to a rock hard blob the size of a hazelnut?

Naruto, Absalom, and Haku were shocked. A General had been killed. Not just put out of action or immobilized, but killed, eternally perished. One of their elite forces had been defeated, indirectly true, but it was Jiraiya who managed to do it, and turned Naruto's strength against them. Naruto just growled out "Damn it." Then after a second he yelled "ABSALOM, TAKE HER DOWN!"

Absalom looked over at Naruto and then looked over to Tsunade, still there, still helpless. He grinned as he raised his right hand and fired a single blast straight toward the downed Sannin, ending this once and for all.

Jiraiya was beaten, Shizune was dead, and Tsunade was about to be killed. Gai realized all of this, and used the only card he had left. He opened the Gates. Well, to be specific he opened MORE of the Gates. He had already used the Omote Renge upon Ryuuma, and opened the second gate, the Kyuumon, as well after the zombie got up. Now he opened the third gate, in desperation. Everyone heard his voice as he yelled "Hachimon Tonkou! San Mon, Seimon KAI!"

Gai's skin turned red as the concentrated chakra burst from his body, the intensity of it blowing back Ryuuma several feet. The world seemed slower to the man as he raced toward the downed Sannin, rushing past everyone as he scooped her up and moved out of the way of the incoming blast.

He was tossed forward, but he kept his footing as he raced onward, towards Naruto.

Naruto looked at his former teacher in shock, he did not expect this. He thought that Ryuuma would have rendered him incapable of using the Gates before he got into a bad enough situation to warrant their use. Indeed there were several deep cuts on Gai's body, several over key muscles, but they only slowed him down a bit while he was under the influence of the immense strength given to him by opening the Hachimon.

Naruto's shadow left Tsunade's and sought to attack Gai, but the man effortlessly dodged in a flash of blinding speed, and with a single kick, sliced the shadow in half down the middle. The shadow fell to the ground and lost human form as it seeped together to reform into a single piece, but by that time it made no difference.

Naruto was in Gai's path, and the Taijutsu master rushed forward, jumping into the air. You could see the flaming aura around his leg as he jumped into the air and brought a powerful kick to his former student's side.

The fiery chakra let his leg burn through the shadow shield and his leg continued straight to the side of Naruto's head. The boy yelled "TEKKAI!" at the last moment and his muscles and skin hardened to become a suit of organic armor, but Gai's kick still damaged him regardless.

Naruto went flying to the side, skidding on the ground twice before coming to a stop when he hit a large rock. The dust settled and Naruto lay there, defeated, and out cold.

"MASTER!" Yelled the zombies and Absalom

"NARUTO-KUN!" yelled Haku as they all rushed to the fallen youth/

The shadow, with its master's loss of consciousness, fell to a puddle of dark slime, slithering over the ground to Naruto's feet where it became a shadow once more.

Gai didn't stop there, he ran over to Jiraiya, fast as lightning, and picked up the unconscious old man, and even managed to get to Shizune's body, then he headed west running as fast as he could, and opening the fourth gate as he did so, and then the fifth as he made his escape.

Gai lamented on his decision as he ran. He could have killed Naruto with that blow. If he had struck a few inches lower, he would have broken his neck and probably killed him. But he simply couldn't do it. The boy was once his student and some part, deep down, that held hope for him just wouldn't let him do the deed. He hesitated and knocked him out instead. He would be out for a while, but he would be okay in the end. But, he promised himself, that he would not be so lenient next time, even if he was once his student, Gai could not allow such a danger to exist. He would not hesitate next time.

Gai ran toward Konoha at super human speeds, opening each successive gate as the former one ran dry on energy, eventually opening the seventh as he rushed through the gates of Konoha several hours later and collapsed before the ANBU guards, utterly exhausted.

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Hogback's lab

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Perona and Haku waited in a room outside of Hogback's lab as the doctor did his work. In fact, Absalom was waiting there too, as was Rei and Hildon, all of the conscious zombies were there, waiting to see the fate of their master, who had been gravely hurt. All except Kagerou, who was working as Hogback's assistant.

Perona was quite hostile toward Haku and Absalom, claiming that if they had done their jobs right, Naruto wouldn't have been hurt so bad. Haku blamed herself for the injuries as well, thinking that she could have changed the outcome somehow. She couldn't have changed a thing once Gai opened the Gates, but that didn't stop her from taking the responsibility.

They had gathered around Naruto and used the necklaces to open a way back to the cave system. They also brought back the crushed Niidaime, albeit with difficulty. The sphere was small, but dense. It had the same weight of the zombie before it was compressed. They immediately brought him to Hogback and the doctor got to work. This was several hours ago.

An hour later, Hogback left the lab as he pulled down his mask. He was immediately assaulted by everyone there, barraged with questions, the foremost one being "Is he alright?"

"QUIET DOWN, QUIET DOWN! Honestly, I can understand the excitement but keep calm. Yes, he's fine, bedridden but fine. Some major trauma to his leg to say the least, and a small case of chakra exhaustion, and some head trauma which I fixed up easily enough. He's conscious and alright, BUT NO VISITORS!"

The crowed immediately stopped trying to get into the room as Hogback continued "He needs his rest and it will be several days before his leg if fully healed, even with the demon chakra speeding up the process. The whole thing is a delicate process and he cannot be bothered right now. Nobody enters that room except Kagerou and myself, understood!?"

Hogback had no combat prowess whatsoever, but he was the head doctor of the organization and they listened to him. He was one of the Three, and all zombies were to obey his commands without question. Temari and Anko were also under his authority. Perona and Absalom, being the other two members of the Inner Circle, did not have to obey him normally, but on a medical matter they too were forced to yield. They would get their chance, so they filed out of the room, albeit reluctantly.

Hogback turned to his assistant Kagerou as she left the room. "Kagerou-chan, guard this door and make sure that no one enters but you or me, and call me if Naruto-sama calls. Understood?" She nodded "Good, now then, I am going to get some sleep."

The doctor walked off and Kagerou began her vigil. Inside the room however, Naruto was pissed.

Gai had thwarted his assassination attempt and now he was stuck in a bed until his leg healed. If he had not distracted him with the kunai, he would have killed Tsunade. Before, Gai was a potential General frame or shadow, not to be killed until ordered otherwise. That had changed. Now, anyone who worked for Naruto would kill Gai on sight. Gai would not escape from wounding him unpunished, he would make sure of it.

Gai would pay, and he would make it extremely painful.

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Okay, and that is the end of the chapter. I know, Naruto lost. The only reason this happened was because he was badly injured as Gai attacked. If he wasn't, he would have been able to get out of the way. The only reason that Tsunade managed to hurt him so badly was because she took him by surprise while Naruto was distracted.

Oh, and for the Jyugan Ouren and Kami-e techniques, I based the movements off of the movements of the Agents in the Matrix. Watch that movie and you'll see pretty much what I described, it's easier to see it then describe it.

Anyway, next chapter, Tsunade, Gai and Jiraiya heal, Shizune is buried, and Naruto gets back on his feet and checks out the new location for his HQ. All that and more. Oh, and you'll get a bit of an update concerning the activities of Akatsuki and what became of Yukino.

Don't hate me for making Naruto lose, he couldn't win EVERY fight now could he? He's not invincible, simply hard as all hell to damage, and if he won every fight and everything went his way, the story would be boring so bear with me here.

Right, PLEASE review, I really want your input on this chapter, and wait patiently for the chapter. That's all I've got to say, so I'll sign off now.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	35. Chapter 35

Greetings all to Kage no Naruto chapter thirty five

Greetings all to Kage no Naruto chapter thirty five. What, did you expect it to be some other number? Anyway, there are a few issues to be addressed in the notes here in the foreword so read them through.

Jesus, I got the definition of split opinion last chapter. Most people enjoyed it, but everyone else hated it. Right, a few issues to be addressed. First and foremost, someone said that he gave a speech instead of going for the kill. I wouldn't consider that a speech, go back and look at the lines he said, say them yourself and see how long it takes, barely a few seconds. And as for why he didn't kill Tsunade immediately, he got cocky. He had never lost a battle and he got arrogant, simple as that. Naruto may be powerful and smart, but he still has some things to learn. He will learn from his mistakes and he wouldn't do such a thing again.

As for why Jiraiya and Gai didn't get killed, that's because he ordered the Generals not to kill them because he wanted their shadows. They didn't fight to their fullest, nor did they fight to kill. Ryuuma COULD have killed Gai and the Shodaime and Niidaime COULD have killed Jiraiya, but they did not because Naruto wanted them alive at a later date. He doesn't want Gai alive anymore, but he still wants Jiraiya alive.

Also, as for how he's caught every possible bad break, he lost one of his most powerful subordinates, he lost Haruka and Yukino, he lost his Bio Weapons program, I'll address that right here. First off, he didn't lose his Bio Weapons program. Haruka destroyed their current samples, but they still have the research that went into it and they can and will easily replace what they lost. He lost a General, that is true, but the thing about the zombies is that he can always make more of them, he lost one but that doesn't really affect things on the whole. The Akatsuki know where he is, that is also true and he is planning to move very soon. The weakness of the zombies is known to the Akatsuki, this is also true, but do you really think that it would be easy to force feed someone salt during battle? Knowing a weakness and applying it are two different things.

Also, several people have commented as of late as to Gai knowing of the weaknesses of Naruto's shield. Naruto didn't tell him or anything, Gai found out on his own. Gai was his sensei for a year, he went on several high ranking missions with him and saw him fight many times. Gai found out his weaknesses by watching him for so long.

Right, there were a few other issues raised but I can't bring them all to mind at the moment, so feel free to PM me, or send me any further complaints in a review and I'll address them next chapter.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto then Sasuke would have died instead of Itachi.

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Summary of last chapter

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A combination of a distraction and a sudden opportunity given to Tsunade resulted in Naruto getting hurt pretty badly. After that a short long range fight occurred during which Tsunade was immobilized and Naruto sent a shadow jutsu to kill her.

Jiraiya used Sage Chakra to power a punch that launched the Niidaime zombie into the jutsu's path, resulting in his destruction at the cost of Jiraiya being completely exhausted afterward.

Gai opened three of the Gates and knocked Naruto out, unable to bring himself to kill him at this point. Then he got Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the dead Shizune out of there and to Konoha, opening seven of the Eight gates to do so.

Naruto got treated by Hogback and is royally pissed off at Gai, intending to kill him at next opportunity, shadow be damned. And that's where the chapter ended.

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Konohagakure, Hospital

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The Konoha medical staff were working overtime. They had three critically important patients to take care of, all in severe condition.

Maito Gai had a severe case of chakra exhaustion, several torn muscles and broken bones, and dozens of cuts, varying in severity. There were some that were only scratches, and there were others that went several inches deep. He also had some mild blood loss.

Jiraiya was just as bad, if not worse. A severe case of chakra exhaustion, several broken ribs, several bones in his foot were broken, along with several cuts on various parts of his body. To make things worse, there was a cut very close to his spine that had apparently caused some severe nerve damage, possibly due to some kind of electric shock. There was a very real possibility that he wouldn't be able to walk, or would be impaired for quite some time. Then there was the fact that his old wound had opened up again, and they had to work hard and quickly to make sure that it didn't get infected. They had him under constant observation, and received several treatments every six hours, and was also on an IV drip. He was in critical condition.

Worst of all was Tsunade. The Hokage to be was put through some pretty severe trauma. Several of her ribs were broken in the fight and during Gai's sprint, one of them had actually punctured her lung, and another punctured her stomach wall, allowing acid to leak from it, further damaging things. To make things worse she had severe chakra exhaustion, and her natural healing factor was lower because of it. Several of her muscles were torn and she had several fractures in her jaw, and right hand. In fact, several of her knuckles were dislocated, and her wrist was broken. They surmised that she used one of her punches and didn't put enough chakra into it, resulting in damaging herself. They couldn't be sure if she would be able to use her hand to its full effect again. She was still in surgery for her ribs and lungs. They weren't sure if she would make it or not since some of the hydrochloric acid from her punctured stomach got to her heart.

Lee and Neji were waiting in Gai's room. The Hyuuga Gennin had gotten his jaw healed, although he was to be careful not to damage it for a while. The two weren't sure what had happened to the three, but they knew, or thought they knew, who did it. Naruto.

'Why have you done such things my comrade? Why did you leave us?' Lee thought.

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Naruto's HQ, Naruto's room

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Unlike Gai, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, Naruto was doing rather well. Perhaps it was because he had a better doctor, perhaps it was the demonic chakra, but he was awake, and holding court. He was getting things back under control now that events had calmed down a little.

He had ordered Hogback to start reproducing their viruses. They still had all of the techniques and methods to create the viruses, and the means to study and improve them. He had also considered which General to animate next. Yes, the Niidaime was defeated, but he was not dead. The shadow still resided in the compressed blob that Naruto turned him into. All he had to do was remove the shadow, and put it in a new corpse, and he had a new General Zombie. Perhaps a slightly weaker one, but it didn't truly make much of a difference.

Unlike his opponents that day, his injuries were simple and uncomplicated. He had some severe damage to his right knee, but that would be healed in the next few days thanks to Kyuubi. Once Hogback set everything in its proper place, Kyuubi would jump start the healing process and get everything back in order. He would be back on his feet in a few days, if not sooner.

What he was more worried about was the new location of his HQ. He had the location picked out and from what Kyuubi told him, her idea would be absolutely ideal. When he got back on his feet, he would go there, and then he would move his entire operation there, leaving nothing behind but a few deadly traps to keep the Akatsuki company when they finally came calling.

He was currently holding council with Absalom and Perona, who were wondering what they were going to do now that Tsunade would soon become Hokage. His right leg was in a cast and he was in sleeping clothes as he listened.

"Naruto-sama, what are we going to do now that that bitch will become Hokage? If she does, then Konoha will stabilize and will start to grow again."

Perona nodded and said "He's right Naruto-kun, and we have to decide on which General to animate next. We'll have to decide carefully on which one would be best with Raiga's shadow."

Naruto just smiled at the two as he said "As for the General Zombie, we can pick at our leisure. The shadow isn't going anywhere. As for Tsunade, don't worry about her, it's all taken care of."

Perona looked at him, somewhat puzzled "How is it taken care of? Your plan failed?"

Naruto's smile grew cold as he said "Yes, it did, but this one won't. Do you really think that I haven't planned for the possibility that I would lose? I always have three plans my dear for every operation, a plan, a backup plan, and an ace in the hole. Tsunade survived the first plan, but she won't survive the second."

Absalom smiled and said "That's more like the Naruto-sama I know. What do you have planned?"

Naruto's smile widened as he said "I'm glad you asked." He reached over to the side of his bed and from the bedside table picked up a small suitcase, which he handed to Absalom.

"Absalom, inside that case you will find a square metal box and two detonator switches. You are to carry out my backup plan since I am unable at the moment."

Absalom looked at him in shock and said "You want me to plant a bomb in Tsunade's room? That's crazy, even I wouldn't be able to get in there, they would hear me for sure."

Naruto laughed at that, like he would send Absalom to do something like that. "Hahaha, very funny Absalom, but no, your mission is much simpler. The metal box in that case is something called an EMP that I built a few weeks ago. It will completely knock out anything electronic within a five hundred yard radius. I want you to put it in Konoha's power plant and set it off there. That will knock out the power plant, and put all of Konoha in darkness. They're bound to have Tsunade on a respirator of some kind given the damage I dealt her. Without it, she'll die, it's as simple as that."

Absalom looked in the case and saw that there was a blue colored metal sphere, and one of the detonators had a blue button covered with a plastic cap, remove the cap, press the button. Absalom looked up and said "What's the red detonator for?"

Naruto leaned back a bit and maneuvered a bit to get more comfortable in the bed, Perona got up and fluffed the pillow behind his head for him. "Thank you Perona-chan. As for the red detonator Absalom, that's the second part of the plan. You see, in the event of a blackout, several key buildings have backup generators that will provide the building with power for seventy two hours. The hospital is one of these buildings. Before I left Konoha, I planted several explosives upon this generator in the case that I ever had to kill someone hospitalized and too difficult to get to. I contemplated using this on Jiraiya when he was there, but I decided against it. Take out the secondary generator and Tsunade will die."

Naruto smiled again and said "And even if my plan doesn't work, I still win. My ace in the hole plan is guaranteed to kill Tsunade, it will just take out more people then I would want to kill with her. Hence, why it's the ace in the hole and not the backup plan. But the beauty of this EMP Absalom is that it doesn't just knock out anything electronic, it completely destroys it, making it inoperable forever. Do you see what this means? By setting it off in Konoha's power plant, you'll completely destroy any means they have of creating electricity. Many people in Konoha have become accustomed to lights, air conditioning, working refrigerators, and working appliances. This will severely hurt the people's morale, particularly the civilians. To make things worse, they would have to build an entirely new power plant to replace the destroyed one, and that will take a gigantic chunk out of Konoha's already floundering finances. If things keep going like this, with large expenditures, not much money coming in, low morale, and a good portion of the village destroyed, people will become more desperate, more miserable, this will put Konoha in a bad light in the eyes of customers and they will still lack a Hokage. Slowly but surely, missions will taper off until they are unable to pay their debts, and wages are cut for Shinobi, causing increasing incentive to go rogue. Whether or not Tsunade dies, Konoha will end up going bankrupt."

Perona looked at him with admiration "Naruto-kun, coming up with something like that, YOU'RE AMAZING!"

Naruto waved her away but smiled genuinely as he said "There's more than one way to skin a cat and more than one way to destroy a ninja village. If I can't incite war, then I attack them financially, if that doesn't work, then I attack them some other way. It's a simple enough concept. Absalom, you had better get going, Tsunade won't be on life support forever."

Absalom nodded and said "But, how am I to get to Konoha in time, do you have a beacon gem near Konoha?"

Naruto chuckled and said "Of course I do, it's hidden in the trees of training ground twenty, the one used by the first year academy students for practicing Taijutsu. You had better get going."

Absalom nodded and left the room.

After he left, Perona turned to Naruto and said "So, Naruto-kun, where are we going to go after you heal? I'm really interested."

Naruto leaned back and said "I don't know, but according to Kyuubi the place is perfect for my needs. Do you know what's funny? When I asked her why she hadn't told me of the place before, she said 'I've been alive for over ten thousand years, you can't expect me to remember everything all the time!'" Perona laughed at the re-telling.

Naruto closed his eyes and said "Now then Perona-chan, if you don't mind I'm going to try and get some sleep. The sooner my leg gets healed the better."

Perona nodded and got up before walking to the door, and silently walking out, silently closing the door behind her.

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With Absalom

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Absalom emerged from a portal of darkness created through the power of the necklace Naruto gave him. He immediately turned invisible when he had stepped from the safety the darkness provided, and with good timing. There was a class practicing Taijutsu not thirty feet away. Absalom glanced at the tree where the portal had disappeared and saw the gem that Naruto placed there.

It was small, and entirely black, embedded deep into the bark. It did not reflect any light that was cast on it whatsoever. It would be very difficult to find if you didn't already know where it was. It also helped that it was about seven feet from the ground so most academy students couldn't hope to spot it in any of their explorations.

Absalom kept silent, and prowled away through the trees, heading for the elevated spot near the Hokage Monument that housed the power plant. He walked plainly through the streets and nobody noticed him at all. Most of the powerful ninja were either on guard duty at the hospital or on high ranking missions to stimulate the village's falling economy. That invasion truly took its toll. Re-construction efforts were anything but cheap.

There were a few close calls such as when he almost ran into a ninja coming around a corner suddenly, and there was a time when he stepped on a twig in the street near a small bar that catered to the Shinobi populace. But overall, he did extremely well at mobbing around undetected. He made sure to avoid the hospital though, even if it did provide a faster route to the power plant.

A few streets from the hospital though, he saw a rather odd sight. A girl with pink hair was complaining to a blue eyed blonde girl who didn't seem to be paying any attention at all to what the girl was saying, but he pink haired one either didn't notice or loved her own voice to the point where she didn't care if people listened or not.

"Can you believe that they wouldn't let me visit Sasuke-kun!? 'He's under heavy guard and can't be disturbed' 'He is resting and cannot be bothered', who cares about that stuff? They shouldn't stand in the way of true love, I should be allowed to see him at least. Don't you think so Ino?" the blonde girl nodded absently and the pink haired one carried on.

Absalom shook his head in disbelief. That pink one was annoying as hell. That blonde though…. 'No', he chided himself 'I'm here on business, strictly business. I can't go looking for some tail right now. Naruto-sama would turn me into his dinner.' He got going, moving quickly away from the pair.

Eventually, Absalom reached the power plant. The guard on the place was abysmal. There were two Chuunin guards standing on either side of the gate and that was it. There wasn't even an electrified fence.

The plant itself wasn't too impressive. It was a large amount of machines in a large, fenced in area. Numerous wires traveled from the place to circle around Konoha's various buildings. It did its job, but it wasn't pretty to look at.

The guards were no trouble to the amalgam of man and beast. He knocked one of them over the head with the metal suitcase he carried, for the guard to drop to the ground, unconscious. The other guard turned suddenly to see what the noise was, only to have a strong hand close around his throat and hold him against the fence until he passed out. Neither of them knew what happened since Absalom kept himself invisible during the quick assault.

Absalom put the other guard down and after a moment of preparation jumped the fence, landing gracefully on the other side. He strode to the middle of the small complex and put down his cargo, flicking open the case and pulling out the detonators.

Absalom backed up a bit and flicked over the plastic cap on the red detonator, the bomb switch. He had to trigger that one first because the EMP would knock out the detonator as well. He put his thumb over the button on the top of the cylinder of metal and pushed the bump of red rubber.

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The Hospital

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In the basement of Konohagakure General Hospital, there was a large power generator. No one came down there except the janitor who kept his supplies there. The only other reason someone came down there was to inspect the generator every two years. It was a small room of stone with a large metal construct on one side and a bunch of cleaning supplied on the other.

On the metal generator, wedged between the generator and the wall where people couldn't see it unless they climbed on top of the thing, a green light flashed red and a quick charge was delivered to a sealed package. This package contained five packages of explosive notes, the equivalent of a dozen military grenades. **(1)**

The charge traveled into the package and set off each and every one of the notes simultaneously, resulting in an explosion that rocked the room and reduced the generator to so much scrap.

The favorite phrase in the hospital for the next ten seconds was 'What the fuck was that?'

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With Absalom

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Absalom knew his time was short. He had to detonate the EMP and get out of there before ninja started swarming around the village. He flicked the cover off of the blue switch and hit the button.

An invisible field of magnetic energy surged from the small box and traveled through each and every machine in the area. Every last power generator was permanently deactivated. The low humming from the machines ceased.

Across Konoha, the power went out, including the hospital.

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In a large cave in Taki no Kuni

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A large statue sat in a large, open cave. It had nine eyes that were currently open. One of those eyes had a pupil in it. Right now, a second pupil was forming in another of the eyes. A large red sphere sat in the Statue's mouth.

Kikukawa Yukino, the Rokubi Jinchuuriki fell to the ground, dead.

On the hands of the Statue, nine figures stood. Seven of them were but mere holograms, while the other two were there physically. They all relaxed as they saw the iris form.

The blond one on the right index finger rubbed his left shoulder and said "Man, that was a real pain, yeah." Most of the other figures nodded in agreement.

The figure on the right thumb looked at the short man on the left thumb and said "You are sure that you couldn't get anything out of her?"

The short figure nodded and said "Yes, Leader-sama. The shock of her friend's betrayal in conjunction with a not to stable psyche broke her mind. She simply shut down after she woke up. The Rokubi was starting to take over when we put her down again. We couldn't get anything from her.

The Leader of Akatsuki nodded and then looked to the man on the right ring finger of the statue, the one with the Sharingan eyes.

The man said "Itachi, we know where the Kyuubi is hiding. I know that you are currently in southern Hi no Kuni. You are to travel north and attack his base in Kusa no Kuni immediately. Capture the Jinchuuriki alive and kill everyone else there. And be sure to bring salt with you. If Sasori's information is correct, then it will be vital.

Uchiha Itachi, murderer of the Uchiha clan, nodded calmly and said "Yes Leader-sama, at once." Then the figures faded out, one by one. The Statue vanished in a gust of black smoke. The two members of Akatsuki that were physically there left the cave, detonating explosives inside, causing it to collapse.

They went off, in search of the Ichibi, the only remaining target for the two. They didn't have any leads but they would work for however long they had to in order to find the one tailed demon. Zetsu, having previously been ordered to hunt the Rokubi, is now hunting the Sanbi instead.

Deidara was right about one thing though. Zetsu was PISSED when he found out that his target had been stolen from him.

In southern Hi no Kuni, two figures awoke from a seeming meditation. Itachi stood and merely said "Let's get going, Kisame."

Hoshigaki Kisame, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, stood up and took up his sword as he said "Right"

The two Akatsuki members headed north, toward the discovered location of Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

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(1) I'm talking about present day military grenades here.

Right, since I left you on such a depressing note last chapter, I decided to work hard and post the next chapter early, even by my standards.

What, did you guys really think that I would have Naruto get beaten and then stay down? Did you think that he lost and had nothing set aside just in case? Do not doubt me my readers, this Naruto has plans set aside for even the most unlikely of scenarios, though he never expected the whole Haruka and Yukino thing. He got blindsided with that one, so don't flame me on that issue.

You also find out what happened to the darling Yukino, and now Itachi is heading toward Naruto's location. What shall happen? To Tsunade? To Naruto? Read the next chapter and find out.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	36. Chapter 36

Testing, one two, one two, Kage no Naruto chapter thirty six is here for your viewing pleasure at last

Testing, one two, one two, Kage no Naruto chapter thirty six is here for your viewing pleasure at last! Finally, you shall see what happens next in this story. You can read past the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter and see what happens next! Anyway, read it, enjoy it, and review it. Now.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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This one was a huge filler chapter. The tail the Raikage sent after Sasuke got killed, and the Raikage is going out after Sasuke with a battalion in tow. Think he's fucked? Hell no, he's Uchiha Sasuke, in the canon he can do anything and everything. Including surviving mortal wounds, cast unbreakable illusions and defeat immortal demons.

Anyway, Sasuke has 'a new power' that will be all he needs to in order to destroy Konoha. I'm not sure if it's putting out the Amaterasu flames, Susanoo, or something else we haven't seen yet but it's guaranteed to be overpowered.

On another note, the Raikage has sent official word to Konoha that he's going to take down Sasuke and asking for their information on him, and he's also calling an assembly of the five Kages to discuss a plan to deal with Akatsuki. Something tells me things are heating up.

And last but not least, Naruto is having a lot of trouble with the Sage training. He can't stop himself from moving in order to absorb the Natural Energy. Once again, his over-hyper ADD sort of character is screwing him over, thank you again Kishimoto for making the main character an ADD infested Sasuke-obsessed retard!

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END OF SPOILERS

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Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would have died long ago.

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto, from his bedside, set his backup plan to kill Tsunade in motion, sending Absalom to permanently knock out the power plant that powers Konoha, and also set off some explosives to knock out the emergency power at the hospital, thus taking down Tsunade's life support.

On another note, Itachi and Kisame are heading toward Naruto's base of operations. Will they get there before Naruto moves? Will Tsunade die? Will something else happen? Read the chapter and find out!

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In Konoha

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Nobody knew what was happening. All of a sudden the lights went out, across the whole village. There were a few exceptions of course, places such as the hospital, the Hokage tower, and a few other buildings had emergency reserve power generators in case of, as Foghorn Leghorn would say, just such an emergency.

However, this did not stop the people from wondering what was going on. They didn't really mind at all, but that was simply the first reactions. Eventually people would become worried and scared, as is human nature to something extremely out of the ordinary. There would soon be dissent, desperation, fear, and more than likely violence would sprout up in various places. It was human nature and the death of the power plant had caused it. Soon, the fear and anger of the populace would break loose, and it would all be at the hands of the one who engineered the destruction of the power plant.

Fear was a very funny thing. Even a small fear, something insignificant, can seem like a deadly threat in the right circumstances, becoming something monstrous and uncontrollable. With the natural fear and the secondary factor that was even now rolling through the streets of Konoha, that natural fear would grow, doubling and redoubling, and with no explanation to explain why the lights were out, people would start to forget their carefully rational reasons why they should not be afraid in favor of panic.

Because, the fact of the matter is, no matter how advanced humans think they are, there is still that age old, primal, undeniable dread of darkness. The fear of being unable to see the danger coming. Humans like to think that they aren't afraid of the dark anymore, but if that's true, why do humans work so hard to make sure their cities are constantly lit? They cloak themselves in so much light they can barely see the stars at night.

The point being, things weren't bad now, but with the fear of darkness and the other effect of that EMP rolling through Konoha silently, night would change things. Even if things stayed normal, nightfall could get really ugly, really fast. The only question was how Konoha's government would deal with it.

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In the hospital

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The hospital staff were pretty much in panic. The power had gone out. This might not seem like much at first glance, but it was a very serious matter. Ceiling lights were not working so it would be very difficult to see for the most part, critical machines would not work, such as X-ray and diagnostic equipment, making it difficult to get accurate test results on patients.

Most importantly though, the life support systems in the emergency ward would all be grinding to a halt. And the equipment in the operating rooms would be mostly non-functional. People like Jiraiya and Gai were lucky, they were only under observation as they recovered, and Jiraiya was on an IV drip which used gravity to do its job. But Tsunade on the other hand….

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In Tsunade's operation room

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Things were pretty hectic in the operation room. There were five doctors working on Tsunade, the best in the hospital, including the director of the hospital himself, Dr. Yoshimo Hisagi, who was considered one of the best doctors in the world, but still a few shades less than Tsunade.

They were in the middle of several procedures to heal Tsunade's injuries. They prioritized of course. The stomach had been sealed, and her lung re-inflated, they also managed to get the acid out of her system thanks to a medical jutsu specially made for stomach perforations. They had even managed to get her ribs roughly back into position, and were in the middle of casting them back into place when the power had gone out.

This of course negatively affected the whole thing. They had Tsunade on a respirator to keep her breathing during the operation which was definitely a necessary step to keeping her alive. Of course, when the power went out, so did the respirator. Tsunade stopped breathing and the doctors were immediately put into panic mode.

They worked quickly, and did the fastest thing to keep her breathing, CPR.

They didn't do any chest compressions mind you, for one her chest was being worked on so pressing down on it would probably be detrimental to healing her broken ribs. Secondary to that was the fact that with her… chest size, it would be kind of difficult. They didn't really need to anyway, there wasn't anything to stop her heart from beating. Just her lungs from taking in air.

They worked hard and quickly, and got her ribs back into position and sealed them there with medical jutsu. But there was still the issue of her breathing, and the damage to her system from the stomach acid. They kept one doctor doing CPR, but they had to switch off every so often. CPR was REALLY hard to keep up with for a long period of time. This also tired out the doctors, bit by bit. Ninja they may have been, but they hadn't done any fighting in over twenty years, they were a bit out of shape.

There were other possible solutions, but they were pretty much limited to a VERY old system that would probably do more harm than good that was made for patients who required surgery on their throat and couldn't be allowed to have air pass through the trachea for the surgery to go well. It involved perforating the lungs themselves and pumping air directly into them. It would do more harm than good in this situation so they were stuck with the CPR.

They worked as fast as they could as the minutes crept by. They could only be glad that they got the really dangerous stuff out of the way before the power went out, if it had gone out earlier, then Tsunade would be in some real trouble.

Still, difficulties regardless, they had managed to heal the acid damage. It wasn't difficult really, a simple Shosen would do the job of healing the damaged tissue. The surgery was pretty much done, so they sealed her up. Her cuts and other wounds had already been bandaged. All she needed was a few weeks of bed rest and she would be okay.

They had managed to solve the breathing issue as well. They had a doctor constantly on standby at her bed, feeding electrical chakra into her. The doctor who did this carefully fed it into the diaphragm, the muscle that works the lungs, forcing her to breath. It was a temporary solution until she woke up, but it would have to do for now.

But Tsunade had come dangerously close to death. If it hadn't been the best doctors who were working on her, then who knows what would have happened.

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With Naruto, two days later

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Naruto was tentatively putting weight on his formerly wounded leg. Hogback had taken off the cast and he was experimenting to make sure that his leg was fully healed. It didn't even twinge as he stood up. Not a bit of pain as he stretched it and bent the joint, twisting his leg at every possible angle to make sure that it worked correctly. He had to give Hogback credit, he did some excellent work.

Naruto frowned as he thought of the more recent news that had been delivered to him this morning. Tsunade had woken up. His assassination attempt had failed. It was common knowledge across the various countries that she was to be anointed Hokage tomorrow.

He could remember even now his response to the news when it was given to him.

'Don't bother with it. It's insignificant now that she's guaranteed to be Hokage.' And so it was.

The whole meaning behind Tsunade's death was the fact that if Konoha went without a Hokage, some other nation would declare war, almost guaranteeing Konoha's destruction. He could still kill Tsunade now if he wanted to, but it would carry some serious risks to say the least. His ace in the hole plan was just that, an ace in the hole. It would almost guarantee Tsunade's death, but it would take many others down with her.

The ace in the hole plan was to unleash a savage virus upon the Konoha populace. Haruka destroyed most of the samples they had, but he and Hogback had kept the top three or four most deadly strains in a separate place that no one knew about except for them.

If he unleashed one of those terrors on Konoha, it would spread quickly, wiping out almost everybody. That wouldn't be so bad on its own, but the disease would spread, becoming an epidemic that would engulf the world. He didn't want to kill everyone, just the people in Konoha, and he decided that the plan carried far too much risk for what was now a miniscule target. He had dealt a savage blow to Konoha already with that special EMP. It would be amplified by the power source of the thing.

You see, he had no electrical affinity to produce electricity to fuel it, nor did he have the sort of reserves it would take to fuel the device. His chakra reserves were vast, but that little cube required a daunting amount of energy. So, he went to an alternate power source since any kind of electrical generator wouldn't produce enough power in years. He turned to natural chakra, Natural Energy.

There were several uses of Natural Energy, and there were even several kinds of Natural Energy in the world. There was the kind of Natural Energy that was drawn in by Jiraiya to create Sage Chakra, and it could be found anywhere in the world that didn't have any other kind. However, it could only be drawn into an individual's body with immense training, and even then it had to be drawn in carefully.

The other kinds of Natural Energy were wide and varied, that caused positive and negative effects to the places where they were located. These energy types could only be found in things called Ley-lines.

Ley-lines were pretty much pipes filled to the brim with various types of Natural Energy. They were invisible to the naked eye, and even any Doujutsu, but they could be sensed by those with the talent or training. They could be found all over the world, in various strengths and locations, and altered their locations depending on the nature of the Energy and the concentration of it. There was a decent sized Ley-line of Defensive Energy flowing through Iwa for example, which may explain the large amount of mountains in the area for example. There was also a tendency of defensive Ninjutsu to be more powerful in certain parts of Tsuchi no Kuni. There was also a pretty large Ley-line of Life Energy in the region surrounding Konoha and Kusa, resulting in a large amount of plant life and the slightly above average fertility of the women born there. But Naruto hadn't used anything like that. He had used a Ley-line of Dark Energy to fuel his device.

Dark Energy was not kind in the slightest to humanity. In fact, humans avoided the places that had a Ley-line of Dark Energy near it. They did so subconsciously, not even realizing that they were avoiding any particular place, just that they did NOT want to go there for some reason. Anyone who DID go near a Ley-line of Dark Energy would get a major case of the creeps and want to leave immediately. There were usually a fair amount of ghost stories in places with Dark Ley-lines in them as well. Most of them were probably true to some degree, hence how the tales were made originally. Dark Energy increased fear in humans, made them edgy and scared, riddled them with anxiety, and just gave them the feeling that something was indescribably _wrong_. Such places usually bred their own wastelands.

Naruto had fueled his device using Dark Energy, and that had spread though Konoha's populace. It was probably gone by now, but while it was there it certainly stirred them up. There were actually a few riots the first night, and several buildings were on fire, and many stores had been robbed. The Shinobi managed to get everyone to calm down though, in the end, but there was still a fair amount of property damage that would help strain Konoha's dying budget. They couldn't keep up such large expenditures forever.

Unfortunately, there had been something to help Konoha along. The Fire Daimyo.

The Lord of the land had seen Konoha's plight and had given them a sizable loan from the nations' treasury, to be repaid when they were able. Konoha would be able to rebuild, if only barely, but things were still anything but rosy for the village.

Still, Naruto did not really care. He put on his normal clothes absent mindedly, not letting the news bother him because it didn't. So Konoha would rebuild and eventually get back on its feet. It didn't matter to him. Konoha would eventually be destroyed, it was only a matter of time. So he had missed one opportunity, so what? He would live for a very long time, Kyuubi would see to that, he could afford to be patient.

Naruto secured his trench coat around his shoulders, securing it with a clasp near the collar, and donned his normal hat, adding a solid three inches to his already impressive height. What worried him was that he hadn't stopped growing yet. He was fourteen and six feet tall. He hadn't hit the points where people really start to grow. He had asked Hogback about it and it turned out that, if he kept growing at this rate, he would be at least seven feet tall before he stopped growing. At least. That just wasn't normal.

It turned out that it was actually Kyuubi's doing. She had altered his body a bit to make him grow at an accelerated rate. When he asked her why as he left the cave, she simply replied 'I like tall men' He just had the idea that this couldn't possibly end well.

Naruto left the cave and used his Kage Hokou to travel elsewhere, to the north. That was where the new hideout Kyuubi had in mind was located.

According to Kyuubi it was well defended. It was on a decent sized, uncharted island in the middle of Lake Tokiha. The lake was quite large, extending for several dozen miles in every direction from the center. The lake was positioned north of Hi no Kuni, right on the border of Mori no Kuni, and Oto no Kuni. **(1)**

The lake had a single river flowing from it that led West, through Oto no Kuni, and eventually South into Hi no Kuni. It was this river that went through the Valley of the End.

According to Kyuubi, the island was surrounded by stone reefs that made it almost impossible to travel to via boat unless you knew the EXACT path to take. It was anything but safe. There was one other factor that led Naruto to consider this spot. It was smack dab on top of one of the largest Ley-lines of Dark Energy in the world. Hence why it was uncharted. Humanity found the island long ago, and had even started a town at one point, but it was eventually abandoned. Someone with some intelligence in the government realized that the island was dangerous somehow and invested some effort to having the island removed from the records, believing that the island was less of a temptation to the younger generation if they weren't aware of its existence, hence no maps showed where it was. This was several hundred years ago, when the Elemental Countries were first being formed.

It was the definition of 'Hidden', especially with the large banks of mist that tended to congregate near the center of the lake and the dangerous creatures that were said to live under the surface. Another possible manifestation of the Dark Energy Ley-line.

It took Naruto two days to travel from Hi no Kuni's Northern border, the closest place he had ever been to the location of the new hideout, to the place itself. The water did not bother him in the slightest. He had the feeling that anything that lived in there would be dangerous, so he simply flew. He manifested his shadow and changed it to his will, forming great bat-like wings that allowed him to take flight above the black water of the lake. He could swear that he saw several large ripples of movement under the surface.

He pierced through the banks of thick fog that engulfed the center of the lake and eyed the island below. It took him about five seconds to realize that the place was perfect for his purposes. He flew down to the island and after an hour of exploring, headed home to prepare everyone to move.

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In Naruto's Cave

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Everyone was frantically getting everything ready to go. Clean the various rooms, make sure everything is where you want it to be and so on. Why do you ask? They were moving again. Naruto simply appeared and told everyone to prepare to go. Hence, everyone was scrambling to get ready to move. Moving a large distance was a shaky ride to say the least. Several people could swear that things had vanished in the last trip.

Still though, they were ready by the time Naruto specified, and he moved the cave system using the Dai Kage Hokou, same as last time. Only difference this time was, they were leaving a chunk of it behind. The room closest to the cave entrance. That room had been rigged with dozens of traps to take care of anyone who might come snooping around in search of clues of their whereabouts.

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Central Island, Lake Tokiha

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When the horrible whirling sensation of the transfer came to an end, everyone looked around a bit. They all gathered in the dining room before the move, so they were still in the familiar caves, so they waited for Naruto to come back and then they all went exploring. Well, most of them did, Naruto already knew what to expect.

The group left the cave, and emerged in a large room with four stone walls. There was a stone staircase heading up to a door.

Everyone looked at Naruto and he made a motion toward a door. Everyone carefully went up the stairs and opened the wooden door.

The door led out to a hallway that extended to the left for about fifty feet before you came to a turn, and it still continued on beyond that. Everything was made of the same dark stone.

It only took a few minutes of exploration to realize that this was all one gigantic building. There was furniture in many of the rooms, fine wooden furniture, crystal chandeliers; it was quite the set up. They eventually found the rather large front door, and made their way outside. They walked forward and turned around to see the entire building. It was a large castle.

Everyone was shocked to see such a structure. Naruto strode out of the building after everyone else, taking in their shocked expressions before he explained. "Yes, we are not the first people to be here. This castle was made centuries ago by demons entering this world. It was made as a safe haven for demons, and demonic forces. The first inhabitants of the Elemental Countries created a town here that was later abandoned, the island left uncharted afterwards. The demons of the time thought that the fact that humans despised this place would mean that they would go undisturbed here, hence the castle. The town still stands reasonably intact, despite being beyond ancient. This castle was made to protect and shelter demons and dark forces that needed safety from the forces of light. I think it is perfect for us."

The people amassed before him listened carefully, but didn't take their eyes off of the great stone structure before them. The castle was extremely large by their standards. Several hundred yards per side, and at least five stories tall. All made of the same kind of stone, in uniformly sized bricks of the hard material. There were windows every so often, and several towers near the top rose in the sky.

Naruto was a bit vexed at Kyuubi for not remembering the place sooner, but she had never been there before. She just heard about it from a rumor, not even sure if it were true. But, she remembered and they were there now, so he didn't really care that much.

Naruto was brought from his musings as the group were walking away from the building, toward a staircase of stone that led down the slope. "Where are you all going?" He yelled to them.

Temari turned back and yelled "We're going to check out the town, if it's there!" Then turned back and hurried down the old steps.

Naruto shrugged. In his opinion, the old town wasn't that impressive, but he had other things to do anyway. He turned to go back inside. He would have to get the zombies to move everyone's possessions into their new rooms. They would live in caves no more!

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With everyone else

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Everyone was traveling carefully down the steps. They had to be careful of their footing, since the stairs were so old. Anko once slipped on a loose stone for instance.

The stairs ended upon a jut of land that held very little except a fallen lighthouse. It might have been a fifty foot tower at one point, but it looked like it was broken off about halfway up, like it was snapped off from a giant's huge hand. The stones that once made up the lighthouse were scattered around on the ground. One of the sides of the structure had also fallen away, revealing the inside that was as round and empty as a rifle barrel. A shack formed of stones from the fallen lighthouse had also been built nearby, leaning against the exposed stone of the slope. There were usually strange stories about such places, but as they looked upon the grey stones, they got the impression that someone had to _survive_ a dark encounter before they could start a story about it.

There was very little there, so they just moved on.

Eventually they came to the town. It was an old, business town that was built around an old cannery near the center of the settlement, a long building that was falling to pieces at the end of an old street. The whole place looked like it was relying on the fish of the lake to bring in income. It was modest, and wooden piers in various states of serious disrepair graced the shore. The group split up to search on their own.

Perona wandered between the buildings, but her mind was on something else. She didn't know what it was about this place, but it creeped her out. It was like she could feel something there. Like she was not just on haunted ground, but on serious, major league haunted ground, the kind of place that had never bowed its head to the advance of progress and civilization, to science and reason, that had no more regard for those children of human intellect than it had for their progenitors, for the ancient people that it had killed or driven away long ago.

The island seemed almost _alive_, aware of her presence in a way that she couldn't really tangibly define- aware of it and sullenly, spitefully hostile to it. The whole place creeped her out beyond imagination.

Across the island, the others were having similar thoughts, especially Anko and Temari, who were the most human of them all.

They all met up again quite quickly and decided to head back to the castle. It wouldn't provide relief from the creepy feeling that they were getting, but at least there they had a virtual army ready and waiting.

Naruto smiled from a window as he watched them all return. He knew what they had to be feeling, the feeling that all humans got near a Dark Energy Ley-line, but he didn't get that feeling at all. In fact, he felt quite at home. He knew though, that he was safe here, and he also knew that his own powers would grow as he stayed near the Dark Ley-line. This was the perfect base of operations for him.

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With Tsunade, one day later

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Tsunade was in her new office, the office of the Hokage. She couldn't believe everything that had happened in the last few days. She agreed to become Hokage, she fought Orochimaru, Shizune died, and scarcely an hour after she was inaugurated she was doing paperwork. She only got one break from it all and that was when the Council badgered her into doing something medical, in this case, healing Uchiha Sasuke.

She had no idea how the idiot had done that much damage to his leg, and it wasn't exactly easy, but she healed his leg in the end. HE should be waking up any minute now.

Tsunade sighed as she signed off on another form, glancing at a picture of her deceased pupil. She could remember to this day how she had helped her get over her fear of blood, even though it wasn't intentional.

It had been a year or so after they had left Konoha together. They had been camping in the woods and Tsunade had gone to get wood for a fire. She heard a scream and rushed back immediately.

She had found a large, bear of a man standing over Shizune. He was more than likely one of the bandits that tended to swarm in such regions.

Normally, Tsunade would have taken care of him easily enough if not for one fact, he was bleeding from his right forearm. Shizune had put her newly learned ninja skills to work and surprised the man when she drew a kunai, plunging it into the man's forearm.

Tsunade instantly froze. She hated herself for doing so, but she couldn't bring herself to move her muscles. She kept seeing them again and again, Nawaki, dead, Dan, dead. She couldn't bring herself to protect Shizune and she hated herself for it.

The man hadn't noticed her as he trudged forward toward Shizune, a sword in hand. Shizune was barely twelve at the time and was only beginning to learn the way of a Ninja. She wasn't anywhere near ready to put her skills to the test in actual combat yet. She had lost her one kunai and she was defenseless.

Shizune spotted Tsunade and yelled "Tsunade-sama! Help me!"

The man raised his sword for the death blow. Shizune covered her head with her arms, too scared to move.

Shizune's words back then sparked a fire in Tsunade, she had lost others, but she couldn't let this man take Shizune from her. She wouldn't, COULDN'T, lose another important person. What was blood anyway? A read liquid full of water, oxygen, and cells. Why should she be afraid of it?

She overcame her fear of blood and knocked the bandit through a tree. She overcame her fear of blood that day, and it was all thanks to Shizune.

Tsunade looked at the picture of her apprentice and though 'Shizune, I'm so sorry that I failed you. But I can promise you this.' She finished the sake bottle and crushed it in her hand 'I can promise you that I WILL avenge you. That creature, that beast man and his master, will pay. I swear it.'

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With Sasuke

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Sasuke was awake in his hospital bed, and staring at his hands as he thought 'Is this all I am capable of, AM I THIS WEAK!?' **(2)**

Sasuke looked away from his hands in disgust, unable to believe that he had progressed so little in so long. It was pathetic. He had to find a way to get stronger, and fast. He would never defeat Itachi otherwise.

Then he remembered that man from the forest, Orochimaru. He promised him power if he came for it. Sasuke smiled a small, cold little smile. He would go to this Orochimaru, he would become strong, he would defeat Itachi and he would defeat HIM.

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(1) This means 'Land of Forests' if I'm not mistaken

(2) Yes, Sasuke you ARE that weak

Okay, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. If you hadn't guessed yet, the Sasuke retrieval arc will be happening soon, and that means that Tayuya will soon appear! Also, I hope you guys enjoyed my description of Naruto's new place of residence. Sorry for the lack of action and the lack of Akatsuki updates, but I at least explained why Tsunade isn't afraid of blood.

Anyway, that's about all I've got to say, so until next time I'll leave you wondering what happens next and how I update so damn fast.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	37. Chapter 37

Greetings one and all to Kage no Naruto chapter thirty seven, man this thing is getting gigantic

Greetings one and all to Kage no Naruto chapter thirty seven, man this thing is getting gigantic. Over one hundred and fifty thousand words and I haven't even got into Shippuden yet! But yeah, in this chapter, you shall see how Itachi and Kisame deal with the traps Naruto left behind, the final version of the names that will be given to Naruto's group and base, and maybe, if I'm in a good mood, the Sound Four might make an appearance. Who knows? I know, and you will too if you stop reading this foreword and read the damn chapter already!

Disclaimer: For the thirty seventh god damn time, I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

Note: Oh, in the spoilers last chapter, I forgot to mention how Sasuke is starting to be affected by the sight loss of the Sharingan. My bad. Mind you, fifty quit says that he finds a way out of the blindness somehow.

Second note: A few people asked if Naruto couldn't change the dark stone necklaces to help relieve the feelings of creepiness caused by the Dark Energy and the answer is no. Natural Energy is different than chakra, there's the kind that's dispersed in the air that is malleable, but every other type has a specific purpose that cannot be changed. In the case of Dark Energy, its purpose is to harm, to corrupt, to imprison, to destroy. It can't be used for something that is not in its nature. Naruto's group will eventually get used to the feeling, but it will never go away because they are human, and Dark Energy is not something humans can comprehend or live with under normal circumstances. They'll just have to tough it out.

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Summary of last chapter

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Tsunade managed to survive the second assassination attempt and took her place as Hokage. She had a flashback which showed how she got rid of her fear of blood.

Naruto examined his new hideout and moved everyone there, leaving several traps in the old one for anyone who might come looking for him there.

Sasuke's leg was healed by Tsunade and he is now plotting on how to obtain more power, what else is new?

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Naruto's new Castle, one day after last chapter

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Naruto was in Hogback's lab, and they were just finishing up a few more tests to make sure that their data was accurate. They had been testing it for some time now and they were pretty sure that they're information was untainted and their hypothesis was true.

"So, Hogback, you believe that the controlling element behind Orochimaru's Curse Seal is a piece of his soul that was implanted with the enzyme during the application of the seal? "

The old doctor nodded and said "Yes, Naruto-sama. I have narrowed it down through extensive testing and that is my final result. All you have to do now is find a way to exorcise Orochimaru's soul, or suppress it, and add that seal into the work of your Shikeishuu no Fuuin to complete it."

Naruto smiled and shook his head slightly. "You're wrong there Hogback, if I add such a seal to it, then it won't be the Shikeishuu no Fuuin. It will require a new seal to accommodate such a work. I will have to think of a name for it once I make it, but that won't take long."

Naruto stretched his arms over his head and said "Good work doctor, now we can get back to other tasks such as completing new General and Soldier marionettes and re-stocking our virus program. It's about time we replenished the supply that was destroyed by that whore Haruka."

Hogback only nodded, more than happy to get back to the more fun work.

Naruto turned and walked out of the door, saying "See you later Hogback, I have some seals to work on."

Naruto walked out of the large complex of rooms that Hogback had chosen as his living quarters and laboratory. Just about everybody had their own little section of the castle that they pretty much claimed as their own. As you might have guessed, the sections of the castle that they inhabited showed signs of their preferences.

Hogback had his complex of rooms on the second and third floors that contained his large lab, freezers, and his room, Anko had her room on the third floor and region near an armory. Absalom, perhaps influenced by his animalistic side, took a liking to the caves that they lived in before and so lived in the basement, where the caves were attached to. The place gave off an animalistic vibe, and a hint of perversion that came from the small bookcase of Icha Icha novels.

Temari apparently liked high places so she had her room on the seventh floor, the highest level, and resided at the base of one of the towers. That entire tower served as her little section of the castle.

Haku didn't like high places so she remained on the ground floor, in a small complex of rooms that were colder than anywhere else. Near the place was a large library of books on just about any subject you cared to mention.

Perona lived near the front of the castle, about midway up on the fourth floor. Her room had a balcony that showed a grand view of the ruined town. Naruto had only been in her room once and it was dominated by the color pink and a large amount of plush dolls. That girl could be childish and sadistic in the same moment, it was just creepy.

Naruto himself stayed on the fifth floor, right above Perona's room. His room was pretty much the same as it was in all of his dwellings. It had a large amount of books on the various shelves, and he had an office and a small laboratory nearby. The furniture in his room was limited to a large bookshelf, a large King size bed with a dark blue comforter and wine red silk sheets. There was a decent sized fridge in the corner. Not five rooms away was the pantry where most of the non-perishable food was kept. There was also a private bathroom.

The kitchen was on the third floor, with a large freezer adjacent to it. There was a door from it that led to the dining room, which was extremely large. Breakfast was served at the same time every morning, same for lunch and dinner. With Naruto's appetite, every meal was a feast.

The whole place was filled with ornamentation, Naruto's living paintings spread on every floor, and there were also other paintings as well, rare pieces of masterwork. The whole place would probably sell for several billion Ryo.

Naruto was, of course, always prepared. He was keeping his ear to the ground in important matters to the world. Most specifically in Otogakure, which was only a hundred or so kilometers away, and Konohagakure. He had several zombies working undercover there gathering information, relaying it via zombie portrait. He was keeping tabs on Orochimaru, he knew that he would try something and when he did, Naruto wanted to be ready to take any kind of advantage that he could from whatever happened afterwards.

Speaking of the zombies, they were accommodated too. Most of them were kept asleep and in their coffins, which were mostly in various storerooms. They would be awoken when necessary but until then they were kept out of the way.

The General zombies were treated differently of course, as were the non-combat zombies. Kagerou had a bunk in Hogback's lab, Hildon slept in one of the towers, though he was currently on a reconnaissance mission in Konoha, Bearsy slept on a cushion in Perona's room. Rei slept near the kitchen, and since they were living in a new, larger place, Naruto had created several new 'Maid Zombies' like her and they all slept near Rei, the eldest of them and generally took orders from her regarding housework. They were known as Nao, Shizuru, Fumi, Asuka, Mai and Sasami. They could all cook well, and were basically there to look after the place in general. They had a lot of work to do cleaning the place since it hadn't been inhabited in centuries. **(1)**

The Generals were kept in a single large room filled with large coffins of stone, most of them were empty mind, the count of General Zombies wasn't that high, and he had yet to animate a good number of them. Ryuuma simply roamed the halls, sleeping where he will. He was the head General so he was awake on a normal basis.

So now, Naruto climbed the stairs to his laboratory, he had a seal to devise.

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Konoha, Hospital, Sasuke's room

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Sasuke was sitting on his bed, holding his head in one hand. He had just woken up to find his leg healed, and a throbbing pain in one shoulder, the one where that Dobe put his seal on him.

Kakashi was in almost as soon as he woke up and explained everything that had happened recently. Sasuke was pissed, that idiot had managed to hurt and almost defeat a member of the Sannin that was supposed to be Hokage, and was Hokage now. Was he that weak? If some random nobody could get that strong, so could he!

At the moment though, he was still trying to recover from the horrible things that he was besieged with as he slept. Horrible, horrible dreams.

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Flashback, Sasuke's dream

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Sasuke was in a dark place, he couldn't see anything at all. He walked, but there was no sound, he smelled the air, but there was nothing.

He walked on and still he found nothing. He sat down to rest his tired limbs.

The second he did, red skeletal specters materialized around him, whispering into his ear, but he couldn't do anything. He couldn't move, he couldn't reply, all he could do was listen to their whispers.

"Hey, mister." One of them said "How about some diet pills?"

A second one said "Yes, buy our diet pills."

The third one said "Why exercise and watch what you eat to lose weight, when cheap, effective weight loss can be yours?"

The first one said "Yes, try out diet pills, sign into the corporation, go out and find new recruits, sell your own diet pills. For every recruit you get ten Ryo and fifty percent of what they make by selling diet pills, but you have to give fifty percent of what you get to me, in addition to ten Ryo."

It went on like that. "Buy our diet pills, sign up and join the corporation, you know you want to." It never ended and he never could get any rest.

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Sasuke's room

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Sasuke's newly found fear of diet pills aside; he got up and tested his leg. Seeing that it was functional, no pain or anything from putting his weight on it, he got up, got dressed, and then walked out of the room.

He loved how he just had to sign a form and he was free to go. Nobody questioned him, after all, he was an Uchiha. But now, he had to find a way to become stronger. He had to become strong enough to destroy Itachi, to destroy that idiot that hurt him, Naruto, and then strong enough to destroy anyone else who would dare challenge him. He was an Uchiha, he was invincible. **(2)**

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With Naruto

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Naruto had been sequestered in his lab for several hours now, pouring over complex texts on seals and other such things. Fuuinjutsu, as it was now known, was easily the most powerful and intricate of the ninja arts. What was funny was how much power isn't used; the techniques that even self proclaimed 'Seal Masters' such as Jiraiya didn't even have a clue about.

Fuuinjutsu is the modern terminology for it, but the whole art goes far back, thousands of years. There were endless things that could be done with Fuuinjutsu, but a great deal of the more powerful possibilities aren't even comprehended by the modern day seal masters because they are different from the methods they know.

There are many ways to enhance Fuuinjutsu to do much more than what normal seal masters can do, but it takes a lot of preparation. Certain dates and times have the ability to increase the potency of what you're trying, as is the material the writing is done in. Most seals use normal ink as a medium, hence one reason why modern seals are limited, ink simply doesn't have the capacity of holding that much energy without frying. It's like putting too much electricity through a small fuse; it's simply not capable of it. The most powerful and potent ink you can use to write seals in is mortal blood. That can conduct much more energy.

Other things must also be taken into account as well, objects, sound, sights, and many other things can all play a crucial part in extremely advanced Fuuinjutsu which fools like Jiraiya don't even know exists. That was the art that he was striving to learn and master. Such advanced seals could do almost anything if you knew how, they could do anything from light candles, to grant godlike power to an individual, although that particular work requires a LOT of preparation, a very specific formula, and skill and practice that he simply lacked at this point, not to mention he didn't know how the thing worked. That information lay in a one of a kind book that he was hoping to track down. He had little hope since it hasn't been seen in almost a millennium but he would still try.

But now, after researching the techniques used in the creation of the Curse Seal, he had to admit that it would require a big seal with a lot of preparation to do what he wanted to do. He had a lot more work to do before he could seal Orochimaru's influence over Anko, and add in his own fail-safes as well against betrayal. He had an idea of what the whole thing would take, but he was a bit tired to deal with it at the moment.

He decided to take a break, most of his group would be taking a break form their training, work, or whatever they were doing to get lunch anyway. He could grab the opportunity to make a few announcements.

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With Itachi and Kisame

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The two Akatsuki members were standing outside of a large cave entrance. According to Sasori, this was where the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was hiding. They knew that the battle ahead would not be easy, attacking an enemy in his stronghold never is. Itachi took up a kunai and loosened a pouch on his belt that contained a decent number of pellets that were made of pure salt, and asked "Ready Kisame?"

The shark man simply nodded and took up his massive sword before the two of them charged into the cave.

They expected to be besieged by the undead, what they got was absolutely nothing at all. They stood a few yards in the cave, standing still, hoping to hear or smell their enemy before they attacked, but there was nothing. Either the enemy was so stealthy that even they couldn't detect them, or there was no one there. Either way it wasn't a good situation.

They slowly walked forward into the cave, keeping an eye on anything an everything, Itachi had his Sharingan active and was more that prepared for any attack.

The two walked silently, tense as a coiled spring. Until Kisame unknowingly tripped a laser, so to speak. Two seals placed across from each other about four inches off the ground sent a thin stream of chakra between them, and Kisame unknowingly broke that stream, as did Itachi.

The moment they broke that stream of chakra, the seals both flashed once, gaining the attention of the two ninjas, and a third seal flashed in reaction to them. That seal was above the door. As soon as the flash of light died, a heavy stone slab was brought down over the cave entrance, locking them inside. Another slab slid down about ten feet in front of them.

The two were immediately on guard, and as ready as they could be. They waited silently for any possible ambush, but they didn't get anything, not by hearing or sight.

But they did get one thing, they smelled something in the air, and before long, they could hear it too. A steady hissing noise, and combined with the smell, they knew almost immediately what it was. Gasoline.

The two Akatsuki members immediately ran for the door. One of two things was supposed to happen. Either they were meant to stay here until they suffocated, or there is a timer until a device is set to create a spark, and burn them both alive. Either way they had to get out of there immediately.

They reached the rock slab that separated them from freedom, and Kisame immediately took a swing at it. Due to the lack of sharp edges though, the thing only made a decent crack in the rock rather than a large slice.

Itachi was thinking of what to do. Fire and lighting jutsu were out, either of them would kill everyone involved. Water was unusable thanks to the lack of a water source and earth was a bit dangerous to attempt underground. That only left one option then, wind, Fuuton Ninjutsu.

Itachi did a few quick handseals and took a breath. As he exhaled a large ball of twisting air hit the rock. There were several cracks where the sphere hit. Itachi started doing handseals again as Kisame drew back his sword. They had a strategy now all they needed to worry about was: Who would get their job done faster? Itachi and Kisame or the impending fireball?

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With Naruto, the dining hall

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Naruto was eating his lunch. Just about everyone else of importance was there as well. The dining room had several rather long tables in it, but they only used one. There was a time when demons crammed the room, every chair was occupied, and they gorged themselves on human flesh. That time was long past, although there were a few skeletons in the pantry.

He had just finished a whole lobster when he held up his glass, and the attendant maid re-filled it with red wine. Chateau Duel, 1864, his favorite vintage, albeit several thousand years old. There was a decent stock of it in the castle.

When his glass was full, he raised his voice and said "Excuse me everyone, but I have an announcement to make."

Everyone immediately looked up. When Naruto spoke, it was usually something important.

Naruto smiled and said "Well, I have given it some thought, and I have decided that since this old place has no name, that I might as well give it one, same goes for our little group. Other organizations have names, why not us?"

Everyone just watched, waiting for him to get to it. He continued "Given that this place was once a safe haven for demons, and can still be considered a safe haven for the same, in addition to the fact that anyone would find life here to be more than equitable, I think that I have decided well when I dub this castle 'Kurotenshiro'. Does everyone agree? We all live here after all."

Everyone nodded, the name seemed rather apt considering the place. Naruto nodded in return and continued on "As for the name of our group, I have thought about it and believe that I have chosen well when I give our group the name 'Kurotaiyou' Does anyone know why I have chosen this name?"**(3)**

A few people shook their heads and Naruto said "Our enemies are known as the 'Akatsuki', the red moon. When is the moon red? Why during an event known as the lunar eclipse. The name 'Kurotaiyou', meaning 'Black Sun', only occurs during a solar eclipse, the opposite of the lunar counterpart. In addition to that, during a solar eclipse, it appears as nothing more than night during day, darkness in a time of light, once more very fitting. Lastly what do leaves need to live but sunlight? And there is no sunlight during a solar eclipse. I think I have chosen well."

Then Naruto raised his glass and said "So then, a toast, to the Kurotaiyou, and Kurotenshiro, our eternal home. They shall both stand forever!"

Everyone raised their glasses in answer and drank before Naruto sat down again and the meal resumed. The new names were fitting, and their purpose reflected upon them. It helped to have a definite identity, it brought a group together, which is what Naruto counted on, otherwise he would have been content to remain nameless.

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With Itachi and Kisame

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Itachi and Kisame ruthlessly attacked the stone slab, breaking away great chunks of stone. They knew that they didn't have long before gas level was enough that a spark would kill them almost immediately. Itachi had employed the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu in order to speed up the progress.

They mercilessly attacked the thick stone wall, breaking pieces away from the slab, breaking through it to freedom. Eventually they reached deep in the stone and Kisame let out a cry as he stabbed Samehada straight through the stone, causing deep cracks to appear. He ten ripped the blade out of the imprisoning door, allowing a small amount of air to seep through.

They worked quickly and tirelessly, desperate to make the hole wider to escape. Then something bad happened. A small seal, holding barely a dribble of chakra hidden in the shadows of the ceiling activated, setting off a small spark that immediately set the surrounding gas alight.

The two Akatsuki members shielded their faces and pressed themselves against the wall, praying to survive the impending explosion that pressed them against the stone wall behind them and sent flying into the forest behind it as the wall shattered under the force of the explosion.

Two things allowed them to survive. The first was that they had broken a hole in the door. That allowed a space for some of the gas to escape and slightly lessen the power of the incoming blast. The second was that Itachi piled his clones in front of them both to take the brunt of the blast. The explosion blew the door out of its slot in the surrounding stone and sent them along with it, albeit badly battered and bruised.

Kisame picked himself up off of the ground and said "Itachi, are you okay?" as he used his sword to help support his weight. He was badly shaken. He felt a few spots that hurt to see how bad the damage was. It could have been worse, a few cracks in the bone at worst. He would survive.

Itachi faired more or less the same. He put a hand on a tree for support as he shakily stood up and then regained his composure. He answered Kisame with a rough grunt as he stood properly and observed what had once been the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's home. The blast had destroyed the entrance, covering it with several tons of rubble. No one would ever be living there again.

He just turned and said to Kisame "Let's get back and report. Sasori has some bad information to account for."

A raspy voice was heard from the trees nearby in response to Itachi's statement. The voice said "Oh, you guys aren't going anywhere. You'll be coming with us now if you don't mind."

The two looked up to see a group of four humanoid beings. They looked human, but a few things tipped off the two rogue ninja about what they were. Their skin was stretched, the skin color off, not the normal human tinge, and the two most important things were the stitches covering most of their bodies, and the numbers tattooed upon them. On their left forearms, each one said 'SZ-158, SZ-157, SZ-159, and SZ-160'.

Itachi closed his eyes and reopened them with the Sharingan activated while Kisame drew his sword. The two knew what these things were, they were just as Sasori described them. They were Soldier Zombies under the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki most likely left here to finish off anyone who survived the initial trap.

Itachi opened the pouch on his belt containing pellets of salt and drew a kunai as he said "Come Kisame.'

The shark man merely nodded before the two charged.

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With Sasuke, that night

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Sasuke walked down a dark street with a backpack upon his person. He walked toward Konoha's northern gate. He had made his decision, he was leaving Konoha.

A team from Otogakure approached him that day, effortlessly defeated him, and offered to take him to Orochimaru. He would leave the village, and gain power under Orochimaru. That Dobe from before left the village and grew strong, he could do the same.

That fangirl Sakura approached him near the gate, pleading to go with him, but he just knocked her out. He had no need for useless wannabe ninja on the path that he had chosen.

That day, Uchiha Sasuke left Konoha. He walked out of the open gates, with the guards already assassinated by Orochimaru's retrieval squad. He had to obtain power enough to kill his brother, avenge his clan, and satisfy his god complex.

A hundred feet away, hanging upside down from one of the trees, was a strange creature. It resembled a human, but was rotund. It wore a dress shirt and had its lower body wrapped in bandages. Its nose was long by human standards and it had deep black circles around its eyes, messy dull blond hair, and sharp fangs.

It also had leathery bat wings that stretched between his sides and the undersides of his long arms, stitching across its body, a bottle of red wine upon his back and the number twenty one tattooed upon his left forearm.

This creature was the non-combat zombie known as Hildon. The strange creature reached into one of his pockets with his long, but folded arms and pulled out a small picture frame big enough to fit in his hand.

He brought the frame to his face and said into it in a whiny and raspy voice "This is Hildon; get me Naruto-sama immediately."

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(1) Right, Asuka is from Evangelion, Nao, Shizuru, Fumi, and Mai are from Mai HiME (What it's awesome), and do I even have to tell anyone where Sasami is from?

(2) I actually gagged a little when I wrote that

(3) Kurotenshiro literally means 'Dark Heaven Castle', and Kurotaiyou means 'Black Sun'. Like I said, fitting

Okay, that's another chapter done, to what I hope is your satisfaction. A bit of a filler chapter but things will heat up again soon. The Sasuke retrieval arc is upon us! Or it will be next chapter. I'm sure most people are cursing me for not showing the fight between Itachi and the soldiers in this chapter though.

As for the seal that grants godlike power, I am NOT going to elaborate on that, although it may be a plot point later. I will say no more on that subject.

Right, that's all I've got for this chapter so I shall sign off now, read it again if you want, I hope you enjoyed it, and review already damn you!

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger


	38. Chapter 38

Welcome one, welcome all, to the thirty eight chapter of Kage no Naruto

Welcome one, welcome all, to the thirty eight chapter of Kage no Naruto. It's been a long run and it's going to get much longer before the end of this thing comes around. I mean, for god's sake this thing is creeping closer and closer to the two hundred thousand word mark and it hasn't even gotten to Shippuden yet, where most of the plot is going to take place! This story will be insanely long, so you guys had better strap yourselves in for the long haul.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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This chapter was good in some ways and bullshit in others. On the good side, Pein and Konan have finally made it to Konoha. They can see the walls of the place.

Also, the autopsy of Pein's body and the interrogation of that one guy Jiraiya sent back are getting nowhere fast.

The four Kumo ANBU showed up at Sasuke's little hideaway and found only the dead Kumo dude from before, apparently his name was Jin.. But no sign of the emo queen. I think this is the first time in about fifty chapters that DIDN'T revolve around Sasuke.

As for the bullshit part, Naruto has mastered the Sage Chakra. I shit you not, he can take in Natural Energy and not even turn into a frog like Jiraiya did. The only thing that changed was his eyes, but according to Fukusaku that's unavoidable, so he has mastered creating Sage Chakra. The guy even says that he has surpassed Jiraiya. WHAT THE FUCK! I mean, if it's just on the Sage Chakra then I can understand, but there is a good chance that he means that he had surpassed Jiraiya entirely, which is bullshit.

To make matters worse, how the fuck did he master Sage Chakra so soon? Jiraiya almost certainly had longer at it then Naruto and he only got to a certain point. Jiraiya was a wise, powerful ninja, and he only got that far. Naruto, the ADD, can never stop moving for two seconds, jumps into everything without thinking, orange wearing bastard, mastered it where Jiraiya failed! WHAT THE HELL! This chapter had its good bits, but there was the usual deposit of horse manure courtesy of Kishimoto built into it as usual.

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SPOILERS END  
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Disclaimer: Fuck this, at the rate I'm going this thing will beat sixty chapters easy, so no more humorous disclaimer. If you need them that bad then go read the first thirty seven chapters. You guys still want one? Alright, one more for old time's sake. If I owned Naruto, Hinata would have a spine and asked Naruto out by now, you get the picture?

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Summary of last chapter

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Long chapter, well medium chapter, short, Naruto is working on creating a way to remove Anko's Curse Seal. He also finally came up with names for both his new home and his organization.

Itachi and Kisame survived the trap Naruto set at his old base and are now being assaulted by a group of Soldier Zombies

Sasuke finally got up and decided to go to Orochimaru to gain power. He knocked out Sakura and fled with the Sound Four, thinking that nobody knew that he was leaving.

He was wrong, the zombie known as Hildon saw Sasuke escape and immediately informed Naruto via portrait. What shall Naruto do in light of these events? Read the damn chapter and find out.

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Dark Heaven Castle (I'm going to write it like this, it's easier to remember)

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Naruto strode with purpose to the room where the Generals were kept when they were asleep, Ryuuma beside him.

They stood before the great cast iron door that sealed in their strongest warriors and Naruto put his hand upon the crack between the two doors and pushed. A seal flashed bright against the metal before the door creaked open, revealing several dozen stone sarcophagi.

Naruto spoke quickly "Sodom, Gomorrah, Samson, Sakumo, awaken!" And four of the stone coffins creaked open, the lids being pressed aside. From them rose four figures. A man in tight clothing with two retractable blades on his wrists with a scar on one cheek with dark green hair that hang in two long bangs. A tall, bald, dark skinned figure heavy with muscle that possessed six arms. A knight in creaking metal armor, the legendary Raijin sword in his belt. A white haired man with his face masked, an ornate Tanto upon his back.

Hatake Sakumo, once Konoha's white fang, was now awakened. Once Hokushin was rendered useless by a misdirection of Naruto's power, he took the shadow from the still living blob of flesh and metal and placed it into the body of Hatake Sakumo, who would best benefit from the Raiton affinity of the original owner of the shadow. He had lost one General and gained another.

Naruto spoke quickly as the five Generals got into a line, facing their master. "We have recently gotten word from Hildon that Uchiha Sasuke has left Konohagakure with the escort of the Sound Four. This is critical information that requires immediate action."

Gomorrah rumbled "Are we to kill the Uchiha and bring his body back?"

Naruto shook his head no and said "No, your mission has little to do with him, if he wants to take it up the ass from a snake, let him, I don't care. He'll end up killing himself and the snake anyways once Orochimaru tries to take his body. Your mission pertains to the Sound Four and potentially a few other targets."

A voice rattled from inside the armor "What targets master?"

Naruto reached into his coat and pulled out a few photos. Before he showed them he said "Your mission is to capture the Sound Four, alive preferably. Also, there might be a few other targets on this mission, if you see them, they take main priority. One of them is EXTREMELY important."

Sodom shook his head and asked "What are these other targets?"

Naruto showed them the two photos, upon them was the image of a young, bored looking man, and a man with green eyes and white hair. Naruto said "These are the additional targets, Nara Shikamaru, and Kaguya Kimimaro. Shikamaru, if spotted, is to be taken alive. I do not care if the Kaguya is living or dead, though I would prefer him to be alive. Either way I MUST have him. Kaguya Kimimaro is of crucial importance and must be captured if he is seen. That is, if he appears. Shikamaru is almost guaranteed to appear among the pursuit team Tsunade sends after the Uchiha, Kimimaro may not appear but if he does then he is the top priority. Understood?"

The Generals nodded and Ryuuma asked "What are we to do with the Konoha ninja sent after them?"

Naruto looked at the General and simply said "Aside from Shikamaru, they are useless." He needed not say more. When it came to Naruto, if something was useless, then it was to be eliminated, if they were on his side or not. Aside from Shikamaru, they were to kill the Konoha ninja sent after the Sound Four.

Naruto walked down the hallway and said "You know the route they will take, leave immediately." The Generals nodded and headed away from their master, to the fifth floor. There laid a large black gem, from it they could form a portal to any other piece of the gem, which Naruto had scattered among the countries. One of them was in Konoha's dense forests, put there in case he needed a distraction in the form of an attack on Konoha's walls. The pursuit team would probably have a bit of a head start, but they would catch up quickly enough.

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Konohagakure

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Shikamaru was getting ready to leave Konoha, with a pursuit team in tow. He had recently been promoted by Tsunade, so he was the leader of the mission. His first mission as a Chuunin was the retrieval of Uchiha Sasuke and to capture or eliminate those who hold him. It was either a B-rank or A-rank mission depending on the level of the ninja who took Sasuke.

His team had been hand picked by him, Neji for his Byakugan, Kiba for his nose, Chouji for his brute strength, and Lee for his speed. They were to move out immediately. Sakura tried to get them all to promise to bring Sasuke back, but the only one who answered her was Lee, complete with the infamous 'Nice Guy pose'.

They checked their equipment once more and then dashed off in the formation that Shikamaru had dictated at the gate. They moved at a quick pace, the day was sunny, things were looking good. But, for some reason, Shikamaru just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong.

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With the Sound Four

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The Sound Four were hauling ass, literally if you count the fact that they were carrying Sasuke in a barrel. The barrel was upon Jirobou's back as the four ninja rushed through the trees. They had a schedule to keep regarding Sasuke. If they didn't get him to Orochimaru in time for him to use the Uchiha as a body then there would be hell to pay.

Their mission had gone according to plan so far, but they couldn't let their guard down. Until they got to the border, they were in enemy territory and in considerable danger.

They had made it about a quarter of the way to their goal when a kunai came out of nowhere and buried itself in the ground at their feet. The four immediately froze and looked around. They didn't have to look for very long before they found the culprit, a Jounin with a Konoha Hitai-ate and a bad burn scar. Nearby was another Jounin with a toothpick in his mouth.

The Jounin with the burn, Raidou, said "So, what do we have here but four Oto ninja. Our lucky day, we were just getting back from a mission but it looks like we can possibly get a bonus now. So then, what's in the barrel?"

The four elites were immediately on guard, they knew who these men were, they could tell just by looking in their eyes and feeling the chakra that they held in check, ready to be used, seeing the tense yet relaxed way they held themselves and the experience in that one's voice. These men were Jounin, Elite Ninja. They weren't getting out of this situation easily, they all knew that.

On the other hand, they couldn't afford to fail their mission either. If they failed, they would die, if they were captured, they would die. All four of them knew this. Their only chance was to win the fight quickly, so they used everything they had. They activated the first level of their Curse Seals.

The two Jounin marked this immediately and ran forward; not looking forward to fighting some of Orochimaru's enhanced maniacs in earnest. They could have some weird power that would surprise them and in such a climate, surprise was almost synonymous with death.

Sakon threw a kunai, Genma spat out his toothpick and deflected the flying blade, and with that the battle began.

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With Naruto

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Naruto, after having sent out the Generals, Naruto retreated to the castle library. There were many rare books there that spanned from a few centuries to a few thousand years old. There was much knowledge to be gained there, and knowledge was power. He was reading a truly ancient text when Haku came into the room where Naruto was reading at a table. She sat down across from him and asked "Naruto-sama, may I have a word?"

Naruto nodded and said "Go ahead Haku-chan, I'm listening."

Haku nodded and looked to the side for a moment, contemplating how to put the question that had been bothering her for a while. Eventually she came to a decision and said "Naruto-sama, I have been thinking, and considering your abilities, there are a number of things that you could have done that you haven't. I am almost positive that you could have killed Tsunade at Tanzaku-Gai, and even after she escaped, you had a plan that you did not put into use. You are capable of achieving your goals, but you have not. Why is this?"

Naruto didn't look up from his book, but he smiled. He was wondering when someone would ask something like this. "I'm not surprised that you figured it out Haku-chan. You are right, in that fight I did not fight to my full capabilities. Do you know why?"

Haku simply shook her head, not knowing what else to say.

Naruto didn't take his eyes off his book as he said "There are actually several reasons. The first is that I was restricted by the presence of irreplaceable allies at Tanzaku-Gai. I had no desire to lose Absalom if I used any wide area attacks, or you for that matter. As for why I did not go ahead with my ace in the hole plan to kill Tsunade, it's because Jiraiya was in the same hospital, and if I loosed a virus there it would have killed him as well. I want Jiraiya's shadow so he can't be allowed to die. There is one other reason though."

Haku tilted her head to one side and asked "What reason is that Naruto-sama?"

Naruto took a paper bookmark and marked his place before he shut the book. Then he looked at Haku and said "Because Tsunade's survival is almost completely irrelevant to the achievement of my goals."

Haku's brow creased in confusion but before she could ask, Naruto cut her off and said "Let me guess, you're going to say something like 'She's my enemy so how is her survival irrelevant' right?"

Haku's eyes widened in surprised before she slowly nodded.

Naruto smiled and said "Because it's just as I said Haku-chan. Sure, Konoha may be a thorn, but it's not a deadly threat in the long run. In the short term, they are inconvenient. In the middle distance, a slight irritant, but in the long term, they are irrelevant. Why exert myself to destroy an enemy that will destroy themselves given enough time? The same goes for Akatsuki, Iwa, Kiri, and all the other villages. None of them will matter after the next few years, because they will be destroyed."

Haku was almost open mouthed at the sheer scale of the idea that the ninja villages and Akatsuki would all be gone in a few years, and the confidence with which Naruto said it. He truly believed what he said. But she had to ask "What makes you think that Naruto-sama?"

Naruto smiled and said "I'm glad you asked. That is because my main goal at this point will be accomplished within the next few years and once that occurs, I will be more than powerful enough to seize the world on my own with no assistance."

Haku was getting more and more surprised with every sentence. She opened her mouth but was once more interrupted. "I know, 'what do you mean? How do you intend to do that?' It's simple Haku-chan. There are a few things that I am looking for, once I find them, and I will, then I will be in a position to obtain immense power."

Haku leaned back and asked "What things are you looking for Naruto-sama? What do you need?"

Naruto turned and picked up the book he was reading and said "I need a certain book. Within that book lies the knowledge to ultimate power. Power far surpassing that of the Kyuubi, power equivalent to that of a lesser god. It will require much preparation and a lot of power to use the method but when all is said and done, the one who uses that method will obtain almost immeasurable power."

Before Haku could respond, he showed her the title of the book he was reading. Its cover was blank, but the title page said, in a scrawling cursive script _'The Blood of Heinrich Kemmler'_

Naruto said "This man is the reason behind it all. Kemmler was a Necromancer that lived thousands and thousands of years ago. He was a madman, a monster, but brilliant. He learned true power and developed a method to turn himself into a god, but was struck down before he could use it. The method in the book I am looking for was attempted three times. First by Kemmler himself, second by one of his students almost fifty years later, and third by a vampire several years after that. All three attempts were interfered with and the people who attempted them eventually died as a result."

Haku asked "So, this man, Kemmler, wrote that book?"

Naruto smiled and said "Actually, he wrote four books, all containing true teachings of Necromancy, not that there are many copies of them left. The first three books he wrote _'The Blood of Kemmler, The Mind of Kemmler, and The Heart of Kemmler'_ can be found in this library, and they are the only surviving copies, all the others have been destroyed. The fourth book contains more knowledge still, including the method to make oneself as powerful as a god. That book, protected against destruction of any kind, is in the Elemental Countries somewhere and I will find it. I will find the fourth book written by the great Necromancer, I will find _'The Word of Kemmler'._"

Haku frowned and said "If this book is on this continent, why hasn't someone used its knowledge then? Surely whoever possessed it would use it?"

Naruto smiled and said "Of course they would, if they knew what it was. Our people have only spoken one language for thousands of years, Japanese. It is the only language spoken all over the world, even though our continent is the only one that can support life. The fact of the matter is, this book was written millennia ago. Kemmler was not Japanese, he spoke, read, and most importantly _wrote_ in the language of his home country. The language known as German. No one nowadays would be able to make heads of tails of it since German and Japanese are so different. I doubt that whoever has it has any idea about what it is."

Haku nodded, it made sense. "So, you know this language then?" She asked.

Naruto nodded "Of course. But before I can even hope to understand what is in the fourth book, I must read and master the techniques in the first three books, and must also be prepared to summon a certain being in order to get the most out of the ritual. Now then, if you would leave me Haku-chan, I have other business to take care of." Then he sat down and opened _The Blood of Kemmler_ once more.

Haku stood up and prepared to leave but before she did she asked "Naruto-sama, aren't you a master Necromancer already what with the zombies?"

Naruto smiled at her naïveté and said "Haku-chan, my techniques are only using shadows to animate corpses, it's not Necromancy. That is much more difficult, but the results are better in some ways, worse in others. The zombies created through true Necromancy aren't intelligent like mine are, but they are much stronger, MUCH harder to kill, and much more expendable. It is best if I learn both techniques before attempting to learn the most powerful techniques of Kemmler. Now leave me in peace."

Haku nodded and obediently left, her questions and much else answered for her, her thirst for knowledge temporarily sated.

Naruto smiled as he read the ancient book, Haku was so curious; it was insanity to not call her cute. Still though, he had to find that book and before that he had to master the prerequisite techniques to what laid in the fourth book. He had to resist licking his lips in anticipation of what it would be like, what would it be like to be a god. That was the easiest path to victory, if that failed then he would rely on other methods, hence why he had created his army of followers and zombies. He was never unprepared.

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With Itachi and Kisame

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Itachi and Kisame had just been blown out of a cave, somewhat singed, and were now assaulted by a quartet of Soldier Zombies. Nice day so far.

Itachi went one way, Kisame went the other. That way they would limit the power of teamwork that the enemy would have. Itachi dashed into the trees, leading them a good distance away before stopping, and sidestepping a punch from one of the zombies. It hit a tree and the trunk cracked under the impact.

Itachi grabbed the zombie's arm and swung him into the second zombie as he came down from the trees. They both recovered almost immediately and faced him. Itachi took a pair of kunai from a pouch on his belt. One zombie dashed to the side while the other started doing handseals.

Itachi read his opponent's handseals and chakra and knew what he was going to do almost as soon as he did. The Goukakyuu no jutsu. The second zombie was coming around from behind to attack as the Uchiha retreated.

Unfortunately for the two zombies, Itachi was more experienced then that. He moved aside as the flames roared toward him from the first zombie, expecting the flames to act as a wall so that he could attack the first creature without worrying about the second. The second zombie however, didn't let the flames bother him as he plunged straight through them and dashed after the Akatsuki member.

So Itachi went to plan B, and chucked a kunai that nailed the creature in the hip, right into the joint between pelvis and thigh, and that slowed the zombie down a bit as he rushed the first zombie.

Now, Itachi knew that he probably wouldn't win in a fight against the zombie if it came down to Taijutsu. His technique might be better, but they were still fast and superhumanly strong. Itachi intended to finish the job as quickly as possible. He dashed in and avoided a punch that probably would have taken off his head if it connected, then he moved his right arm quickly and slammed his elbow into the undead person's jaw, slamming it shut and the momentum from the slam forcing the jaws open for a second.

That second was all it took as Itachi flicked the pellet of salt in his left hand down the zombie's throat.

Itachi turned and took another kunai in hand as the zombie grabbed its throat and started to choke, he tried to cough up the salt, feeling death come upon him, but it was no use. The zombie's mouth was forced open as a thick black substance poured from his mouth and floated into the air for a few seconds before it dissolved. It was the shadow that animated the corpse, the thing that Naruto bonded to the zombie's body to give it a semblance of life. The salt had broken that bond, so the zombie died. With the shadow gone, it was just another corpse. The zombie's skin grew paler and it fell to the ground, lifeless.

The second zombie faced Itachi down. For the first time in its life, the creature knew fear. It was afraid of death. Normally he probably would have ran but even though he feared death, he feared his master's displeasure more. It clenched its jaws tightly shut and rushed forward, kunai in hand.

Itachi blocked the kunai slash with his knife, but the metal cracked and shattered under the immense power behind the strike. Itachi moved to the side to avoid being cut and slugged the zombie across the jaw. As the zombie stumbled back from the unexpected punch, Itachi took a few senbon from his belt and threw them with pinpoint accuracy, hitting several pressure points.

The zombie, stuck with needles, fell to the ground, unable to move its legs. They may have been undead, but they were still physically human, they had all the weaknesses of a human body, including the pressure points. If they had broken bones, they would be slowed down, if they were struck in the right place, they couldn't move.

Itachi moved quickly and didn't wait a moment. The zombie's mouth was shut tight, so he took the salt in one hand and with a punch penetrated the zombie's throat, forcing the material into the creature. Soon the second zombie thrashed and choked before its animating shadow poured from its jaws and the zombie lost its life.

Itachi took a deep breath and put his hand to one arm. That strike he blocked had some real force in it. Even blocking it fractured his arm in at least one place. If the battle dragged on long enough, they might have even won. They were insanely strong physically, Sasori didn't lie about that.

Itachi turned and moved through the forest to where Kisame would be.

He found Kisame battling one of the zombies who had a katana. He was totally outclassed though. Every one of his strikes was blocked by Kisame, and he was almost always on the defensive. The flesh of one of its arms had been stripped away, revealing bone. To be expected, it had very little movement in that arm.

The second zombie lay on the ground nearby, grey and lifeless, its jaw forced broken open.

Itachi continued to watch as Kisame broke the zombie's sword and buried his massive blade into its shoulder, almost cutting off a large chunk of its body.

The zombie was relentless however and even with no movement in its arms it attacked, attempting to bite Kisame. The shark-like member of Akatsuki let go of his sword and grabbed its upper and lower jaws quickly and forcing down upon it, breaking its jaw so that it could not close.

Kisame then grabbed it by the hair as it jerked and attempted to get away. The zombie attempted several most likely bone-breaking kicks, but Kisame kept close so that the damage was minimal as he took a pellet of salt from his belt and forced it down the throat of the defeated zombie. He let go as it convulsed, spit up its shadow, and died.

Kisame let go of the thing and pulled his sword from where it was buried in the creature's side. Then he turned to Itachi and said "You're done too?"

Itachi nodded and said "Yes, these creatures were as Sasori described them, though I didn't think that they would be so strong."

Kisame regarded his arm with detachment and asked "You're hurt?"

Itachi nodded and said "Yes, I blocked one of their strikes directly; I will need a splint for a few days at most."

Kisame nodded and regarded one of the zombies "You know Itachi, we were lucky here today. Lucky that there were so few of them here and that they were unskilled as they are."

Itachi nodded. If they had been more highly skilled, or if there were more of them, they could have lost here today. Their bodies were immensely powerful; it was their minds that needed work. If things like this gained enough experience. Itachi restrained himself from shivering at the thought. Something like that would be an absolute nightmare.

Wordlessly, the Akatsuki pair set off from Naruto's old cave and headed south, where they knew there to be a good seller of information. With any luck they might be able to catch their prey's trail.

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With Shikamaru and Co.

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Shikamaru and his team had been traveling for a while now, searching for any clue of Sasuke, but all they found so far had been traps, traps, and more traps. They had found a battle site not long ago, where they knew there enemy were at some point, but they couldn't find any bodies.

It was obvious to Shikamaru what was happening. With elaborate traps like the ones they had seen being set up, they had to be taking breaks to rest, they were tired or something but they were stopping periodically. Shikamaru intended to use this to his advantage.

Soon they came across the enemy as they were resting. Neji spotted them before they could be sensed, and they approached slowly and carefully, all according to Shikamaru's plan for when this would happen. It was all very carefully planned out.

What he didn't plan on was Kidomaru having his webs spread everywhere to detect movement and for him to silently warn the others. Thanks to that, Sakon attacked with an explosive note attached to a kunai and scattered them. Soon afterwards they found themselves trapped in a large dome of earth courtesy of Jirobou. The other three moved on without him.

Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chouji worked together to break out of the prison of earth and the group moved on, leaving Chouji to deal with Jirobou on his own. Shikamaru feared for his friend, but all he could do was hope for his victory and that he didn't have to use the third of his family's pills. If he did, Chouji would die and it would be his fault for bringing him on this mission in the first place.

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With the Generals

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They moved quickly once they arrived and did no falter or rest for a moment. They kept on the Konoha ninjas' trail and didn't let them get too much of a lead.

Soon enough they had encountered the first target, Jirobou. They came to a quick decision and Sodom altered his course so that he would come in contact with the target and the enemy. The others moved on without him.

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With Chouji and Jirobou

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Chouji was worn out and tired. This guy was an absolute monster, no matter what he did it kept coming back to bite him. He just couldn't get a real hit in, and every time he tried he ended up getting hurt. He had even used the green and yellow Akimichi family pills to give him a boost, but that hadn't done him much good once Jirobou used his Curse Seal. The tall man slapped aside Chouji's most powerful attacks and there wasn't much he could do about it as the rush from the yellow pill wore off.

Chouji made his decision, to put the mission above himself. If Jirobou won here then he would be free to attack the others from behind and that wouldn't do well for Shikamaru and the rest. He had to stop him HERE. Chouji made his decision and swallowed the third and last Akimichi pill, the red one.

Chouji's chakra surged as the effects of the pill took their course. Chakra formed a pair of vast butterfly wings on his back as power flowed through his body. He effortlessly slapped aside the now Level two Curse Seal Jirobou. He landed a punch straight to the jaw that knocked him to the ground, and stood above him.

He simply said "This pill will most likely kill me so I have to end this quickly. This is for Shikamaru, my friends, Konoha, and everyone else. This punch is worth MY WHOLE LIFE!" Chouji yelled as he brought back a fist for the finishing blow.

Jirobou's life would have ended there if not for one thing, the humorous voice that sounded across the clearing. "Now, now, little fat boy, don't go killing my target now."

Chouji may have been determined, but he was still Chouji. His head jerked to face the direction the voice came from and yelled "WHO ARE YOU CALLING FAT!?"

The man in the tree smiled and chuckled slightly. He was dressed in tight clothing, with two retractable blades fixed to his forearms. He had a cloth on his forehead and his dark green hair was short in the back, and long in the front as it hung in two long bangs. He had a small scar on one cheek and though nobody could see it, he had the numbers and letters GZ-3 tattooed on his chest. He was Sodom, one of the General Zombies, even though Chouji didn't know it

He just ran at the mysterious figure as he sat on the branch and waited for the Gennin to come to him, smiling all the while.

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Okay, and that is the chapter, a facet of Naruto's plans revealed, a bit of zombie combat, and more combat to come next chapter. The Sasuke Retrieval arc has well and truly begun and I hope you enjoy it. See you guys later.

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger


	39. Chapter 39

You have waited for it and it has arrived

You have waited for it and it has arrived. The not so long awaited thirty ninth chapter of Kage no Naruto. At last you can release that held breath. I will give you a moment to call over all your friends to your house so that you can have a party and read it together. Don't worry, I'll wait. …And that's the end of that. If you have your friends over, good, if you don't then you had better hope that they get over there quickly because I'm starting… unless you didn't even call them over in which case you're a lousy friend for not sharing this with them, you selfish bastards.

Note: Okay, I got a few PM's to this effect after I posted the Naruto spoilers last chapter. Let me get one thing absolutely straight, so that NO ONE is confused. I am NOT opposed to Naruto getting stronger, in fact I applaud it. What I have a problem with is the fact that he got so strong so fast and that he has supposedly surpassed Jiraiya when before he couldn't have hoped to take on Orochimaru one on one and win without resorting to Kyuubi. That's simply bullshit that he surpassed him in about a week. It's possible that I may have misunderstood the chapter and the toad only meant that Naruto only surpassed him in the use of Sage Chakra, but there's a good possibility that my interpretation is on the mark.

Second Note: Okay, second thing's second, lemons in this story. Several people have asked me to do some more, and the reply is that it WILL happen. There will be at least one lemon for each girl in the harem, that much is guaranteed, but I will decide when to put them in, and that will be at plot appropriate moments. This story isn't meant to be forty plus chapters of beat-off material, the lemons will be there but they won't be every other chapter. They will be there eventually, so be patient damn it.

Third Note: And last things last. Apparently I forgot to mention something in my Naruto spoilers; apparently Naruto is hiding something, something incomplete. Who knows what it is, but we'll probably find out eventually unless Kishimoto sells the farm and turns it completely Sasuke-centric by having him kill Naruto before it gets revealed. Anyway, the blonde has something up his sleeve, just forgot to mention that.

Okay, notes and intro out of the way, let the chapter summary begin followed by the actual chapter.

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Summary of last chapter

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Okay, Sasuke ran away from Konoha, the Sound Four took him in and gave him the second level of the Curse Seal. Shikamaru is leading a team going after them composed of Kiba, Lee, Neji, and Chouji to bring him back.

Naruto received the news and sent no less then five Generals to capture the Sound Four, along with Kaguya Kimimaro and Nara Shikamaru if they get the chance, these last two targets taking priority. The Generals sent were Sodom Gomorrah, Samson, Ryuuma, and the newly animated Hatake Sakumo.

Itachi and Kisame defeated the four Soldiers that Naruto sent to ambush them.

Naruto revealed to Haku some of his mid-term plans, his plan to obtain knowledge of an ancient ritual created by a master Necromancer that would grant him the power of a small god. He is currently reading three books by that Necromancer to learn true Necromancy in order to further increase his own power.

When we left off, Chouji was left behind to fight Jirobou, one of the Sound Four. The fight went on and Chouji ate the Red Akimichi pill to give him a chance to defeat the now transformed Jirobou, who was using the second level of the Curse Seal. After eating the pill that would most likely take his own life, the fight was interrupted however by the arrival of Sodom, sent to capture Jirobou alive.

Can Chouji, having eaten the Red Akimichi pill, hope to match the General Zombie Sodom, whose skills are virtually unknown? And what is happening to the other Konoha ninja trying desperately to save Sasuke or the other members of the Sound Four? Read on and find out!

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Random clearing in the forests, about a third of the way to the Oto border.

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Akimichi Chouji, heir to the Akimichi clan, stood in a clearing near a small crater, in that crater was the downed and wounded, yet still living, Jirobou. Chouji had eaten the third Akimichi pill, granting him tremendous power for a short time which he needed in order to stay even with Jirobou in terms of power.

The reason he was not currently finishing the job was because he was staring at a nearby figure, and he was currently taking in its features. The figure was of decent height, had slightly tanned skin, a scar on one cheek, and dark green hair kept at a short length except for in the front where it hung in two long bangs, one longer than the other, the shorter one was at collarbone length, the longer one a few inches longer. The figure's clothing was primarily dark, black shirt that had a single purple stripe down the top of each arm, and pants with the same colors. A trio of leather belts were at his waist, supporting an angular brown piece of leather that acted as a loincloth, he also had a dark purple scarf protecting his throat, a pair of dull metal bracers upon his forearms and a thin drab cloth around his head, like a Hitai-ate without the metal plate. But most importantly was the fact that he had two blades hidden in his bracers that when extended would reach out eighteen inches, and the code that he had tattooed on his chest underneath the shirt 'GZ-003'.

Chouji was quite angry at this person, he had insulted his weight which is something you should NEVER do to an Akimichi unless you have a death wish. Unfortunately for Chouji, it's quite difficult to kill a dead man.

Chouji simply said "Who are you? You aren't from Konoha, that's for sure."

The man stood and gave an elaborate bow as he said "I am known as Sodom my overweight friend, and I already know who you are, Akimichi Chouji. Such a shame when a talented youth must die so young."

Chouji narrowed his eyes at the man's tone. He didn't _feel_ any serious power from him, like you could with most high level ninja. You usually knew almost immediately when you were dealing with a Jounin or a Kage level ninja, and this guy wasn't one if you went by first sight and sense. But Chouji remembered something his father told him in one of their spars when the younger man mentioned that he could not feel his father's strength like he could most Jounin.

His father said at that moment 'Son, a sign of a truly powerful ninja is one that cannot be easily ranked. When your opponent leaves you unsure of how strong he is, he is almost guaranteed to be stronger than you.'

Chouji knew that he was most likely out of his league by his father's advice and the sheer sense that he got from the guy. It wasn't obvious but there was something about him that made his skin crawl, the look in his eyes, narrow and calculating, not to mention the color of his irises was a dull red, the smile on his face, the casual pose, it just creeped him out for some reason.

But Chouji didn't let that bother him, all he knew was that he was almost certainly an enemy and that he had a limited amount of time left to live, what did he have to lose? All he could do was prevent another enemy from hindering Shikamaru and that was he intended to do.

Sodom watched patiently as the Akimichi heir ran forward, his bright blue butterfly wings of chakra behind him as he reached the tree the General stood on and smashed his fist into it, shattering the living wood.

Sodom of course just jumped from the branch he was on to the ground, childishly saying 'Boing!' as he did so, he was in quite a good mood since he hadn't seen much fighting in his life time.

Chouji immediately pressed the attack, moving to punch the undead man right in the face and probably knock his head off. Sodom of course simply leaned to the side, avoiding the monstrous strength in the punch, and kneed the Akimichi in the gut, his own savage and unnatural strength behind the strike.

Chouji doubled over in pain. He was already tired from fighting Jirobou, not to mention in agony from the side-effects of the pills, and that strike was absolutely insane, he took one of his father's punches once, it was supposed to teach him what he would be able to do in the future, let him know what he would be able to do to people so that he would be able to use that power wisely. That punch that day felt about a third as painful as this and he knew his father gave it his all that day, the internal bleeding was proof.

The green haired zombie laughed at the pain of the Akimichi, bringing his right elbow down upon the back of the heir's head and letting out an enthusiastic 'Boom!' as the blow struck home and Chouji saw stars.

Chouji stumbled at the pain of the strike, falling on his hands and knees and feeling a fair bit of nausea from the strike. A kick in the ribs from the General sent Chouji to the floor, flat on his back.

Sodom stepped into Chouji's view as he say upon the ground screaming at his muscled to move, for him to get up, but it was difficult. The side effects of the red pill were setting in and his life was slowly but surely fading away.

The zombie just said "Aww, I thought you would last longer, you're no fun you know that, hell you're going to sleep as we speak. Hmm, maybe this will wake you up a bit."

At that moment Sodom stepped back a bit and let have it, kicking the downed man right in the family jewels. Chouji's world went red from the pain, he even blacked out for a second just after he let out an agonizing scream that could be heard for quite a distance.

Sodom stood over the Akimichi as he held onto his manhood groaning in agony. The man then said "Ooh, that did NOT look fun, but at least you're awake. Mind you, you don't look like you want to play anymore, so you might as well go to sleep again." Sodom clenched his right hand and the blade hidden in his bracer sprang forward with a light 'snick'

Chouji heard what the man said and heard the noise just before he dropped to the ground and saw the blade pass right through the air where his neck was a few seconds ago. That kick to the pills gave him back his power of movement, not that he would have long to enjoy it, one way or the other.

Sodom clenched his left hand, causing the other blade to show itself as he attempted to bury it in Chouji's skull. The Akimichi heir moved out of the way, losing a bit of hair to the blade as rolled to his feet.

Chouji knew that he didn't have long, and saw that the strike left the man's blade stuck in the ground. He did what he could to try and end the fight immediately, hoping that the others would be able to deal with the Sound ninja when he went after them, at least he managed to weaken him.

Chouji yelled "Bubun Baika no jutsu!" As he thrust his right hand forward, his arm growing immensely in a short time, growing several times longer than his own body, it was the arm of a giant that came roaring toward the stuck Sodom.

Chouji relaxed as his arm thrust forward and smashed into the tree near the other side of the clearing. There was no way the guy was alive. He silently released his jutsu and watched as his arm shrank to its normal size, immense exhaustion from the pills and two fights setting in.

As his arm shrunk he noticed two things. The first was that the spot where the guy's blade was stuck was empty. The second was that his opponent was about a foot in front of him and to the right, where Chouji's massive arm would have cloaked him from the Akimichi's vision.

Sodom didn't give the Gennin time for him to get over the shock, he dashed forward and lightly ran his blade over the carotid and jugular veins in the boy's neck while his guard was down, smiling at the ensuing fountain of blood before the boy went down to the ground, twitching and grabbing at his throat trying desperately to stop the bleeding.

Sodom smiled as the Akimichi heir stopped twitching and breathed no more. "Oh well" he said "That guy was no fun anyway." He looked around the clearing and said "Now where did the target get to?"

Indeed Jirobou had moved from the crater that he was in, back in his normal form due to exhaustion and limping from the clearing, hoping to get away from the man who had killed the opponent that almost defeated him. He didn't get far before Sodom appeared at his side.

He just chirped "Sorry, but you have to come with me!" And that was the last that Jirobou knew as Sodom knocked him unconscious and put the ninja over his shoulder before jumping to a nearby tree, and then used the power of the small black gem that each General Zombie had surgically implanted inside them to open a portal back to his home, back to his master. A portal directly to Dark Heaven Castle, leaving the corpse of Akimichi Chouji to rot. **(1)**

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With the Konoha Team

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The four remaining members of the Konoha team continued to move, doing their best to catch up to the other members of the Sound Four. As they moved though, Shikamaru suddenly went cold inside, and his eyes widened. He didn't know what caused it, or what might have happened, but something inside him just screamed at him that something was wrong.

Lee noticed his comrade's discomfort and asked "Shikamaru-kun, is something the matter?"

Shikamaru glanced at Lee and shook his head. "No, it's nothing Lee, don't worry." But as they moved from tree to tree, Shikamaru glanced back and thought 'Chouji, did you…? No, you couldn't have, you've got to be alright, you've got to be.'

Shikamaru put his fears aside, concentrating on the mission. He knew that Chouji would be okay, regardless of what happened. He had complete and utter faith in the Akimichi heir. Too bad that it was a bit misplaced.

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With the Generals

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The four Generals felt a quick burst of silent, cold energy, the energy that was always given off when one used the gems.

Gomorrah said, in a deep tone "Looks like Sodom got the job done, that was quick, even for him."

Samson nodded and said, his voice tinny and echoing thanks to his helm "Well, he was always a bit of an excitable one. He hasn't seen any combat since Jiraiya, and even then we didn't kill him, he probably came a little when the Master said that he had a mission."

Ryuuma nodded a bit and said "Oh yes, I can only imagine how happy he is right now, I wouldn't be surprised if we got home and found him doing cartwheels in the main hall."

Sakumo just said in a gruff voice "Enough talk, let's hurry up and get to the targets so that we can get home. I'm eager to give those Konoha guys a really nice funeral."

Of course, this was not met well with the others, the only ones that told them what to do was the Master and those whom he gave permission to, and he gave no such permission to Sakumo. Hence his comment was met with a chorus of "Shut the hell up you stitched up bastard!"

There wasn't really a way to describe getting yelled at by three pissed off and powerful Zombie Generals simultaneously so I'll simply say that Sakumo was suitably cowed and they moved on at a comfortable pace, in other words quite quickly.

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With the Sound Four

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The three remaining members of the Sound Four were still hauling the barrel toward Orochimaru's current base of operations and they were getting a wee bit pissed off at the fact that Jirobou hadn't shown up yet.

"Where the fuck is that fatass? Taking out those four pieces of trash couldn't have taken that long!" Tayuya said, highly irritated.

"Hey, who cares Tayuya? Just be glad that you don't have to carry this damn barrel! He'll get here eventually; either that or I'll kick his ass when he DOES show up." Kidomaru said, a bit irritated at having to carry the rather heavy barrel.

Sakon just looked back and said "Quit bickering and hurry up, if we don't get that bastard to Orochimaru in time he'll have our heads!"

The other two had no choice but to agree with the statement, Orochimaru did NOT take failure very well. They picked up the pace a bit to get there a little bit faster. Even a few minutes could make the difference between success and failure in this mission, and in this case that was the difference between life and death.

It was about half an hour later when Jirobou finally showed up again.

Tayuya looked back and angrily said "About time fatass, where the fuck have you been?"

Jirobou was unusually silent for a small time before he said "It took longer than I thought to finish those guys off, give me a break."

Not long afterwards he said "Hey, I can take that barrel back if you want, it's my job to carry it anyway."

Kidomaru, Tayuya, and Sakon shared a look before the spider ninja said "You know, normally I would, but I'm afraid I can't. Why? BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT THE REAL JIROBOU!" He yelled the last part as he threw the barrel to Tayuya as he turned around and spat several gobbets of webbing toward the now revealed to be a fake Jirobou.

The fake Jirobou vanished to be replaced by a grinning Shikamaru that dodged the threads of sticking silk, jumping back as Kiba and Akamaru attacked the spider ninja with a Gatsuuga.

Unfortunately for Kiba, Kidomaru was ready, spitting two small webs directly at the spinning grey tornadoes of claws and fangs. The twin tornadoes swerved aside from the incoming projectiles, but they were irrevocably off course so they stopped spinning, revealing themselves to be Kiba and a transformed Akamaru.

Kidomaru ducked on instinct before a leg went right through the space where his head was a moment before as Lee yelled "Konoha Senpuu!"

As Lee landed near Shikamaru he was hit square in the back by a net of spider webbing and was knocked forward until he was stuck to a tree.

"Damn it you bastard!" Kiba yelled, moving to jump forward, but he couldn't move his legs for some reason.

Kidomaru smiled before he said "I think you should worry more about yourself than anyone else at the moment." Indicating the thin web that kept Kiba's feet secured to the branch.

The ninja quickly moved out the way as he felt a strike coming at his back, narrowly avoiding a Jyuuken strike courtesy of Neji. Kidomaru kicked Neji in the ribs, sending him back to a gap between two branches. Kidomaru quickly made a handseal spat a gobbet of spider silk toward the top branch.

The moment it hit the branch, the gobbet of silk spread horizontally, covering the bottom of the branch and sank downward, creating a very thin wall of silk which Neji collided with and was immediately stuck to.

Kidomaru laughed at the poor Gennin's predicament as he jumped to avoid a moving shadow, spitting a web toward Shikamaru now to end the fight. Sakon and Tayuya were already long gone and he wanted to catch up.

Shikamaru continued to dodge webs and Kidomaru kept on dodging shadows as each tried to trap the other, but the entire thing came to an end when they both heard a sudden shout from Lee and Kiba, looking over, they saw that the two Gennin were free from their bonds, freed by Neji who stood near Kiba, glaring at the spider ninja.

"Go" He said "I'll take him on my own."

"Whoa" Kiba said disbelievingly "Are you sure about that? This guy's on an entirely different level then the fat guy we left Chouji with."

Neji nodded and said "I'm sure, no one else can face him because of his webs, I'm the only one who can cut through them so I stand the best chance of victory. Taking back Sasuke is top priority here, so go ahead without me, I'll catch up."

The other Konoha ninja reluctantly nodded and then jumped away in the direction that Sakon and Tayuya had disappeared to. Kiba yelled back to Neji as they left "When you catch up, bring Chouji with you!"

Kidomaru smiled and said "Do you think that I'll let you leave that easily?!" And spat a long web from his mouth, the tip of each strand coated with a golden spear point that headed right for their backs.

Neji jumped upon a branch where he could reach the threads and cut them with the Jyuuken, stopping the attack on his friends.

"Thank you my youthful comrade!" Lee yelled as they moved on.

Neji looked the smiling Kidomaru right in the eyes and simply said "Your fight is with ME!"

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With the Generals

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The four Generals moved along at a quick and steady pace, easily keeping track of what's going on where by the chakra signatures of their targets and enemies. They knew roughly where the targets were, and they knew for sure where the Konoha team was.

They knew that two had been left behind, just as they had been before. The only question was, who wants to take down this particular target?

"How should we decide?" Samson said in his armor altered voice "Rock, paper, scissors?"

Sakumo looked at the armored zombie and said "Screw that, we'll be here all day, one of us should just take initiative and do the deed."

Ryuuma ducked under a low branch and said "I'm not doing it, I want that shadow kid, he's mine for sure, you three can battle it out."

Gomorrah, who had been silent up until this point, said "I'll do it, judging by how the target is fighting, I'll be the best suited for the job, plus with this guy of all people, it will let me put the gifts of the Master to the test, you know? How does the artificial face up against the natural. This one is mine, and if any of you have a problem with that, then we'll have words."

Ryuuma already made it clear that he didn't care so it was up to Samson or Sakumo to challenge Gomorrah, and neither of them wanted to waste time or energy in fighting another General. They both said the equivalent of "Do what you want" and the matter was settled.

Gomorrah broke off from the others and headed toward the battle site, while the other three Generals followed the Konoha group like they had been before. If things kept up like this then they would be able to take on the targets one by one, it was ideal to not make their presence known yet.

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With Neji and Kidomaru

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Neji was in a bit of a jam. He was being assaulted on all sides by golden knives and spiders flowing out of a giant spider's egg sac. The threads of silk from the baby spiders kept him from using the Kaiten, so he was stuck with old fashion dodging and killing the arachnids by hand.

What was even worse was that his opponent was out there, hidden, waiting for him to slip up. Neji knew that the moment he let down his guard he would have a rather irritating and fatal pain somewhere in his chest. He couldn't afford to relax, even for a moment.

Kidomaru was actually pretty impressed with how well this kid was doing. He had survived way longer than he thought the guy would. Actually surviving against a barrage of his golden knives and spiders all this time, it was pretty rare that someone would have that level of skill.

He knew though, that although it was fun, the entire thing would have to come to an end. He waited until his opponent finished off the last spider before plucking a string twined around his finger, causing the gigantic summoned spider to scream and fall upon the Gennin below.

Neji looked up briefly before the enormous creature landed upon him, supposedly crushing him into paste.

Kidomaru smiled as Neji's hand slammed against the creature's belly, causing it to briefly scream in pain before bursting in an explosion of smoke.

Unfortunately for Neji, the spider ninja had already planned everything out, including the defeat of his summon as he released several threads and rained knives upon the now defenseless Neji. "It's over!" he whispered.

Unknown to both ninja, a third presence was watching the battle. Gomorrah was silent and still as he watched the two battle it out in a fight of wits and strength. He was ready to let those two do all the work and wear each other out.

As long as his target was alive, nothing else mattered.

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With Jirobou

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Jirobou woke up in a dark room, kneeling on the ground. His hands were bound by steel manacles, and his legs were similarly bound. These manacles were chained to rings in the floor in a way so that he had very little movement if any at all. The room was lit by dim candlelight, specifically from five candles set in a pentagram around him on the floor.

Not anywhere close to sure about what was going on, he drew on his replenished chakra to give him the strength to break the chains, but the manacles suddenly writhed upon his wrists in a way that he couldn't really describe and he felt immense pain in his wrists as his chakra left him, he just couldn't bring it together to be used.

Jirobou slumped, tired and in pain, his entire being permeated by the feeling that something about this place was just _wrong_, he just gave up.

He heard footsteps and looked over to the right as a rectangle of light entered his world, banishing the darkness for a small time before the door closed again behind the three figures that had walked in.

"Are you sure that this will work Naruto-sama?" A voice said. He couldn't see the speaker.

A second voice that pierced him like icicles said "Of course I'm not sure it will work Hogback, that's why I'm trying it on him first. If this goes wrong, there's a very real chance of him dying. I won't try something like that on Anko-chan before it's been tested."

A third voice that sounded playful, but had an undertone of bloodlust and a hint of hope and excitement said "I really hope this works Naruto-kun. I can be free of that snake forever!"

Jirobou wasn't sure what was going on, but he turned his neck as much as he could and saw a figure enter the circle, he was tall and cloaked in black, and something about him scared the hell out of the member of the Sound Four.

The figure turned around and pressed his fingernail to his gums, getting a bit of blood on his finger. He then leaned down and dabbed that blood upon the chalk of the circle around the captured ninja. All of a sudden Jirobou felt somewhat confined. The feeling of the world around him suddenly vanished. The natural earth was gone, the air nonexistent. If he closed his eyes then his entire world would be inside that circle.

The figure strode to stand behind the ninja before holding his hand in front of him and muttered something incomprehensible, and Jirobou could feel his chakra as it moved as though for a jutsu, but this was different, less controlled than Ninjutsu, which when used feels like the chakra is woven into a cloth, but in this case it was like it was allowed to flow, much less specifically guided, but the result was something you couldn't have gotten any other way.

As the figure muttered some more and the air in the circle grew cold with some hideous dark power, Jirobou looked into the darkness, some of his night vision returning and he saw five objects laid out in the five spaces between the candles: A hat, a kunai, a bar of chocolate, a black crystal, and a book whose title he couldn't make out. It was obviously writing but he couldn't make heads or tails of it. The symbols looked something like '_The Heart of Kemmler'_.

Before Jirobou could take in any more of the world he found himself in, he felt a hand on his shoulder, right on top of his Curse Seal, and his world went black.

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(1) I'm honestly shocked that nobody has made the connection yet. No one can guess who I based Sodom off of? Okay then, here's a real good hint. Dark green hair, two blades hidden in arm guards. .HACK/SIGN. Let's see who makes the connection first.

Okay and that is the chapter. Chouji dies, Jirobou is captured, Neji and Kidomaru duke it out while Gomorrah watches from a distance, and Naruto attempts a strange procedure upon the captured Jirobou that has something to do with his Curse Seal. What shall become of this? Find out whenever I update next!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	40. Chapter 40

Greetings all, it is Artful Lounger

Greetings all, it is Artful Lounger. Today I bring you what you have been craving like a cocaine high for the last few days. That's right, it's none other than Kage no Naruto chapter forty! So please, sit back, get some popcorn, and let the writing begin!

Note: for those who don't know, Sodom is based off of Sora from .HACK/SIGN. If you don't know who he is, go look it up, he's one of the two most awesome characters in the entire franchise, second only to Helba herself.

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NARUTO SPOILERS  
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This is actually one of the best chapters in recent times. No idiotic Naruto or emo Sasuke screen time, it's a bit of a relief. Okay, the Raikage is about to start hunting down Sasuke and the Akatsuki for attacking Killer Bee (that's apparently the guy's actually name, who knew?)

Also, Pein and Konan have started their attack on Konoha, and they are taking the place by storm. I think we can look forward to some heavy combat really soon. I can't really explain what Pein's abilities are, but they are many and awesome. Seriously, this chapter is worth reading. Also, Pein has a bunch of different names for the individual bodies like 'God Realm, Hell Realm, Animal Realm, and Human Realm' to name a few. I can't remember the last two. Anyway, Pein is kicking ass and taking names.

And here is the part I liked the best out of the whole chapter. Killer Bee escaped the Akatsuki! They were in the middle of the ritual, but it was weakened since it was only Madara, Kisame, and Zetsu working on it. Killer Bee manifested one of the Hachibi's tentacles and escaped inside of it, leaving a clone with a lot of demonic chakra or something behind to keep them busy.

What's more, Killer Bee LET himself get defeated by Sasuke so that he would be captured. He's always wanted to escape from Kumo apparently and he used Sasuke to get his chance. Killer Bee THREW THE FIGHT! THAT'S WHY SASUKE WON! Also, the Hachibi hates the guy's rapping as well, just noting that.

Anyway, while it didn't even come close to redeeming Kishimoto for his fanboy-ism, this chapter was a step in the right direction. A few dozen more like this could well redeem the series, or at least start to. There is a bit of Sasuke-godhood syndrome mixed into this one, when Killer Bee said that Sasuke was one of the strongest people he ever fought, but that's understandable I guess. Rehabilitation from fanboy-ism takes time.

Anyway, this is the first really good chapter in a long time, I actually recommend reading this one just to see some of Pein's abilities and Killer Bee's escape. So, yeah, let the chapter begin!

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Summary of last chapter

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Okay, decent sized chapter short, Chouji fought with Sodom and was ruthlessly killed. After Sodom cut Chouji's throat, he hunted down the wounded and limping Jirobou and knocked him unconscious before using the power of the black gem that every General had surgically implanted inside them to create a portal back to Dark Heaven Castle.

On the other fronts, Kidomaru and Neji were left behind to battle it out as the rest of the Konoha team went after Sasuke intending to take him back.

The Generals knew what was going on and Gomorrah decided to take on Kidomaru and Neji, and he now waits silently for the two to wear each other out before making his move.

In Dark Heaven Castle, Naruto performed a strange ritual upon the bound Jirobou, stating that he was testing it upon Jirobou before using it on Anko because if it failed then the person in question would die.

What shall happen to Neji and Kidomaru? What shall happen to the rest of the Konoha team and the Sound Four? Did Jirobou survive the ritual? Read on and find out!

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Orochimaru's current base

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Orochimaru was in pain. He was in serious danger. If he didn't switch bodies soon, he was probably going to die. He was currently in the shower, leaning against the wall, his arms bloody and torn due to his current body rejecting his soul. He rasped to the ninja guarding the door "Is, is Sasuke-kun here yet?"

The guard shook his head and said "No Orochimaru-sama, he has not."

Orochimaru ground his teeth together in agony and frustration. They should have arrived by now, if they were taking this long, then they must have either been killed or Konoha sent a search team and they're being slowed down.

He would wait for Sasuke for a little longer. If he did not arrive by then, he would switch into a different body altogether and wait the three years until he could use his possession jutsu again.

In the meantime though, he would have to choose the alternate body and speed up Sasuke's retrieval. He rasped orders to the guard, telling him specific instructions to give to certain prisoners, and to fetch the head medic. He would wait as long as he could, but he wouldn't risk his life now of all times.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Hogback and Anko stood by as Naruto worked some strange ritual upon Jirobou. All they knew is that this was extremely advanced sealing, way more advanced than almost anything that the modern world knew. There were a few exceptions, such as the Shiki Fuujin, but aside from that the ancient methods that Naruto was using now far surpassed anything even a seal master like Jiraiya could ever hope to do. It was in the ancient ways that the cure for the Curse Seal could be found.

Suddenly Jirobou slumped to the ground and Naruto bent over, putting his hands on his knees and panted a bit. The ancient ways were powerful, but they were tiring. They were much less refined then modern day stuff so they required constant concentration to be performed correctly, constant will power and chakra being used in just the right way. They were powerful, but the ancient methods were far more difficult.

Naruto regained his breath and stood straight again. Then he savagely kicked Jirobou in the kidneys, muttering "Useless oaf."

The man turned in the circle and smudged the chalk line with his foot before stepping over the line towards Hogback and Anko. "He's dead, it failed" He said.

Hogback asked "What went wrong? It looked like it worked well enough up until he died."

Naruto nodded and said "It DID work, the influence Orochimaru can use through the Curse Seal is effectively neutralized. The thing is, he's not alive anymore. The process killed him. I have more work to do on this." Naruto walked toward the door, the other two following him.

"Luckily" He said "I'll have three more test subjects within the next few days so I do have some margin for error. Better luck next time."

Hogback nodded, there was no point in giving up after the first try. Anko just looked a bit gloomy, but then she perked up a bit. She had hoped to be free of Orochimaru completely, but this hope was not dashed. She would be free of him, they just caught a setback.

Naruto headed up towards his seal lab. Hogback and Anko went to the lab and the training room specifically. As Naruto walked through the halls, he ran into Asuka. "Pick up that mess in the other room. Now"

The red headed zombie maid bowed at the waist and said "Yes Naruto-sama. Immediately." And then proceeded down the stars to where Jirobou's body lay, still chained to the ground.

She entered the room and took a key from a hook on the wall, and then bent over and unlocked the man's shackles, freeing him from the chains.

She then effortlessly hoisted the large ninja over one shoulder and left the room, leaving the key on the hook where she found it.

Then she carried Jirobou out of the castle and down through the destroyed town to the old dock, and threw him into the black water. He landed with a splash about thirty feet out.

Asuka turned back and headed for the castle, her job there was done.

A few seconds later, there was blood in the water near where Jirobou landed. A minute or so later a large skeleton washed up on the beach. Near its leg was a thick piece of purple rope.

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With The Konoha Team

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Lee, Shikamaru, and Kiba were going through the trees as fast as they could, they knew that every second that they wasted, they got closer and closer to the border and closer and closer to losing Sasuke.

Kiba suddenly perked up his ears so to speak. "Hey, I can smell them. They aren't far away."

Shikamaru looked over and asked "How far are they Kiba?"

Kiba closed his eyes for a second and said "Maybe a quarter of a mile, at most."

Shikamaru nodded and said "Okay then, we'll keep the distance between them and us stable until morning. After that we'll attack and take back Sasuke."

Lee looked over and said "Why wait until morning Shika-kun? We could attack them now and finish the mission. The darkness would help in our escape."

Shikamaru kept his eyes ahead of him as he explained "Yes, the darkness would help during an ambush, but only in the original moment of attack. After that it would help them more than us. My only combat jutsu is useless without shadows and you wouldn't see a shadow at night. We would be floundering in the dark while they kept close to the barrel. We wouldn't be doing ourselves any favors by attacking in the dark, and we don't lose anything but a little time in exchange for a good chance of success later. We wait. If Neji were here with his Byakugan, it might be a different story but this is the best course of action with the resources we have."

Having the situation and logic behind it explained, the two settled down and agreed to the plan. They would wait until morning and then ambush the last two members of the Sound Four.

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With Neji and Kidomaru

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Neji was in a bit of a bad spot. His opponent had found that there was a blind spot in the Byakugan. It extended out from the first vertebrae of the spine, and was about five degrees wide at its widest point.

Neji no longer had any spiders to smash or knives to dodge. All he had was one calculated assassination strike coming straight at his blind spot at immense speeds. His opponent had activated the second level of his Curse Seal and was firing powerful arrows at him from long distance. He had managed to avoid death only by exuding a massive field of chakra around him, rapidly draining his reserves. It let him know where the arrow was coming from and he was able to slightly alter the arrow's course.

If he didn't do that, he would have been killed by the first arrow. This was fine and all, but this method would only work for so long, already his reserves were running low and the field of chakra was failing. He let the field of chakra drop and decided to start running, pulling knives out of his back as he did so.

About five hundred feet away, Kidomaru hung from several strings of webbing, watching his enemy. If any arrow was going to be altered, then he would have to have a means of controlling the arrow's flight path beyond the actual shot. Kidomaru opened his mouth and from it issued an arrow made of a golden material, his special web. Attached to the end of the arrow was a thread of his chakra enhanced spider silk that was all but unbreakable to anything but chakra attacks. He strung this arrow to the bow, waited until he had a good shot, and fired the arrow straight at the wounded Hyuuga.

Neji knew that a second attack would be coming and soon. For the first time in his life, he couldn't see something coming at him, and it scared the Hyuuga prodigy, it scared him a lot. He kept going in a straight line, moving in a diagonal to avoid the arrow, and once or twice he caught a glimpse of the incoming missile, coming straight at him.

He kept running forward and then suddenly strafed dodged and hid behind a tree. It didn't save him though.

The arrow kept going, it sent straight through the wood of the tree and out through the muscle of Neji's right shoulder, leaving a crater in the ground where the golden arrow struck and a hole a few centimeters wide in Neji's shoulder.

Neji noticed the thread, and almost immediately realized what must have been happening. His opponent attached a string to the arrow, that way he could move the string to alter the arrow's flight path. With a setup like that, dodging it was almost impossible. He knew that the tree moved the arrow off course by a little bit, hence why he was still alive, but he knew that it wouldn't work next time. The string going through his shoulder to the arrow suddenly went limp when it had been taut before and he knew that the Oto ninja was preparing another strike, this one even more deadly than before.

Kidomaru examined the strike from his vantage point. 'So, the tree altered the course of the arrow eh? If that's the case then I'll put a little extra spin on this next one.'

He opened his mouth and another golden arrow emerged, only instead of a normal arrowhead, this one had a spiraling tip not unlike a sea shell. Like the last arrow, this one was fitted with a string at the end of it, to control its path.

Kidomaru strung the arrow to the bow and aimed it at Neji, who was standing still. He thought to himself 'Accuracy, 120 percent. Destructive power, Absolute Maximum!' and fired the arrow.

The arrow spun as it went through the air at amazing speeds, kicking up a massive trail of dust as it moved through the trees toward Neji.

Neji meanwhile was standing perfectly still in the clearing where he was struck in the shoulder. "After all, it's not like I could dodge it anyways, I'm almost completely out of chakra, and this is perhaps the second most powerful opponent I've ever faced. What's the point of even trying?" he muttered to himself as he closed his eyes.

As he thought though, he realized something. He couldn't just roll over and die, not here. If he lost here than the others would end up fighting this lunatic as well and they wouldn't stand much of a chance. Hell, the only reason he wasn't dead already was because of the Jyuuken and the Kaiten.

He also remembered a second reason not to give up. He had unfinished business and a promise to keep. Unfinished business with a certain individual and a promise to his teammate to bring him back. He could not die happy without first finding out WHY Naruto betrayed them, and if possible, convince him to come back to Konoha. 'I can't allow myself to lose here.' The wounded Hyuuga thought as the arrow came spinning towards his back.

Neji stumbled forward and turned around as the arrow came towards him and impaled him through the stomach, nailing him to a nearby tree. The wounded Hyuuga slumped forward with his eyes closed.

Kidomaru clutched his fist and smiled as he thought 'Got him! Heh, that was pretty fun, even though the ending was pretty predictable. Such a shame, but it was fun while it lasted I suppose.'

Before Kidomaru cut the thread, Neji reached forward with some of his last chakra shimmering around his hand and grabbed the thread that ran through his stomach. 'I couldn't dodge it.' He thought 'But at least I could move enough to avoid an instant kill. Now then, JYUUKEN!'

Neji channeled his chakra through the thread to Kidomaru, who still had the string in his mouth. If it reached him in that way, his chakra system would be badly damaged, and that would damage several of his internal organs. Tired already from fighting two Jounin as well as the talented Hyuuga, he wouldn't be able to take much more, he was pushing it as it is, all the Sound Four were close to their limits from the beginning. Kidomaru was tired so he didn't think to cut the thread, he didn't even notice the threat as the fatal chakra grew closer and closer to him.

While Kidomaru thought he was in the clear, and Neji intent on victory, a third party was not going to let his target get killed. Gomorrah looked on as he stuck to the bottom of a tree branch and he knew exactly what the Hyuuga was doing, and was going to prevent it.

Gomorrah drew a kunai from a pouch at his waist and threw it with deadly accuracy, a small amount of chakra infused in the metal. He threw the knife with his top left arm, and he shot a blast of webbing from the spinnerets in his bottom left palm at the same time.

Kidomaru didn't know what the hell just happened. One second he was reveling in his hard won victory, the next a kunai passes about an inch from his face and slices through the string that he connected to the last arrow he shot. About a quarter of a second after that a sudden force hit him in the side and he flew into a tree and couldn't move his limbs at all. Then there was a quick pressure upon his neck and the world went dark.

Gomorrah stood up from his target and looked down at the wounded Hyuuga. He was done for anyway, but he wasn't one to leave witnesses. He left the unconscious and web-bound Kidomaru and headed for Neji.

Neji felt the string go limp and figured that the spider guy cut the thread before his chakra could reach him. 'No, I can't let him get away!' He thought as he cut the thread with a very small burst of chakra and ran forward to where the arrow came from, bleeding badly from his arrow wounds..

Before he got far, he was facing a tall dark skinned man with six arms. Neji held one hand to his stomach wound and took in his features quickly. He was very tall, almost seven feet tall, and his skin was a shade darker than Kidomaru's. His six arms were corded with muscle and his features were normal, nothing particularly remarkable. His head was shaved bald, and he didn't wear a shirt, revealing numerous stitches all across his torso. His pants were dark and he wore standard Shinobi sandals like his own. He had four large pouches at his belt and upon his top right forearm was a tattoo that read 'GZ-004'.

Neji was on guard. He didn't wear a headband but he resembled Kidomaru rather closely, especially considering limbs. Neji just spat "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The man stayed silent for a moment before he spoke, his voice very deep. "I am known as Gomorrah. Since I answered one question, it is only right that you answer one as well. Why are you talking to a Kage Bunshin?"

Neji's eyes widened as he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right arm. His Byakugan wasn't activated to save chakra, so he didn't see it coming whatever it was.

Neji looked at his arm as the clone vanished. The real Gomorrah was leaning against a tree a few feet away. Neji looked and saw two medium sized, bleeding holes in his arm spaced not far apart.

He heard that deep voice again, this time from the real Gomorrah "Ooh, spider bite. Maybe you should have that looked at, I hear that they can get really nasty."

Neji looked at the large man with anger in his eyes, ready to kill. But before he could rush forward to Jyuuken the strange man to death, he was overcome by a severely painful burning in his arm.

He looked at the bitten arm and saw something that made his face go white and his eyes go wide. The flesh of his arm near the bite was gone, completely gone to the point that he could see the bones clearly. Soon the flesh was completely gone and the bone itself dissolved as well.

Neji's right arm fell of at the mid-bicep. The wounded Hyuuga fell to his knees screaming in pain as the flesh of his upper arm was eaten away as well. 'Wait' he thought 'The Hatake family sword was stolen not long ago. The safe wasn't cracked, it was said to have had its hinges dissolved by an extremely potent acid and peeled back without setting off any alarms. It couldn't be….'

Gomorrah looked at his wounded opponent without smiling. He just said "See, I told you that spider bites could be bad, and here's something worse, I hear that some of them can attack at range too."

Neji's eyes widened as Gomorrah opened his mouth, revealing two long fangs and at the bottom of his mouth was a small opening, like a snake's. The six armed zombie thrust his head forward slightly and a bright green, translucent fluid flew from this opening straight at Neji's face in a thin fast moving stream.

Neji didn't have a chance to move as the potent acid that was Gomorrah's poison poured across his head and torso. All he could do was scream as he was eaten away. The screaming didn't last long, it was quite a potent acid.

Gomorrah looked at the mostly liquid remains of the Hyuuga prodigy, grunted once, and jumped back to where he left his quarry.

He reached Kidomaru and picked him up, easily prying the webbing from the tree and held one hand against the tree for a moment before a black substance poured from his hand, solid, liquid, and gas all at the same time.

This substance formed an oval shape and became darker. The moment it did, Gomorrah stepped through it, and the substance upon the tree vanished, the portal closing behind him.

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With the Generals

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Samson, Sakumo, and Ryuuma dept going towards there target as dawn started to rise. They felt another surge of cold energy as they did.

"Gomorrah's finished it seems." Samson noted

Ryuuma nodded "Did you ever have any doubt? He's not one to fool around. He usually gets things done rather quickly."

Sakumo nodded and then tensed slightly. "The targets have met up with the Konoha team. It looks like their going to fight it out three to two, just end the thing then and there."

Samson nodded, his armor creaking slightly and said "Perhaps we should crash the party? It could be fun."

Ryuuma smiled as well as he could with no lips and said "Oh yes, it's guaranteed to be quite the bash isn't it. Just remember, the shadow kid is mine."

The two nodded dully, somewhat bored with this job and itching to get to the fighting. Idly they had to wonder though, how did Ryuuma make a 'B' sound without lips? Perhaps they were giving him too little credit, after all he could make a sucking noise without any saliva as well.

Oddities aside, the three great zombies moved quickly forward toward their mission objectives.

Ryuuma thought to himself 'I can't believe these two haven't noticed the sixth person yet. Whoever he is, he's coming in fast. We won't be the only ones crashing this part.'

Thoughts and contemplations aside, the three increased their pace so that they could guarantee the safety of their targets.

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With Kimimaro

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Kaguya Kimimaro moved quickly through the forests, desperate to succeed. Orochimaru had taken him from his bed to do one final mission. HE knew that he didn't have lone to live, and he was determined to make his final moments worthwhile.

His mission was simple 'To retrieve Uchiha Sasuke no matter the cost'. Orochimaru had been forced to choose a new body, but the Uchiha would be guaranteed the first spot in the body taking line in three years.

'Sakon, Tayuya, Jirobou, Kidomaru, you had better hold out until I get there. I want to be able to kill you fools myself.' Thought the last Kaguya as he honed in on the feeling of a Curse Seal.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was working in his lab when there was a sudden knock on his door. It was Rei.

At his word, she popped her head in and said "Naruto-sama, General Gomorrah has retrieved his target. We already have him bound and prepped in the room as you specified."

Naruto nodded and shut the book he was reading. He set _The Mind of Kemmler_ aside as he stood. He looked upon the thin black volume fondly as he thought 'Kemmler truly was a genius, there's so much in these books besides summoning corpses to do my bidding.'

Then he stepped through the door and moved briskly down the halls. He opened the door to the decent sized dungeon where he found a bound and semi-awake Kidomaru manacled as Jirobou was.

'Okay' he thought 'Second verse preferably not the same as the first' and then he stepped not the circle.

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Omake: The Secret of Perona's cooking

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Perona walked into the kitchen one morning, determined to make an excellent breakfast. After all, if she cooked Naruto would like her more than the others. Just because she agreed to share with Haku didn't mean that she wouldn't try to get him to like her more.

She tried for about an hour but still didn't get anything done. The bacon burned, the eggs had shells in them, the sausages were raw, and the biscuits were soft and doughy. Everything was horrible.

So, Perona did what she always did. She ran out into the castle while everyone was still asleep and got a certain maid out of bed.

She pushed Rei into the kitchen and said "Clean that place up and make breakfast."

About twenty minutes later everyone was awake and ten minutes after that they were eating breakfast. "Ahh, excellent job Perona-chan."

Perona smiled at her lord's complement "No problem, it's always a pleasure Naruto-kun. It's really easy once you know exactly what to do."

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Okay and that's the chapter. A bit on the short side, I know but I am tired at the moment, so bear with me. You finally saw a bit of what Gomorrah was capable of, and Kimimaro has finally appeared, Naruto learned more ancient techniques and powerful Necromancy. What shall happen to Kidomaru? Shall he survive the ritual that killed Jirobou? These questions and so many others answered in the next exciting chapter of Kage no Naruto!

Also, what did you think about the Omake?

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	41. Chapter 41

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on where you are and when you are reading this

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on where you are and when you are reading this. In case you were wondering this is Kage no Naruto chapter forty one, all lawyers, I did the whole disclaimer thing about thirty seven times, check there if you need proof and then get the hell out.

Now then, I will begin the chapter summary and then the chapter itself, standard stuff for me.

Note: Just mentioning this, but with this chapter, this story has more than two hundred thousand words! Man oh man, I haven't even gotten to Shippuden yet, and it's over two hundred thousand words! How often do you see that?

Second Note: Just putting this in here, but sorry if the chapter came out a little later than usual. It was my birthday recently and I got a new Xbox 360. Blame Devil May Cry 4 and Call of Duty 4, not me!

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Summary of last chapter

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Jirobou got killed and dumped in the lake before he got eaten by some unknown creature.

Neji fought Kidomaru and was about to secure victory when Gomorrah interfered, dissolving him with a potent acid and securing Kidomaru.

The Konoha team confronted Sakon and Tayuya at last for the final battle to retrieve Sasuke and Kimimaro is on his way to retrieve the new vessel for Orochimaru.

The Generals stand poised to strike and Naruto prepares an improved version of the ritual that killed Jirobou for use on Kidomaru!

Will Kidomaru survive? Will Kimimaro survive? Will Kiba, Lee and Shikamaru survive? Who knows? I do! Read the chapter and you'll know as well!

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Random tree-tops in forests of Hi no Kuni, five sixths of the way to Oto

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It was a little after dawn, and the Konoha team consisting of Shikamaru, Lee, and Kiba were facing Sakon and Tayuya. The barrel was set down a foot or so behind the two Oto ninja.

They didn't speak; they both knew what the other wanted. The two Oto ninja wanted to take a comrade to one of their worst enemies and they would not let it happen without a fight.

Shikamaru had already come up with and told the plan to the other two, and they had put it into action. Lee jumped into the air, and threw a kunai with a string of exploding tags attached to it. His target however, was neither Sakon nor Tayuya, it was the barrel that contained Sasuke.

Shikamaru knew that their goal was to deliver Sasuke alive to Orochimaru. They could not allow Sasuke to die, otherwise they would fail their mission. Having Lee attack the barrel would force them to protect it, and leave an opening in their defenses that they could exploit using the smoke from the explosion as camouflage to hide after taking one of them out and reclaiming the barrel. They would attack and eliminate the one that held the barrel and escape from the other one. That was the plan.

Two figures dashed out of the way of the explosion, avoiding getting caught in the blast. Sakon was holding the barrel as he leapt out of the way.

Shikamaru put his hands into a seal and yelled "Kiba!"

"Right!" The Inuzuka answered and then immediately yelled "Gatsuuga!" As he and Akamaru turned into twin tornadoes of claws and fangs that headed toward Sakon. Shikamaru sent forth a length of shadow to restrain the two headed Oto ninja.

Sakon acted immediately as he was trained to. He couldn't let the vessel be harmed, even if he got hurt for doing it. Being hurt by the enemy was better than getting killed by Orochimaru.

Sakon threw the barrel to Tayuya and yelled her name to get her attention. Tayuya looked over and caught the barrel thanks to her honed reflexes, jumping back to get some distance from the Konoha ninja.

Sakon however was hit by Kiba's Gatsuuga. He took several bad cuts and bruises from the attack, but he wasn't fatally injured. The tornadoes that were Kiba and Akamaru turned around for a second pass at the injured man.

Shikamaru and Lee ran after Tayuya. Shikamaru yelled to Kiba "Kiba! Finish that guy off, we'll take care of the girl!" and then the shadow master headed after the last member of the Sound Four.

Kiba and Akamaru both headed straight for Sakon, intending to rip him apart this time. The first strike hadn't been his best, but he wouldn't hold back on this strike.

Unfortunately for Kiba, Sakon was ready this time. He waited until the last second, and then held out his hands and _caught_ the Gatsuuga, both Akamaru and Kiba.

The Gatsuuga was a rapid spinning of the body, extending the claws to the side to create a spiraling tornado of slicing attacks. However, every tornado has its eye, and in this case it was the top of Kiba's and Akamaru's heads that were the center of the rotation. By grabbing them at that point, he could stop the rotation needed for the attack without getting cut.

Sakon didn't waste time and let the enemy recover from the shock of his techniques' failure. He smashed the heads of the two identical Kiba's together, sending them to the sides as Akamaru returned to his real canine form.

Kiba, although a Gennin, still had some decent reflexes. He flipped in the air and landed on his feet. After a second, his blurred vision cleared and he saw his enemy just in time to duck in order to avoid a flurry of punches. These punches however came from a single arm, multiple arms springing from his forearm in a flurry around his fist. This strange attack collided with the tree trunk behind Kiba and took a large chunk out of the wood.

Kiba didn't waste any time. He dashed forward to avoid a second attack and rushed to Akamaru's side. Picking up the small dog, he dodged aside to avoid a small barrage of kunai that sank into the wood where he stood moments before.

The small dog regained consciousness around then and he jumped from Kiba's arms to the ground. Kiba and Akamaru dodged aside from a charge by Sakon, Kiba barely avoiding a slit throat from the knife in his hand.

Kiba saw an opportunity for an attack and he took it. It wasn't anything complicated, he simply took advantage of the situation. They were fighting in the trees over a large ravine. Sakon was in the air about to use the branch they were on to jump to another one. Kiba prevented that, he quickly sent a downward punch to the Oto ninja's back before he could move. The punch did minimal damage but that wasn't the point. The point was to apply downward force and drop him into the ravine and it did its job well. Sakon had no way of getting out of that particular situation, but he could certainly change one thing about it.

He couldn't avoid the ravine, but he didn't have to go down alone. He thrust his hand forward, willing chakra into his wrist as he did so. The chakra activated a small device which spun ninja wire through the air to wrap around Kiba, dragging him into the chasm with Sakon.

Akamaru acted as any Inuzuka dog would do and jumped down after his master.

What none of them realized was that they were both being watched. A powerful creature was watching the fight and waiting for his chance to take down his target.

The armored zombie Samson slowly crept down the cliff wall, making sure that he could see the enemy and the target, but that they couldn't see him as he watched.

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With Shikamaru, Lee, and Tayuya

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Tayuya was moving as fast as she could, jumping from tree to tree, hoping to escape. She knew that she was good, but taking on two opponents with unknown skills would be difficult. She was hoping that she would be able to escape to the border and get away before the two caught up to her. If not, then at least get to terrain where she would have a large enough advantage to make sure that she would have an easy fight.

Still though, her wish was not to come true. A small barrage of kunai on the branches ahead of her told her that. She came to a stop and jumped to a different branch, barely avoiding getting stabbed with another thrown knife.

At this branch, she put the barrel down and turned around to face her enemies. She wouldn't have had a prayer if she had to carry that thing in the upcoming fight. She pulled her flute from her belt and just said as she faced the two "You bastards. Fine, if you won't let me leave then I'll finish you off quickly!"

Shikamaru ducked down and said to Lee "Lee, listen." As soon as he had the Gennin's attention he said "Okay, move exactly how I tell you to move…."

As Shikamaru and Lee were plotting, Tayuya was looking them over and trying to determine what kind of fighters they were from first glance, and from what she saw when Kidomaru fought them.

'Okay, that guy on the left has used only Taijutsu so far, that means that he probably doesn't have any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu to speak of. A typical close combat moron, he shouldn't be too difficult but depending on how skilled he really is he could be a real threat.'

Then she turned her eyes to Shikamaru and thought 'And he uses his shadow to bind his opponent at medium range. Also, he's more than likely a good tactician and I already know that he's a good squad leader since he managed to get his team by Jirobou, Kidomaru, AND Sakon. But if I keep my distance he shouldn't be too much trouble, as long as I don't give him a lot of time to put any plan into action.'

She closed her eyes briefly and thought 'A Taijutsu specialist and a tactician, one dangerous combo, I have to admit. But if I can take out one of them quickly, the other shouldn't be too difficult. It's only working together that they're a real threat. On their own I could take them down without too much trouble.'

By the time Tayuya had finished her thinking and had a battle plan in order, Shikamaru had finished talking to Lee "Are you sure that will work Shika-kun?" The Taijutsu specialist asked.

Shikamaru nodded and said "Yeah, if you do just what I told you we can probably get out of this without too much trouble."

Shikamaru pulled out a kunai and jumped to the branch where Tayuya was standing. Not able to dodge for fear of leaving the barrel vulnerable, she caught the blow on her flute, holding Shikamaru at bay. The Nara heir yelled "NOW LEE!"

Lee jumped forward, and went right over Tayuya. Instead of attacking her though, Lee grabbed the barrel and jumped away again.

Tayuya was angry, but Shikamaru jumped backward away from her. "Let's get out of here Lee!" he yelled as he started to depart.

Tayuya ground her teeth and was about to go after them but stopped suddenly as a blur of white flashed by her.

Shikamaru was shocked as a white clad figure came out of nowhere and blindsided Lee, kicking him in the side in the middle of a jump and sent him into the trunk of a tree before falling on a branch below. The white clad figure caught the dropped barrel and placed in on the branch that Lee was leaping to, and stood beside it.

Shikamaru was shocked and amazed as Kaguya Kimimaro stood beside the barrel, his green eyes appraising him coldly. Up in the trees out of sight of the four ninja in the area, the General Zombies smiled. Well, Sakumo smiled, Ryuuma couldn't since he had no lips after all. But it's the thought that counts.

Kimimaro took a glance at the situation and said "Tayuya, you have taken too long."

The red headed flutist could only stare as though she had seen a ghost, because for all intents and purposes she was. "H-how? You're supposed to be dead."

Kimimaro grabbed the barrel and rushed forward very quickly, going right past Shikamaru who was still too surprised to do much of anything, and landed right next to Tayuya.

He said "You have taken too long. Orochimaru-sama has had to switch to a different body already."

Tayuya glanced at him from the corner of her eye and said "Then what's the point? If Orochimaru-sama has switched then he won't be able to anything with this one."

Kimimaro smiled at the girl and said "Tayuya, you are far too shortsighted for your own good. Just because he missed this chance doesn't mean that he is useless. His value has merely been suspended."

Tayuya nodded in understanding "So, he's the next one, the next vessel."

Kimimaro nodded at the statement. Tayuya continued "Still, how are you alive? Much less out here, you shouldn't even be able to move with your condition."

Kimimaro looked ahead of him and said "It is true that my body is dying, but my spirit is indomitable. This condition would be crippling to most but to a being that runs on his spirit and soul, it is no great obstacle. I will not last forever, but I can perform this last service to my lord."

Then he seemed to come back to reality and noticed that Shikamaru was helping Lee get back on his feet. The bone user said "Tayuya, I trust that you can take care of those two?"

Tayuya looked over to the two Konoha ninja who were getting their bearings, smiled and nodded before saying "Of course, trash like them won't be too much trouble."

Kimimaro nodded and said "Then I will leave them to you." Then he jumped to another tree and moved northwards, toward the Valley of the End, and Oto no Kuni.

Shikamaru whispered something to Lee and he looked at his squad leader. "Are you sure Shika-kun?"

Shikamaru nodded and said "Yeah, get going, I'll join up as soon as I'm done here."

Lee nodded and dashed off to the side, away from Tayuya and Shikamaru, not far from there, he changed directions and headed to the North.

Tayuya looked over and was about to attack him, but was headed off by a movement out of the corner of her eye, Shikamaru's shadow moving towards her.

She jumped back and narrowly avoided the Kage Mane. Then she looked over to Shikamaru and said "I won't fall for that trick." Then she looked over to where Lee was and saw that he had disappeared. 'Damn it' she mentally swore. Kimimaro would not take an opponent getting past her very well. But she would burn that bridge when she came to it, in the meantime she had other enemies to deal with.

She smirked at Shikamaru and said "You're one dumbass squad leader, do you know that?"

Shikamaru frowned at that, but Tayuya continued "You must have sacrificed one of your teammates to allow the group to move on every time you encountered one of us. What's so important that you would sacrifice all of your teammates to save one insignificant Shinobi?"

Shikamaru smiled a bit and said "You're right, this mission has taken the absolute worst case scenario given the circumstances, we each ended up fighting one on one to pose a distraction. But I don't think of it as sacrificing my teammates. And do you know why?"

Shikamaru smiled and said "Because I don't really believe that they're dead. In addition to that, there's no one on my team that would let an ally be captured and taken away by the enemy. That includes me. So if you don't mind, I'm going to take you down, and then go help Lee against that other guy."

Tayuya smiled and had to stop herself from laughing at this guy. "You, you, beat Kimimaro? That's funny shit head, that's really funny. Personally I doubt that green dude will last five minutes against him. And even if by some miracle you managed to defeat me, you helping him wouldn't make a difference to the outcome of the battle. Either way, you're both dead."

Then she bit her thumb and went through several rapid handseals before slamming her hand onto the branch beneath her, yelling "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

There were three large gusts of smoke, and three large ogre like figures appeared when the clouds dispersed. One held two katars, the second held a large club, and the third's arms were bound, but they were still very large and guaranteed to be quite strong. Shikamaru frowned at the sight of them. 'This is not going to be easy.' He thought.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a strange figure move in the direction that Kimimaro and Lee went. The figure was clad in white robes, and had light brown skin that seemed to be sewed together in several places. He also held a sword in a black sheath.

A moment later the figure was gone. But before Shikamaru could do more than think 'What the hell was that?' Tayuya started to play her flute, and the three ogre creatures charged.

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With the Generals

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Ryuuma and Sakumo were watching the exchange between Shikamaru, Tayuya, and Kimimaro before Kimimaro rush off, and Lee soon after.

Ryuuma abruptly stood up and said "I'm going after those two."

Sakumo looked over and said "I thought you wanted the shadow guy. I was planning on going after the Kaguya."

Ryuuma just prepared the jump and said "I've changed my mind. You take care of these two, and I'll see you back home." Then he vanished

Sakumo was irritated at the other General but he knew better than to say anything. Ryuuma was the strongest of the generals, despite his strange and emaciated appearance and he knew not to piss him off.

He turned his attention back to the fight at hand and watched Tayuya begin her attack. 'Hurry up and weaken each other damn it' he thought.

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With Kidomaru

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Kidomaru suddenly embraced consciousness. He couldn't move that much, but he was in a well-lit room. In a bed. It actually looked quite a bit like a hospital. Kidomaru tried moving, but he couldn't and he soon found out why. He was chained to the bed. Several chains went around his torso, and trapped four of his arms with them. Manacles bound his legs and chains led from them to the legs of the bed, the same went for his top two arms. In addition to that, there was a throbbing pain from his Curse Seal, comparable to the moments when he first got it.

Kidomaru tried to call his chakra in order to free himself, but the manacles on his arms suddenly writhed strangely and he felt hundreds of pricks upon his wrists. It hurt much more than it should have if you consider the wounds, but his concentration and power were driven away by the pain.

That was what the Thorn Manacles were meant to do after all, render mortals, specifically ninja, helpless. Chakra and other such energy forces could not be used by whoever was wearing them.

Kidomaru panted a bit, and then the pain faded and he could feel his chakra again. He was about to draw upon it and free himself, do his best to ignore the pain long enough to get free. But before he could try, a bored female voice said "You shouldn't try that."

Kidomaru looked around as best he could for the owner of the voice. "Oi, where the hell are you?" He yelled. "Do you know who I work for? Orochimaru-sama will have your head for this!"

A figure stepped into his vision. She was about five feet, five inches tall, and had short red hair that reached the back of her neck. She wore a typical maid outfit, black and white dress and apron, and didn't seem to have much life to her. She also had several long, stitched up cuts across her body, one such cut went from her cheek down do her chin, and then stretched down, crossing her throat before it disappeared beneath her dress. The figure said "I am known as Nao, and I highly doubt that Orochimaru would be able to do anything about your situation even if he knew where you were or who took you."

The spider ninja scoffed at the strange girl and said "So then, where the hell am I? Who took me, and what the hell do you people want with me?"

Nao simply said, in the same monotone "You are currently at Dark Heaven Castle, in Hogback-sama's laboratory. As for who took you, that would be General Gomorrah and as for what we want with you, I do not know. The Master will speak to you all at once after your teammates are captured, treated, and brought here."

Kidomaru just asked "'The Master?' who the hell is he? Or Hogback, and why are you here anyway, to keep watch over me?"

Nao shrugged and said "The Master is the Master. He is my creator, our creator, our King, our God. His will is law, his whims our commands. The Master holds our hearts, our lives, everything that we are in the palm of his hand. Hogback is one of his chosen few, the few that he entrusts with his will, the ability to command us. His is one of the three that form the Master's right hand. I was told by the Master to stay here in order to answer your questions, within reason, and to make sure that you and your comrades do not die when they arrive. I do not hold any sort of jail keeping position, there is none needed. As long as you wear those manacles you are as weak as a newborn kitten."

Having heard her answer and not learned a thing, he asked "You said that my companions would arrive here. Don't think that they will be captured so easily."

Nao's lips twitched in the hint of a smile before she said "I have no doubt that they will be joining us here, soon. Generals Samson, Sakumo, and Ryuuma will see to that. After all you and that other one have been captured already."

That caught the ninja's attention. "What other one? Who are you talking about?"

She shrugged and said "I do not know his name, he was not with us long. He did not survive the treatment that you underwent. The Master refined the technique after the first try failed, that is why you are alive right now." She looked thoughtful for a moment and said "I think he had orange hair, and was very large. He was dressed as you are. You probably know him."

At her description, a single name went through Kidomaru's mind 'Jirobou, damn it!' Kidomaru grit his teeth and said "Where is he! What did you bastards do to him!"

Nao raised one eyebrow and said "The Master performed the treatment upon him, but he did not live through it. After his death, he had Asuka throw him in the lake. I doubt that there is anything more of him but a waterlogged skeleton by now, if that much."

The Oto ninja was looking more and more pissed off every moment "What treatment are you talking about? What did he do to Jirobou?"

Nao simply said "The Master's machinations are not for us lesser beings to know. I do know however that it was meant to remove the influence held over you by Orochimaru through the Curse Seal. You probably feel some pain in the area right now."

Kidomaru was amazed at that. He was supposedly free of Orochimaru. It was true that his Curse Seal was hurting like hell at the moment but that didn't mean much. "Hold on" He said "If you aren't to know anything about what he does, then how do you know that much?"

Nao shrugged and said "Anko-sama was quite excited over the issue and very talkative about it. After you survived the treatment she demanded that it be performed upon her immediately. The Master was of course too happy to oblige. She is currently asleep in her bed. She will be most happy when she wakes up."

Kidomaru recognized Anko's name, being a former apprentice of Orochimaru. He also knew that if this 'Master' was stronger than her then he had no chance of getting out of here without help. Anyone that could hold the loyalty of someone like that was way out of his league.

Kidomaru shook his head, clearing it of the depressing thoughts and focused on getting out of his situation. "So then, when will I get to meet this 'Master' anyway?"

Nao shrugged once more and said "I do not know, when your comrades have undergone the treatment most likely. So probably not too long. Now then, I have tired of your questions, so I will put you to sleep until the Master needs you awake."

Before Kidomaru could protest, he felt a prick in his neck and everything went dark.

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With Kiba

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Kiba was not doing so well. He was out of chakra, and he had two opponents to deal with. He and Akamaru had just tried their absolute best attack, the Garouga, after turning into a giant two headed wolf with Akamaru, only to have it blocked by a gigantic summoned gate.

Akamaru took the worst of the damage, which was made even worse when Ukon punched him into a nearby rock structure. Mind you, he pissed in Sakon's eyes first so it was about an even trade.

Kiba was a bit distracted by Sakon's crying in pain and Akamaru's unconsciousness so he was stupid enough to let Ukon get out of his sight.

Kiba realized this and scrambled, 'Where did the other one go?!' he asked himself.

"Hey" A voice said "What are you looking for?"

Kiba looked over his shoulder and saw none other than the head of the transformed Ukon sticking out of his shoulder. In a panic, Kiba struck at his with his left arm, but it was grabbed by an arm that came out of Kiba's right bicep and grabbed Kiba's left arm, pulling it behind his back and holding it there.

"Just relax" Ukon said "It will all be over soon. Hey Sakon!" Seeing that his brother wasn't going to be able to do much of anything he yelled "I've got things covered here, go wash out your eyes in that river!" Sakon nodded and ran off toward the cleansing water.

"Hehehe, it's over kid, give up." Ukon said as Kiba struggled. "I'm gong to kill you in the way only I can. I'll destroy you from the inside out, as long as I'm in the Second Stage I can join with anyone's body, dissolving into them and reforming myself inside of them. We're already sharing a body, now all I have to do is destroy any of your cells. It will be painful, but it will be relatively quick."

Kiba suddenly relaxed after a moment, and then picked up a kunai with his right hand, the one not being held. He mumbled "So we're sharing a body huh?" Then he suddenly stabbed himself in the stomach, cutting deeply. "Then what will happen if I do this?" He said as he drove the knife a bit deeper.

Ukon yelled in pain at Kiba's attack. 'Suicide? This guy is crazy. I'm literally one with the target, that's the technique's greatest strength. I've never seen anyone try something like that before'

Kiba stood up, bleeding from his wound, and turned upon the similarly wounded Ukon. Ukon scrambled to get up, and got out of the way of the knife that came down upon the space. Then Kiba threw several smoke bombs nearby and Ukon's vision was impaired by the smoke.

Ukon moved quickly and stumbled out of the smoke, only to find no sign of Kiba, only Akamaru lying wounded nearby.

"Hehehehehe" He chuckled "He left his bonded partner behind to save himself. That's smart but damn, he's more cold hearted than I am."

Then he walked closer to the injured dog, he pulled out a knife and said "Well, this is one down, one to go."

But before Ukon could strike the final blow, the dog in question grew. It was not slow and gradual, it was a sudden spurt. One moment he was at normal size, the next he was bigger than Ukon.

Ukon realized what was happening and jumped back as far as he could as he yelled "Shit!" That didn't save him from what happened next when the supposed 'dog' exploded like a balloon, sending projectiles in every direction. Several of these peppered Ukon.

"Damn that bastard." He muttered. Then he yelled "DO YOU HEAR ME YOU PIECE OF DOG SHIT! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Then he went after Sakon, mumbling about the disappearing act his brother pulled.

Kiba was hiding behind a stalagmite, panting in exhaustion, and holding Akamaru close. "Okay boy" he said "It won't be long before those two find us, so we had better get going. Akamaru, hold on." Then he slowly got into the cold water of the river, and headed downstream, careful to keep Akamaru's head above the water.

Sakon and Ukon were having a reunion of their own. Sakon was just finishing up with washing his eyes when he heard Ukon's voice "Hey, Sakon!"

"Yeah, yeah, hold on a minute" The ninja said, and then turned around, very surprised to see an injured, untransformed Ukon.

Ukon stumbled over to Sakon and started to sink into his body. As he did he said "That bastard got lucky, but it won't happen next time. I want you to catch those two Sakon, and keep them alive until I'm healed. After that I'll kill them myself."

Sakon smiled and said "You have a deal Ukon, but we'll be doing the killing together." Then Sakon turned to go.

Before he left however, he was met with a kick to the ribs that sent him flying toward the valley wall. Sakon quickly got up and viewed the figure that did it.

It was a man a little less than six feet tall that did it. He was wearing steel plate armor that covered his entire body. There was a cape of fine red cloth secured to his shoulders and there was a short length of metal through his leather belt.

Without a word, the figure pulled the metal from its place and held it in front of him. A blade of lightning emerged from the handle, creating a rather intimidating sight.

Sakon growled in irritation. This wasn't good. His eyes were still irritated by what that dog did to him and Ukon was asleep and wouldn't be awake again for some time. He was on his own against this opponent, whoever it was.

He got up and yelled at the figure "Who the hell are you?!"

The figure said, his voice distorted by the steel helm, "I am known as Samson. If you surrender now I will take you in without undue pain."

Sakon scoffed and said "Like you would have a chance against me!" And then charged the metal clad man.

Sakon took a knife in hand and went for the junction in the armor between breastplate and helm. Samson was faster than he appeared however and the Raijin blurred as the sword met the kunai in a perfect parry that sliced the knife in two. An armored fist to the stomach sent Sakon sprawling.

Sakon regained his feet and could already tell that the punch would leave some pretty bad bruises. Sakon moved forward quickly, pushing a massive amount of chakra to his legs to give him greater speed, and moved to the side at the last minute, only just avoiding a slash that still took off a lock of his hair.

A knife slipped into Sakon's hand and he plunged it into the joint at the shoulder, or tried to. Samson thrust back with his elbow at a far greater speed than someone in armor should be able to and got Sakon right in the chin, sending him flying backward through the air.

Sakon was losing badly, he knew that. He was tired already from the fight with the two Jounin and then fighting that Gennin brat. Not to mention that Ukon was already out of it. Still though, while he was in the air, he rained several dozen makibishi spikes upon the ground. Iron barbs that would go right through most shoes and would buy him some time to recover and think of a plan as the enemy went around them.

Unfortunately for Sakon, spikes like that are not very effective for penetrating the steel of Samson's suit of armor. Samson ran upon the spikes and the points of metal bent under his steel clad feet.

Before Sakon could do anything to retaliate, Samson slashed him lightly upon the chest, cutting him from his shoulder to his hip, electrifying him at the same time. He was careful to not make the cut a deep one, he didn't want to kill him.

After the attack, Sakon was still barely conscious, so Samson rushed the wounded ninja and punched him right in the jaw. Sakon went flying into the wall under the enormous force behind the punch, and when he dropped to the ground, he was conscious no longer.

Samson stopped flowing chakra into the Raijin, causing it to turn off. He then put the handle into his belt. He looked down the river and thought about going after the Konoha ninja, but decided against it. He already had the target and the Inuzuka had not seen him, nor was he a target. He could be allowed to leave alive, but first he had to take his target back.

He quickly moved over to the unconscious conjoined brothers and pulled them over his shoulder. He put his left hand upon the wall and darkness flowed from under his armor, forming a portal in darkness that led to a single place, Dark Heaven Castle.

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With Kimimaro and Lee

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Lee was in trouble. This guy was just too good. Every time he tried something, it failed. Every attack was blocked, every guard was broken, every trick seen through. And something told him that his opponent wasn't even showing half of his full strength yet.

Kimimaro stood against him, a sword of bone in hand, appearing calm and relaxed. He wasn't even drawing upon the power of the Curse Seal yet, there was no need to for an opponent of this caliber.

Lee was concentrating entirely on the fight and how he would win it. At this point Lee realized that the only way he could possibly win was to open the Gates. It would pose some danger of damaging Sasuke, but that was a risk that he would have to take.

Lee brought his arms together and prepared to open the First Gate.

Before he could though, a rock soared through the trees and hit him right in the side of the head. Lee flew about ten feet and laid upon the ground, out cold.

Kimimaro was shocked and surprised at this development, and turned to where the rock had flown from. A strange figure stepped from it. He was emaciated, as though dead, his skin a decayed brown. He wore a white battle kimono with black patterns upon the edges. He wore Geta sandals and had his dull blond hair bound in a high ponytail.

He also held a black sword in one hand, no eyes, only black pits, no ears, only holes in the side of his head, and no lips, his teeth and gums showing, and stitching across his body.

Despite his appearance, he cheerily stated "I'm sorry to interrupt your fight, but after seeing that you are not only a powerful Shinobi but also a swordsman, I could not help but interfere. Tactics dictate that I wait for you to finish that other one off so that I can ambush you while you are weak, but I simply can't resist a possible challenge. I hope you understand."

Kimimaro narrowed his eyes at the figure. It wasn't something tangible, but there was something about this creature that told him to be one his guard. He may not look like much, but something, perhaps instinct, perhaps something else, just told him that this thing was not to be underestimated. He simply knew it as well as he knew that the sky was blue.

His instincts had never failed him before, so he went with them. Kimimaro activated his Curse Seal to Level One, the black marks spreading across his chest and shoulders.

Kimimaro took up his sword of bone and said "You expect a challenge, yet all you will get is a slaughter. I will not let you stop me."

Ryuuma almost laughed as he drew his sword, Shuusui, from its black sheath and said "Yes, it will be a slaughter, but carried out by whom?" Then took his stance, sword in hand.

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And that is the end of the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it; sorry it took a while by my standards, look at the top of the chapter to find out why. Anyway, Sakon is in the soup, Kidomaru is captured but alive, Anko is free of the Curse Seal, you see a little bit of how the zombies view Naruto, and an epic battle between Kimimaro and Ryuuma is upon us. I hope you guys are drooling in anticipation and hating me for ending here because that's what I went for. Read and review, but most importantly enjoy.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	42. Chapter 42

Is that it

Is that it? Could it possibly be? YES! It is Kage no Naruto chapter forty two! The chapter when Shikamaru and Tayuya fight, Kimimaro and Ryuuma have an epic showdown, and other plot points. Well, not so sure on the plot points, but this will be a good chapter nonetheless. Read it, review it, and most importantly, enjoy it.

Note: Okay, I'm going to address a little issue that people have been bugging me about for a while now. The issue known as Tayuya. 'Will she live', 'will she die', 'she would be a good addition to the harem'. These are a few comments that I have received. For these people, I'm going to answer all of your questions at once. I held the poll for who is going to be in the harem a long time ago. Go read the author's note in chapter seventeen. The answer to whether or not Tayuya will die is right there at the top.

Second Note: This has been bugging me for a while. People have been saying that there's no romance in the story, and other stuff like that. I just want to point out that this story is NOT in the romance section and for good reason. There will be a bit of romance, but not a lot. It will be there when it needs to be, not before or after. Wait patiently.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, in the latest chapter of the manga, Pein continues his attack on Konoha. Vast amounts of property has been destroyed so far in various attacks. Pein is also continuing to search for information on Naruto.

The 'God Realm' body that was once Yahiko's actually confronted Iruka to attempt to get information out of him, but before Pein could kill Iruka, Kakashi shows up and saves him. Currently those two are fighting and Kakashi has the infinitely weaker hand.

Also, Inoichi is starting to get some information out of the mind of the captured Ame ninja, and everyone is starting to realize that they are under attack.

Also, Naruto's Sage Training is going well, but there are a few limits on Sage Mode apparently. For one thing, you can only keep it going for five minutes maximum, and you have to be standing completely still to take in the Natural Energy. That is why Jiraiya and now Naruto require the Ma and Pa toad to use Sage Mode.

Also, Shizune is making progress with the Pein body autopsy. Apparently those black piercings are some kind of chakra receivers. I have a few theories about what this could mean but they could be wrong so I'll keep them to myself for now.

Anyway, Tsunade is made aware of the situation, and the chapter ends with her ordering Naruto's return.

Oh, and there was one thing at the end that made no fucking sense when you think about it. It had a group photo of all the Jinchuuriki. Gaara, Yugito, Naruto, Killer Bee, and that old dude were all there. In addition to that there was a Nanabi Jinchuuriki that looked pretty cute (Female of course), and a big hulking guy that was supposedly Gobi's container. Apparently he and the Yonbi both belonged to Iwa and the Nanabi to Taki. Then there was the Rokubi who didn't appear to have a village, no headband, and last but not least the Sanbi that supposedly belonged to Kiri. I wouldn't have minded this photo if it wasn't for the Sanbi Jinchuuriki, the Sanbi was free and un-captured so how could there have been a container? I'm sorry if this sounds stupid but that just irritates me.

That's pretty much it on this chapter

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NARUTO SPOILERS END

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Sakon woke up in a strange bed, with a great pain in his shoulder, right over the Curse Mark. He also couldn't move his arms or legs.

He tried to get some leverage, but he could barely move an inch. He was about to draw upon his chakra to give him an extra boost of strength when he heard a voice say "Don't try it."

Sakon looked around and soon saw the source of the voice. It was a figure upon another bed, restrained like he was. The only difference was that the figure had six arms. Sakon strained for a better look and asked "Kidomaru? Is that you?"

Kidomaru said "Yeah, it's me. Don't try channeling any chakra. You've got manacles around your wrists that make it impossible. There's nothing to do except wait."

Sakon, never being one to listen to helpful advice, tried to channel chakra into his arms to get free. The moment he tried, the manacled on his arms shifted strangely against his wrists and he felt hundred of bolts of pain. "AAAHG!" He yelled.

The pain soon faded and he heard Kidomaru chuckled in the background. "I told you. We're not going anywhere anytime soon. All we can do is wait for this 'Master' to show up."

Sakon ground his teeth in irritation before he asked "So, who's this 'Master', where are we, and why does my Curse Mark hurt like hell?"

Kidomaru made a noise that sounded pretty much like an audible shrug and said "As for the master, no fucking idea. As for where we are, we're stuck in some place called 'Dark Heaven Castle', at least according to that freaky maid bitch. As for the Curse Mark, this 'Master' of theirs did something to us, we're supposedly free of Orochimaru's influence through the Curse Mark. According to her he can't track us, command us, or hurt us by using it anymore."

Sakon raised an eyebrow, not believing most of it, and then asked "Freaky maid bitch? Who the hell are you talking about?"

Kidomaru made that audible shrug again and said "She's supposed to be the one watching over us. I think she calls herself Nao or something. She answered a few of my questions earlier before she sedated me again. She's not here now, apparently she still has some cleaning to do or something."

Sakon struggled against the chains again, to no effect before he asked "So, what the hell are we supposed to do, and how the fuck did we get here anyway?"

Kidomaru sighed and said "I have no fucking clue how we got here. One moment I'm fighting that Hyuuga bastard, the next moment I'm stuck against a tree and can't move, then everything goes black and I wake up on this bed. What about you?"

Sakon growled a bit at the memory and said "I was fighting that dog bastard, and he escaped. Ukon was wounded and I was about to go after them when this son of a bitch in armor shows up out of nowhere and kicks my ass. I didn't have a chance to recover from that fight and the fight with those Jounin. I got knocked out, and I wake up here."

After saying that, Sakon suddenly thought of something "Hey, Ukon! UKON WAKE UP!" he yelled, trying to make contact with his brother who slept inside of him. 'Ukon isn't wearing these fucking manacles, so maybe he can get free and get us out of this mess!' Sakon desperately thought.

Kidomaru's voice shattered his hopes "Don't bother Sakon, Ukon is caught to. I can see him from where I am, he's still asleep. We're not getting out of this that easily."

"Fuck!" Sakon swore, and then he yelled "How the fuck did they separate us!? That shouldn't be possible!"

Kidomaru just said "Hell if I know, when that Nao chick brought you two in here, you were already separated."

Sakon swore again and started thinking and then said "Hey, if you and I are here, is Jirobou here too? Hey, fatass! Where the hell are you?"

Kidomaru breathed deeply and said "Don't bother Sakon. Jirobou was caught before either of us, he's dead. Supposedly whatever they did to our Curse Seals was fatal in its earlier incarnations. Jirobou was a lab rat, and now he's dead and literally sleeping with the fishes. According to that red headed bitch from before there's probably a lake nearby."

"Damn it!" Sakon swore, and then thought 'Jirobou, dead? Damn it all this is bad.'

Sakon leaned back into the cheap pillow below his head and asked "So, what are we supposed to do now?"

Kidomaru sighed and said "We wait. According to that Nao chick, their Master is going to come and speak to us once everybody is captured. If they caught you and me then it probably won't be too long until Tayuya is caught as well. After that, we can try and get free and escape, but we probably won't succeed if this guy is as badass as everyone says he is. All we can do is wait."

Sakon thought about the entire situation for a little while and then summed up everything with a single word. "Fuck."

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With Tayuya and Shikamaru

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Shikamaru was in a bit of a jam. He was being chased around by three gigantic ogre summon things being controlled by the sound of Tayuya's flute. He considered trying to trap them in a Kage Mane, but he couldn't because they never attacked all at once. If left even one free while controlling the others, he would be crushed immediately.

So, as a result he was doing his best to stay away from the three summons and get some time to think up a plan to defeat her, which he was having trouble with since she was so damn persistent.

He continued playing the odd interpretation of a cat and a mouse until he finally managed to escape Tayuya's summons for a moment. Once he did that, he put his fingertips together, and began to think of a plan to defeat the Oto elite.

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With Sakumo

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Sakumo was watching the fight between Tayuya and Shikamaru, and he was bored as hell. He was arguing to himself on whether or not he should just jump in and take them both down at once, risks be damned. But his rational side took dominance and he remembered the many good reasons for waiting for his targets to tire themselves out first.

So, as a result, he was now crouched in the trees, quite hidden and absolutely bored rigid. He was contemplating on mentally singing 'A hundred bottles of beer on the wall' at this point to pass the time. 'Hell, at this rate, I may be able to finish it before these two finish.' The extremely bored General thought to himself.

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With Shikamaru and Tayuya

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After a moment or two of concentrated thought, Shikamaru had finally figured out a battle plan and put it to work. He had limited equipment, so he put it all to good use, binding kunai to branches, and aiming each knife with absolute perfection, his plan of victory depended on it.

First, he threw a knife straight at the red head, forcing her to jump back, the second and third knives were blocked by one of the summons. A fourth knife was flung from a branch at a different angle forcing the summon to turn slightly to block it. The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eight knives were similarly used.

After the eighth knife was thrown, Shikamaru was in the open, and the three summons jumped through the air toward him, with the full intention of inflicting some form of horrible death.

Shikamaru threw his ninth and final kunai knife, it was in Tayuya's direction, but several feet too high. Tayuya chuckled as the knife missed its target completely.

And hit the string attached to a kunai he threw earlier, releasing and activating a flash bomb which filled the area with light.

Tayuya blocked her eyes from the glare, realizing what the bastard was about to do.

Shikamaru put his hands together in front of him in a familiar handseal, and his shadow reached out and connected to the shadows of the three summoned creatures, binding their movements.

Tayuya let out a short, explicit phrase of your choice and tried to get the creatures to move, playing various note patterns on her flute to little effect. She managed to get the limbs to twitch a bit but that's about it.

Shikamaru smiled and said "Don't bother, this fight is over. It was simple once I knew what you did to make them do a particular action."

The red headed Oto elite was more than a bit shocked at that one. "There's no way you could have analyzed my melody! It's way too complex for something like that!"

Shikamaru smiled even wider before raising his right arm, causing the summoned creatures to do the same. Shikamaru then reached over with his left arm and grabbed one of the kunai embedded in the limb as he said "You're right, I don't have much of an ear for music, I could never understand those note symbols. I just had to watch your fingers and memorize what these things did at that particular moment."

Tayuya was more than a bit surprised at that. "Y-you analyzed my finger movements?! There's no way" She muttered to herself.

Shikamaru prepared to jump and said "You know, the thing I like about Shogi the most is that you can use the captured pieces as your own. Now I'll use these pieces to capture you!" And then he jumped forward, the creatures mimicking his moves exactly.

Tayuya faced the four incoming enemies and smiled before making a quick handseal and shouting "KAI!" The moment she did, the three summons vanished in bursts of smoke.

She stood ready to repel Shikamaru's incoming physical assault, but it never came. The smoke cleared to reveal Shikamaru standing on a nearby branch, holding his hands in a familiar sign. A half second after Tayuya saw that, she suddenly was unable to move. She managed to glance down and saw that his shadow had stretched, following the branches and trunk of the tree to reach her while she was preoccupied. She was trapped.

Or so Shikamaru thought. While Shikamaru was prepared to unleash the coup de grace, Tayuya brought out her ace in the hole, the second stage of the Curse Mark.

Before Shikamaru could do anything lethal to her, Tayuya's skin darkened, her hair grew wilder, her eyes turned black with golden irises, and the most prominent figure of the new form, she grew a number of large white horns that tore through the cap she normally wore.

With this change in form came a massive burst of power. Suddenly Shikamaru was forced to pour more and more chakra into the technique to keep her bound, and still he was having difficulty. Despite Shikamaru's attempts to stop her, Tayuya brought the flute to her lips and played a few notes. All of a sudden, Shikamaru's world shifted and changed as Tayuya's Genjutsu fell over him.

Shikamaru fought against the Genjutsu, his arms trapped in the air as he imagined his flesh being melted away. Tayuya smirked as she watched him struggle in the illusion. Her attention fell to the knife buried in the nearby wood. She walked over to it, pulled it free of the tree, and jumped over to Shikamaru to deliver the final blow.

And was bound by the Kage Mane once again. Tayuya looked in shock at the Konoha Gennin. She noticed that one strand of his shadow was going elsewhere, specifically to his right middle finger, which was snapped out of place.

'He broke his own finger, and the pain broke the Genjutsu.' She thought as she struggled against the binding. Unfortunately for her, the Kage Mane is much stronger at close range, so she was having a hard time moving at all.

Shikamaru reached forward, albeit difficultly, and took the kunai from her hand. He said "You know, I'm usually not one to hit girls. But looking like that, I don't think that you really qualify for that title." And with difficulty, he moved the knife to her throat. He just said one word as he pressed the metal to her jugular. "Checkmate"

Shikamaru sensed movement and barely got out of the way of the strike that came out of nowhere. A sword coated in white chakra sliced right through the space that had previously been occupied by his left hand, cutting deep into the wood below. The undead warrior Hatake Sakumo tugged his sword free and stood tall, doing his best to keep an eye on both of his opponents. He didn't want to fight them both like this, but with Shikamaru about to kill Tayuya, his hand was forced.

Shikamaru looked his opponent up and down quickly, trying to take in any possible weaknesses or flaws immediately. The figure was about 6'2, maybe a little less, and was cloaked in black Shinobi pants and sandals. His shirt was of fishnet, and he had an ANBU service tunic over that, tough material that reached to his wrists, or would. The arms of the tunic had been rolled back to his shoulders, revealing expanses of sinewy muscle.

He actually looked like an older version of Kakashi, although he didn't have one of his eyes covered. He had two pouches at his belt and a sword sheath strapped to his back, the sword in question was still in the figure's hand. He looked so similar to Kakashi that he would have thought that it WAS him if it weren't for his lack of a Sharingan eye, or a Konoha Hitai-ate. He would have thought that he looked alive if it weren't for the stitching over his arms and body, the grey tinge of his skin, and the ugly red marks around his neck, although they were mitigated, that were only caused by one thing: a Hanging that ended in death.

There was also one other thing strange about the figure. There was a tattoo on his right forearm that read 'GZ-007'

The strange person took a stance facing Shikamaru, his sword held at the ready. It was at that moment that Shikamaru's eyes widened as he realized just why the person looked so familiar, and it wasn't because he resembled Kakashi.

He remembered the face from an Academy history textbook on more modern history. War heroes from the Second Great War. The man rumored to have been a rival with Sarutobi for the title of Sandaime Hokage, Hatake Sakumo.

Shikamaru didn't know how it was possible, but he knew, just knew, that his guess was right. Everything about the person matched what was known of Hatake Sakumo, right down to the scars of the healed ligature marks around his neck that indicated the suicide method Sakumo chose, i.e. hanging himself.

Shikamaru decided to cut his losses and run. It was the best possible move at the moment, even if it didn't have much of a chance of success. He had a better chance of escaping then he did fighting Konoha's White Fang.

But before he ran, he did the last thing he could, he finished his fight with the Oto ninja. Tayuya was still bound and struggling to get free, and he couldn't hold her for much longer.

Shikamaru quickly reached to his belt and threw his last five shuriken straight at Sakumo. The supposedly dead Jounin dodged out of the way of four of them, but the fifth was going straight for his face.

Sakumo almost lazily swept his white sword up and cut through the metal effortlessly.

But the point was never attacking Sakumo.

While the White Fang was avoiding the shuriken, Shikamaru threw his last kunai in a dead straight line, right past him. Tayuya was stills struggling to get free but could not regain movement in time to stop the kunai from meeting her throat.

Sakumo saw the kunai and turned to Tayuya, and his blood ran cold, well what little he had left ran cold when he saw the knife open Tayuya's throat and saw her blood spill to the wooden branch below them.

Shikamaru took the chance given to him by the distraction of the enemy and ran off. He would wait until a chance was provided and then go after Lee. He had a mission to accomplish after all.

Sakumo was left with a very difficult choice. He had the means to save Tayuya, but getting her to Hogback fast enough she could be saved, but that would result in Shikamaru escaping for sure.

On the other hand, he could go and capture Shikamaru, leaving Tayuya to die. But there was the possibility that Shikamaru would out run or out smart him. Shikamaru was a thinker and that was never a good quality to have in an enemy. A thinker doesn't have to be stronger than his opponent to win, and that logic went through Sakumo's mind as he struggled with what to do.

After a moment of thought, he came to his decision. He quickly stalked over to Tayuya, sheathing his sword as he did. He leaned down to the convulsing girl who was desperately trying to hold her throat closed, a look of absolute fear on her face.

He put a hand over the broad cut on her neck, restricting the bleeding as much as possible, and with his other hand he slammed the wood upon which they stood.

A moment later, the wood lost consistency, as though it was quicksand more than wood and they were sinking into it. Within ten seconds, the two were gone from the place and in Hogback's laboratory.

'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' Sakumo thought as he yelled "Hogback-Sama!"

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With Ryuuma and Kimimaro

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Ryuuma, strongest of the General Zombies, and Kaguya Kimimaro, last of the Kaguya clan and Orochimaru's mightiest warrior were facing each other across a grassy plain. In Ryuuma's hands was the legendary black sword Shuusui, and in Kimimaro's fist was a sword of his own bone.

Behind Kimimaro stood a barrel of brown wood, a thick purple rope tied around it with symbols and calligraphy inscribed upon it in red ink. This barrel was currently beginning to spew a purple smoke between the boards, but neither combatant cared in the least.

Ryuuma let out a quick laugh "Yohohohoho! This is going to be very fun, I can't remember the last time I've fought for real. The Master has always told me to capture my target if possible, but this one he wants dead or alive!"

Kimimaro frowned at that and said "No matter who or what you are, you will not be allowed to take the Uchiha. He is Orochimaru-sama's future, and I will never let you harm that."

Ryuuma smiled, which was about all he ever did, lacking lips, and said "The Master doesn't care about the Uchiha, he is an insect to be stepped on once he is no longer useful. What the Master is after boy, is you!"

As Ryuuma ended the last word, he dashed forward, delivering an insanely fast slice to Kimimaro's abdomen. The Kaguya jumped back and moved his bone sword in the way to intercept the attack.

Unfortunately for the last Kaguya, the black sword cut through the bone and licked lightly across his stomach, not deeply but enough to draw blood.

Kimimaro immediately got some distance from his enemy and inspected his injury. After a moment it was clear that it wasn't life threatening, though it would be irritating.

He heard the creature laugh again. "Yohohohoho! You ARE a quick one boy, if that sword hadn't been in the way to take the brunt of the attack, that would have disemboweled you for sure! You'll have to stay on your toes if you expect to last very long against me!"

Kimimaro frowned and grew another blade from his shoulder, discarding the old one which had been cleanly sliced through, the heat from the parting bone making the edges of the cut glow a cherry red. Something told Kimimaro that he would need a little something extra for this fight so he drew upon his Curse Seal, causing black marks to spread across his chest and shoulders.

Kimimaro dashed towards his opponent and used the first of the five Kaguya battle dances, and the weakest, but it was still formidable. Kimimaro extended the blade as he yelled "Yanagi no Mai!"

Ryuuma took a stance, holding the blade in one hand back toward the side of his head. Then as his opponent approached he sent a thrust into the air, yelling "Oobaado Kuu Doroa!"

Kimimaro didn't see anything but a quick flash of purple light, but that was all he needed to see to know to get the hell out of the way. He immediately aborted the attack in favor of dodging sideways.

It was all that saved his life.

Kimimaro saw that flash of purple light move past and hit a tree at the other side of the clearing, boring a hole a few feet across straight through the wood.

The Kaguya looked to the right to see Ryuuma moving in at amazing speed, bringing his sword up in a slash that would slice off his arm at the elbow and put a deep cut in his chest if it hit.

Kimimaro moved immediately and swiftly, bobbing and weaving his way through the ensuing onslaught of strikes. It was anything but easy for him. Each strike forced him into a more and more awkward dodge and at this close range there was no hope of matching him with a blade.

So the albino put his abilities to use. As he bent backwards to avoid a sword through the throat, he forced his bones to grow. Specifically the bones around his ribcage and legs. Spurs of steel hard bone shot from Kimimaro and embedded themselves in Ryuuma's torso.

The spears of bone had hit home, and rotten, black blood spewed thickly from the wounds, splattering Kimimaro and the grass around them. Kimimaro waited a moment before retracting the spears of bone, confident that his opponent was dead.

That was right up until Ryuuma stabbed his blade into Kimimaro's left calf. The last Kaguya bit back a scream from the massive pain the injury caused and did his best to get some distance, relying on his right leg as little as possible.

Kimimaro watched in shock as the creature moved towards him, his fatal injuries not bothering him at all. He had three holes in his ribcage, almost certainly piercing his heart, and a fourth was in his right thigh, but that didn't seem to slow him down much, if any at all.

Kimimaro wasn't sure how much longer he could go on. He was already injured twice, and had narrowly avoided death the same number of times. His bones could be sliced through by that sword and his opponent could take fatal wounds and not even be slowed down.

In addition to that, his disease was taking its toll, weakening him even more, cutting down his time to live. Kimimaro calculated that his chances of death were one hundred percent, his chances of victory, a mere three percent. Hardly a winning proposition. But he was devoted to Orochimaru that he gladly embraced those odds, and he brought out the full power of the Curse Mark, advancing it to Stage Two.

Kimimaro changed from a pale human figure, to a brown skinned creature heavy with muscle, bones were sticking from various places on his back, and his spine was visible. In addition to all of that he also had a tail.

Ryuuma watched this transformation with a bit of mirth. His opponent was strong, but he wasn't on his level. It was time to wrap this up.

Kimimaro wasted no time, summoning the strongest, densest and thickest bones he could, he formed them into a gigantic spear around his right forearm. He knew that his only chance of winning was to take him down immediately, before he could use any large scale attacks and finish him off. He used his strongest move against a single opponent and ran forward, his momentum increasing by the second as he yelled "Tessenka no Mai: Hana!"

Ryuuma held his sword in his right hand, the sheathe of the sword in his left and crouched down briefly. Kimimaro barely heard him whisper as he came within a few feet of the living corpse "Hanauta Sanchou…."

Kimimaro brought the bone spear down upon Ryuuma's head and neck but he was already gone.

Kimimaro looked around quickly, and spotted Ryuuma behind him, walking away. At seven steps he started to slide the sword into it's sheathe. At ten steps, he fully sheathed the blade with a sharp snap and yelled "YAHAZUGIRI!"

At that moment, Kimimaro's world went black.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was reading a book in the library at the moment, specifically '_The Mind of Kemmler'_, and he was having a bit of an interview with Sakumo, who had just finished giving his report.

"So," Naruto said slowly, "Despite the fact that I said that Shikamaru was the greater priority at the beginning of the mission, you captured Tayuya instead and let him escape."

Sakumo knelt lower as Naruto closed the book carefully, it was quite old, and stood, steadily moving toward him.

"You disobeyed my orders and took a target that did not mean as much in the long term."

Naruto was towering above the crouching Sakumo before he said the next sentence, in a chilling, cold voice that had about as much emotion as a nuclear winter. "You manipulated my orders by exploiting a loophole that Shikamaru was an optional target, allowing you to only capture Tayuya, and allowing the Nara to flee."

Then Naruto simply shouted "IDIOT!" As he swept his fist to Sakumo's jaw, sending him flying across the room. He slammed into the wall and a few things cracked. They were not any portion of the stone walls.

Naruto stalked forward toward him and raised one hand, forming a claw with his fingers. Sakumo all of a sudden felt immense pain, like a thousand needles in his heart, and molten lead had replaced his blood.

Naruto said, in that deadly, calm voice "You, as zombies, must obey my will, you cannot disobey a direct order, but you manipulated my words to do what you wanted at that particular time. THAT is what irritates me so much, what allowed you to disobey and you took it."

Naruto closed his hand a bit, and the pain intensified. Naruto continued to speak in that dead tone "I gave you life, I gave you everything you have in this world. I can take it all away with a muttered word. Never forget that as you continue to do my bidding. Or next time, I will end you. Do you understand?"

Sakumo gasped out "Yes Master, I understand Master. I will obey your commands to the letter. Never again will I do anything like this Master, I swear."

Naruto closed his hand a little more, and the pain escalated well beyond the limit any human could possibly stand. Any mortal would have died from the agony, but Sakumo could not die.

A high pitched, keening sound could be heard in the room. There was no dignity to it, no pride, nothing but agony and terror could be heard in that sound. No one could have possibly guessed that it was Sakumo that made it, that he even could make such a sound. It conveyed just what happened when Naruto was disobeyed, utter agony on a level so great that a mortal would perish and the immortal would wish to die.

Even Anko had her limits to sadism, even Ibiki could only go so far. They each had a limit to how much pain that they could put a person through before they had enough. What Naruto did to Sakumo easily surpassed that, and there was nothing but a smile on his face as he closed his hand even more, causing that pathetic, sad little sound to rise in pitch.

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Two hours later

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Naruto walked out of the library like nothing had happened, leaving the chastised General as nothing more than a heap of quivering flesh. His eyes were blank and his skin was even paler as he simply whispered, his voice hoarse "No more, please Master forgive me, please, please."

As much as Naruto would have liked to drive the message in a bit more, he had other things to do. Tayuya had been healed and treated already before his 'debriefing' with Sakumo.

The survivors of the Sound Four would all soon be awake, and Naruto going to greet them.

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And that is the chapter, a few fights, a few decisions made, a fraction of Naruto's sadism finally shows again, and a few other things. What happens next? Is Kimimaro alive? What shall Naruto say to the Sound Four? And many other questions will be answered in the next chapter, so I will leave you wondering about this chapter until then.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	43. Chapter 43

Here it is, the thing you have all been waiting for the last week or so

Here it is, the thing you have all been waiting for the last week or so. Kage no Naruto chapter forty three! Right, as you are reading this particular piece of literature and writing that long review in your head, be sure to keep any other people out of the room so that they don't irritate the hell out of you and ruin the experience. Now here we go!

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Summary of last chapter

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Okay then, Sakon got captured and his Curse Seal was treated. Sakumo made his move during the fight between Shikamaru and Tayuya, intending to capture them both. However, Shikamaru slit Tayuya's throat before making a run for it, forcing Sakumo to choose between him and Tayuya, both of whom were listed targets.

After a moment's thought, he chose Tayuya, and escaped with her to Hogback's lab where she was treated for her injuries and Orochimaru's influence over her sealed. Shikamaru escaped.

An epic battle occurred between Ryuuma and Kimimaro. Although the Kaguya held his own for a little while, Ryuuma was far more skilled and much stronger physically, so Kimimaro fell and was taken back to Naruto as per his orders. Leaving Sasuke in the barrel and Lee out cold.

Finally, Naruto punished Sakumo for retrieving Tayuya instead of Shikamaru who he had specifically listed as a priority target. Several hours of indescribable pain later, and Naruto left Sakumo a gibbering mess, although he would recover, and went to finally meet the Sound Five. Well, what's left of them. And so the chapter begins!

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Dark Heaven Castle, Hogback's laboratory, with the Sound Four

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The Sound Four were chained to beds. No, not that way, get your mind out of the gutter damn it!

They were restrained with the Thorn Manacles that made it near impossible to use chakra. None of them were able to move that much thanks to the chains binding their torsos, and the manacles on their ankles and wrists.

Tayuya and Kimimaro had been brought in about an hour ago, their Curse Seals treated. Kimimaro was unconscious as was Tayuya though she woke up eventually. Her neck didn't show any signs of being cut into at all. You have to give the man credit, Hogback did good work.

After a while, Kimimaro woke up as well, and Kidomaru informed them of the situation as best he could, slightly assisted by Sakon and Ukon. Sakon was a bit worried about his sibling at this point. They couldn't stay apart for long periods of time, Ukon was simply too frail for long term exposure.

Sibling anxiety aside, the rest of the group was surprised to see Kimimaro there as well, much less captured. He was in pretty bad shape with deep cuts criss-crossing his body, but he would live as long as he wasn't badly hurt before he could properly heal. It was fortunate that he had a layer of bone under his skin to absorb some of the damage, otherwise that strike from Ryuuma would have killed him. He also had an IV drip and a breathing apparatus to assist his condition.

At the moment, they were bored stiff and wondering when this 'Master' was going to show up and demand whatever it was that he wanted. Kidomaru and Kimimaro figured that it would be information on Orochimaru or their respective abilities. This guy wouldn't be the first.

Despite the anxiety and slight fear in the room, they had eventually fallen asleep. All of them. There was no point in one person staying awake to keep lookout when everyone was already captured.

This lasted right up until Nao showed and woke them all with buckets of cold water.

Shocked and cold, most of them let out a bit of a shout of surprise and shock at the near freezing water.

"GAAH! What the hell was that for you stitched together bitch!" Tayuya shouted, her face dripping water and her shirt sopping wet.

Nao looked over and said "The Master ordered me to wake you all up. This was my chosen method. As for that last remark, Tayuya…."

Nao walked over to the Sound Ninja's bed and without preamble emptied the rest of the bucket over her head, soaking her even more. Then she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her and completely ignoring the long stream of foul language from the flutist.

"FUCKING CUNT!" Tayuya yelled at the door.

"Tayuya, be silent." Kimimaro said in his normal, quiet way.

"Oh shut up you bone fucker! As long as those manacles are on you, you can't do fucking ANYTHING! As we all learned the hard way."

Sakon took over the conversation for purposes of productivity. "Hey, quit arguing already you two. Didn't you hear what she said?"

Ukon looked over and nodded before saying "Yeah, this 'Master' guy ordered her to wake us up. He must finally be coming to see us."

Kidomaru thought for a second and said "Either that or he's just fucking sadistic and wanted to keep us all awake."

Tayuya interjected and said "Shut up you fucking pessimist. Sakon's probably right, for once, with any luck this guy is going to show up soon. And the sooner he does, the sooner we can find out what the hell is going on."

Kimimaro looked over and said "I doubt that he will surrender information that easily Tayuya. He's more than likely going to try and get information out of us about Orochimaru-sama. It shouldn't take even a second to answer how we're going to answer.

Ukon nodded and said "Yes, no matter what torture we go through, or what he asks, we won't tell him a thing."

Sakon nodded and said to his brother, "That's right, don't let that bastard learn a thing about Orochimaru-sama. The longer we can hold this guy up, the longer Orochimaru-sama has to find out what happened. and get us out of here.

Before any more plans could be described, the door opened and a tall figure stepped into the room.

The five analyzed him as quickly as they could, as they were trained to. He was tall, easily six feet and a few inches. He was casually clad in sleeping clothes of somber red silk. The buttons of the top were of either gold or brass judging by their sheen and color. His feet were wrapped in thick white socks, quite wise given the stone floor. His hair was a bright gold, and was quite messy, and his skin was a few shades too pale to be normal. Upon his cheeks were six black lines that resembled whiskers, two fangs stuck out a few centimeters past his lips. All of that wasn't what intimidated them.

What intimidated them were his eyes, his shadow and how he carried himself. He walked with utter and complete confidence. A surety that his commands would be followed and his desires satisfied, whatever they may be. His eyes though, they were the worst. They were a dark blue that bordered on black, and they were completely soulless. The warmth, the glow that went with normal human emotions. The brief glance at what the person was feeling, thinking was absent. They were almost reptilian, completely lacking any regard for those they looked upon, nothing lay in those eyes except constant calculation, thinking of what would benefit him the most and for how long, and they saw the will to carry out that action without emotion. As for his shadow, it moved upon the walls, walking around the room like a circling shark, even though the person casting it wasn't moving at all.

The man swept those inhuman eyes over each of them, pausing upon each of them briefly, one by one. Then, after a moment, the man spoke. His voice was rich, deep smooth, and supremely confident, not an ounce of fear of anything the world might throw at him. "Good evening gentlemen, lady." He said, nodding to Tayuya on the last word.

He raised his hand and the shadows in the room moved and shifted. Slithering from their normal places under the beds and against the walls and forming a solid construct behind him. Specifically, a large Victorian armchair. He sat down in the solid black chair and said "I must apologize for the accommodations but I am afraid that they are necessary until we get a few things taken care of first. I hope you understand."

Kidomaru just said, with venom in his voice. "Get to the damn point. Who are you, why did you bring us here, and what the hell do you want!?"

He looked over at Kidomaru and smirked, almost amused. He said in that smooth, deep voice "Ahh, I was wondering when you would join the conversation. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, though you may have heard of me as 'The Master' from Nao. As for what I want, I don't see fit to tell that to a group of near strangers. As for what I why you are here, well you are here to give something and to perhaps gain several things in return."

Tayuya snarled and said "Just what do you want? Speak normally you fucking pole!"

Naruto looked over to Tayuya and said "Pole? Oh, I see you're making fun of my above average height, very clever. As for what I want right now, let's start with information."

Kimimaro let out a cough and said "We won't tell you anything, none of us will ever betray Orochimaru-sama!"

Naruto smiled, letting his fangs show, and said "Oh, perhaps you won't, willingly, but as for your four companions here, I'm not so sure."

Sakon thought for a second and asked "What do you want to know? And if we tell you, will you let us go?"

Naruto said "When you tell me what I want to know, you will be given a choice. What you do with that choice is up to you. As for what I want to know, I just want to know two things, how often must Orochimaru take up a new body, and where does he obtain the enzyme used to create the Curse Seal?"

Kimimaro immediately snapped at Sakon "Sakon, if you tell him anything, I will kill you myself!"

Sakon looked over at Kimimaro, but before he could reply, another voice said "Orochimaru must take a new body every three years. As for the Curse Seal, I'm not sure. He keeps that information highly classified. Only a few people in the entire organization know for sure, and we are not among them."

Kimimaro looked over and yelled "UKON!"

Naruto smiled and inclined his head to the twin brother of Sakon "Thank you for your cooperation, not that it would have made much of a difference if you didn't tell me."

Ukon asked "What do you mean by that?"

Naruto said "You see, I make use of my time learning to manipulate the dead to my will, animating them and commanding them, forcing them to do my bidding. You have seen several examples of my work already, such as Nao and the beings that captured all of you. I believe that the term for someone like me is a Necromancer, unless I am much mistaken."

Each of them filed away that particular piece of information, and Ukon asked "What does that have to do with information?"

Naruto smiled again and said, quietly "You see, one of the techniques I have found is quite useful for gathering information. A method to extract information from a dead brain, as long as it is intact. If you hadn't told me what I wanted to know, I would have killed you and taken the information by force. So by telling me you have saved the lives of everyone here. Congratulations Ukon."

While the five were suddenly reminded of their situation, Naruto continued. "Now, you five have a choice to make. Do you wish to serve me living, or would you prefer to serve me dead?"

"WHAT!?" The four of them yelled, Kimimaro kept silent.

Naruto smiled and said "It is quite simple. You five will serve me, body and soul, there is no escaping that fact. Why else would I eliminate Orochimaru's control over you? The only matter to be resolved is if you are going to serve me alive, or will I kill you and make you into marionettes to be animated into Zombies like Nao and the others? The choice is yours, but I would prefer you to be alive. The zombified you would have to take time to learn what they are capable of and that would waste time I would rather use elsewhere."

The five were now left with the ultimate dilemma, live and serve, or die? The age old ultimatum.

Kimimaro spat out, "I will never serve you! Living or dead, only Orochimaru-sama will have my obedience. I will never obey you!"

Naruto glanced over and said "I'm afraid you don't get a choice like they do Kimimaro. You will serve me whether you like it or not, but if you prefer dead over alive, I can and will oblige. Your abilities are absolutely vital to some of my long term plans you see and I'm afraid I cannot let you go. Anyone else want to die?"

The remaining four didn't take long to make their decisions. They all turned to Kidomaru, and he said "We will serve you, and only you Naruto-sama."

Naruto smiled and said "Good, apparently you have SOME survival instinct. Welcome to my service, Kidomaru, Sakon, Ukon, Tayuya. I will have Nao fix you some rooms and bring you to them presently."

Naruto stood up and the chair broke apart, returning to the shadows that had comprised it before Naruto applied his will to them. Then he walked over to Kimimaro and said "As for you Kimimaro, you will be coming with me. We have a few things that we need to get to work on quickly."

Then without any further words or warning, Naruto revealed a knife that had been up his sleeve and slit Kimimaro's throat. Blood splattered on the ceiling and the last Kaguya thrashed suddenly against his restraints before eventually blood loss and shock assisted his already critical condition, and Kimimaro was no longer of this world.

Naruto produced an old, large key and unlocked Kimimaro's restraints. He picked the body up and put it over one shoulder before turning to the door.

As he was about to leave, he said to the remaining four "I will have Nao come in and bring you to your rooms once they are prepared. Congratulations on your freedom from Orochimaru and on making the right choice." Then he was gone.

The Sound Four relaxed after he left. They knew that the guy was some serious bad news, at least as bad as Orochimaru if not worse. But they had no choice but to go along with whatever he said for now. They didn't intend to remain loyal, they intended to escape at first opportunity, but still those soulless eyes haunted them.

With Naruto it was a considerably different feeling that gripped him. It was excitement. He could barely wait to animate Kimimaro. He quickly snapped orders to Nao before moving on, extremely eager.

This was what he had been waiting for, he finally had Kaguya Kimimaro in his grasp. He could finally begin construction on the Special Zombies.

Special Zombies were very large, as large as a Summon Boss such as Gamabunta. That combined with chakra, and extreme strength and speed made for an extremely formidable warrior. However, you needed parts on that scale in order to build a creature that large. He lacked those parts and a means to obtain them. Now, with Kimimaro in hand, he could create the skeleton that he needed. Now he could begin the construction of the most powerful class of Zombie. It would take years, but when it was complete Naruto would have an almost invincible destructive force bound to his every whim.

He also obtained the power that was the Sound Four. He knew that they were probably going to betray him at first opportunity, but he didn't care. Each of the Seals that stopped Orochimaru's control over them had another feature. A remote activated kill-switch. Naruto could activate the Seal and kill any of them the moment he felt a want to do so. The same went for Anko's Seal, guaranteeing her obedience for the rest of her life. Mind you, nobody knew that the Seals were fatal except him.

Oh yes, things had come out extremely well. Four warriors, the beginning of Special Zombie construction, and permanently guaranteeing Anko's loyalty in exchange for absolutely nothing. This had turned out almost perfectly. And better yet, he planted the Uchiha with Orochimaru. In three years, Orochimaru would take over Sasuke's body, and then they would both die. Everything according to plan.

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With Sasuke, like anyone cares but it's necessary

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In the clearing where Ryuuma and Kimimaro did battle, the barrel that held Uchiha Sasuke was releasing billowing clouds of dark purple smoke. Not long after this smoke started being released, the paper seals that held the top of the barrel on burned away under the enormous amount of chakra from within the barrel and the entire thing exploded, leaving a small crater and a massive amount of that purple smoke.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed Uchiha Sasuke in his Stage Two form. After a moment of looking at his hands in this new form, he allowed the Curse Seal to reverse, transforming from a winged lipstick monster into a normal, yet highly emo human.

For the first time in a long time, Uchiha Sasuke was smiling. **(1)**

His thoughts were racing as he felt new strength flow through his body. 'This is amazing! I've never felt such power in the slightest, I feel like I could reach the stars, destroy cities, force people to bow before me! With this power, I can finally do it! I'm done playing ninja with those weaklings in Konoha, I finally have real power, and I know what I am going to do with it! I will kill Itachi and avenge my clan, and I will kill that Dobe for daring to insult an Uchiha! All with this power!'

After Sasuke's internal power-hungry rant, he determined which way was North and headed in that direction. Toward Oto no Kuni. Toward Orochimaru.

In his megalomania, he didn't even notice the passive figure laying by a nearby tree watching him. Rock Lee could barely move, but he still saw Sasuke escape, and he knew for certain that he would not be coming back unless he was forced.

There was only one fact that went through Lee's mind before he lost consciousness. The fact that they had failed.

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With Shikamaru, one hour later.

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Shikamaru was being carried off by a Konoha medical ninja. Tsunade had finally managed to get a few teams free to send after them, though she had to slow the village reconstruction a little bit.

The teams sent after them were a medical squad and a full ANBU platoon of eight led by Kakashi himself. Doubtless the Council had influenced Tsunade in order to have so many ninja sent after the last Uchiha.

Right now, most of the ANBU were going ahead in hopes of getting to Sasuke before he crossed the border. The Medical Team stayed behind to help Lee and himself. Neither of them were badly hurt, though Shikamaru had a broken finger and Lee had a pretty bad concussion from a blow to the head but neither of them were critical.

The one in any real trouble was Kiba, who they had found a mile or so down river. He had multiple small injuries and one bad stab wound in his abdomen. He probably wouldn't die as long as they avoided infection, but he wasn't out of the woods yet, literally and figuratively.

What really bothered him was that none of them would tell him what happened to Chouji or Neji. He asked about them several times and they simply said 'Tsunade-sama will tell you when you make your report.' He was really concerned about the two, and not being able to learn about them frustrated him.

Kakashi and the ANBU completely ignored everyone in favor of going after Sasuke. As they neared Konoha however, the nine elites returned and moved alongside the medical team. They were not carrying Uchiha Sasuke. Kakashi had apparently wanted to go beyond the border in search of him, but the other ANBU convinced him otherwise. They needed official permission from the Hokage to do such a thing and even then, if they were caught, it would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Oto. They couldn't afford full on battles at this point, the village Shinobi count was too low, so they had to turn back and ask for a permission which would likely be denied.

As soon as they got to Konoha, Lee and Kiba were rushed to the hospital while Shikamaru was given a quick splint for his broken finger and a quick drink of a revitalizing tonic that was pretty much a watered down version of a Soldier Pill so that he would have the energy to give his report, which he was eager to do. He had several important pieces of information to give.

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Konoha, Hokage's office

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Tsunade was staring at Shikamaru across her desk, her hands folded in front of her as Shikamaru gave his report on the mission.

According to Shikamaru, they had pursued the group of Sound Ninja well into the forests of Northern Hi no Kuni. Around a third of the distance between Konoha and the border, they finally encountered the enemy group and were almost captured by one of them. They left Chouji behind to take care of the remaining Sound Ninja while the rest pursued the fleeing group.

This pattern continued as they left Neji and then Kiba behind. As they confronted the fourth Sound Ninja, a fifth opponent appeared and took the barrel containing Sasuke and made a run for it. Lee went after him while Shikamaru stayed behind to hold of the Sound Kunoichi. Shikamaru had no idea what happened to Lee after that, so Tsunade would have to ask him for the details.

Shikamaru explained how he had fought the Sound Ninja, and had her cornered when a third party intervened.

"I had her in my Kage Mane and was about to slit her throat when another ninja came out of nowhere and attacked me. I jumped back to avoid getting my head cut off by his sword. After a moment of analyzing this new ninja, I threw several shuriken at him, which he either dodged or blocked, and a kunai toward the Sound Ninja. The knife got her jugular and I ran off after that. The other ninja didn't come after me."

Tsunade nodded and asked "Shikamaru, describe this other ninja. What village did he come from, what did he look like, how was he armed? Describe him."

Shikamaru took a deep breath before saying "The man didn't carry any Hitai-ate. As for how he looked, he was about six feet, two inches tall give or take, and he was clad in normal ANBU garb, only the sleeves of the shirt were rolled back. He had what seemed to be healed ligature marks from a strangulation around his neck."

Tsunade was about to go on when Shikamaru continued "He had white hair, grayish skin, and a tattoo that said 'GZ-007' on his right forearm. But most importantly Tsunade-sama, he had a katana that when wielded emitted white chakra."

Tsunade's eyes nearly popped out of her skull at that particular piece of information. She asked the necessary question "Shikamaru, do you mean that this man was carrying the Hatake family sword?"

Shikamaru nodded and said "What's more Tsunade-sama, the man looked almost exactly like a figure of Konoha history. Specifically, Hatake Sakumo. He looked exactly like him, right down to the marks around his neck from where he hung himself after his failed mission."

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and asked "Shikamaru, are you saying that Hatake Sakumo is somehow back from the dead? You realize how ludicrous the idea is, do you not?"

Shikamaru nodded and said "Tsunade-sama, I know how it sounds, I don't know how to explain it, but that man looked exactly like Konoha's White Fang, right down to how he killed himself."

Tsunade closed her eyes for a moment and thought before ordering her assistant into the room.

"Yes Tsunade-sama?" The assistant, Kuga Natsuki, asked.

"Natsuki, you are to take a number of Gennin and you are going to check upon the corpse of Hatake Sakumo in the Konoha graveyard."

Her eyes widened and asked "W-we are to dig up the body?"

Tsunade nodded and said "Yes, you don't have to take it out, just make sure that it's there. We have reason to believe that it may have been stolen."

Natsuki nodded and left.

Tsunade's thoughts were racing at this point. She might have finally found something about that boy, Naruto, if Sakumo's body wasn't there. She had already looked into the Hokage graveyard, and found that the bodies of her Grandfather and grand Uncle were missing, though the information was top secret, only Tsunade, the Council, and the Fire Lord knew. If Sakumo's body was not in its grave, then she had the proof she needed to know that Uzumaki Naruto was indeed capable of raising the dead, as she suspected.

Mind you, that REALLY scared her. If Naruto was a Necromancer then he would be far more deadly then anyone had anticipated. Necromancers were legendary among the Elemental Countries, their power was supposedly phenomenal. The power to raise hordes of undead warriors that could not be killed and would obey the person's every whim was indeed something to be feared. If he was able to bring back people like her Grandfather, and Sakumo, someone she had looked up to as a child, then Konoha was in even greater danger then she thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Shikamaru asked "Tsunade-sama, I have given my report. Now, what has become of Akimichi Chouji and Hyuuga Neji, my subordinates for this mission?"

Tsunade looked over to him and breathed deeply. Shikamaru had every right to know what had become of his teammates. Hell, it was a Konoha law that a mission leader was to be told how his subordinates died if they died on a mission that he was in charge of. She didn't want to tell him and shatter him even more.

But he had a right to know.

She told him what became of the two boys that he had ordered to stay behind.

Shikamaru left the office with nothing but guilt, pain, and shock in his eyes, and nobody bothered him as he slowly walked home.

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With Naruto

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There was a valley in North Eastern Konoha. Not the Valley of the End, that's to the North West. This valley was quite larger, in fact it was a main route between Hi no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni. The river was small enough to allow cities to thrive in the place, yet large enough to supply a large group of people.

As a result there were no less than four cities in several hundred miles that that the valley spanned. Reaching from a few hundred miles from the border that belonged to Hi no Kuni, reaching up into Tsuchi no Kuni where another city was placed. And between them were two other cities and the Hi/Tsuchi border.

Naruto stepped out of the shadows in his normal clothes upon a hill that overlooked the southern most city in that valley, a place called Fuka. Soon after he appeared, other creatures appeared behind him. No less than one hundred Soldier Zombies, and the General Zombie Senju Hashirama.

Naruto smiled as he told the Zombies "Kill every human being in this valley, from Fuka to Duran in Tsuchi no Kuni. Allow not a single man, woman, or child to escape."

As the Zombies almost flew from the hilltop to the city below, Naruto smiled. That smile widened as screams could be heard from the town below. He had the means to make the skeleton of a Special Zombie, now he needed the material to make the other parts, and these people would unwillingly provide.

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(1) plus one dead puppies

Okay, and that's the chapter. The Sound Four are pressed into service, Kimimaro is killed, and Naruto's plans for him revealed, Sasuke escapes to Orochimaru, Tsunade gains what could be crucial information, and Shikamaru is traumatized. Then, Naruto orders a grisly massacre of thousands upon thousands of people in no less than four cities. What shall happen next? You will have to wait until the next chapter to find out!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	44. Chapter 44

Wow, chapter forty four already

Wow, chapter forty four already. Honestly, how long has this story been going on? A few months? Honestly, it's over two hundred thousand words an It's only been a few months and I haven't even gotten to Shippuden yet. Something tells me that this story will break the three hundred thousand word mark before it's done. Like I've said before boys and girls, strap yourselves in for the long haul.

Just so you know, there is only going to be one or two more chapters after this before Shippuden starts. Just letting you guys know. Or it might be longer, I'm thinking about adding in an additional arc with next bit. Not a long one, but a way to help transition to the time skip.

Note: This isn't really important, just my personal observation. Within twenty four hours of this chapter getting posted, it will have around a thousand hits. That's my norm. Anyway, the thing is that it will only have about 20-30 reviews. Seriously, that means that there are 970 people who aren't reviewing. Is it too much to get a sentence or two telling me what I did well and what I did wrong? Help me make this story better damn you! Let me know what you think!

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, this chapter was pretty good. Kakashi is still battling the 'God Realm' body. You know, Yahiko's body. Apparently it has the ability to emanate some kind of shockwave that repels physical matter and any Ninjutsu. Then that weird looking body that fights long range shows up so now it's Kakashi versus two Pein bodies. Come on, kill the hypocrite!

Moving on, Tsunade orders some toad that showed up from somewhere to tell Naruto to come back, but the advisors Koharu and Homura tell her not to. Pein is after Naruto and Naruto is still a child, and that Pein is the man who killed Jiraiya and is looking for Naruto, so they should keep him out of the way at Myobokuzan while Pein is dealt with.

Okay, now this next bit I like. Tsunade finally grows a pair and lifts the advisors by the scruff of their necks. They say, and I quote "We're your advisors. Who do you think you are?"

Then, Tsunade says what she should have said long ago. "I'm the Hokage, who do you think YOU are!?"

Then she says that Sarutobi, her grandfather, and Chiyo from Suna had something that those two didn't. Faith. Senju Hashirama had the faith to pass the reins to his brother and his brother to Sarutobi and his advisors. She tells them to have the faith to entrust Konoha to the next generation. That Naruto is not some secret weapon to keep Konoha out of war but a Shinobi sworn to defend the village who will surpass Jiraiya. After all that, the two of them tell Tsunade to do what she wants and then they leave.

Personally, I think that those two advisors have the right idea. Tsunade thinks too much of the canon Naruto. Sure, he may be tough, reasonably, and he MAY one day surpass Jiraiya with a lot of help, but that day is far, far off. Thinking that he can stand up to Pein right now is pure madness, she might as well hand over the Kyuubi on a silver platter.

Shizune barges in and tells Tsunade about how the piercings that Pein has are chakra transmitters that take in chakra signals. Tsunade figures that this has something to do with Pein's strength. She also says that this information combined with the information they should get from the interrogation should allow them to solve the mystery behind Pein's power. She orders a squad of ANBU to escort Shizune to the interrogation HQ, and stations another ANBU squad there and not to let Pein get there. Tsunade is going to help with the wounded. Then everyone runs off.

The messenger toad says that he had better get back to Myobokuzan, but before he can leave, he is mercilessly stabbed and killed. The killer turns out to be none other than Danzou, we haven't seen him for a while, and then just before the chapter ends Danzou says "That's the Kyuubi out of the way." Danzou's treachery finally shows to some extent!

Overall, this is a good chapter, something that has become a theme to Kishimoto recently. I would hope that this string of good chapters will continue until the end, but something tells me to doubt that. Kishimoto has a history of fucking up something good.

All I can say at this point is COME ON PEIN! Whoop Konoha's ass, show them the power of the Akatsuki leader! Kill Shizune and everyone at the interrogation department to keep your secrets! Conquer Konoha!

Seriously, that would be the ultimate plot twist if Pein won and destroyed Konoha. It would be completely awesome, and take the story in a whole new direction. It would also be cool if he were allied with Danzou but I find that to be unlikely. Still, good chapter, and speaking of chapters let this one begin!

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Summary of last chapter

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The Sound Four were captured, and were pressed into service under Naruto. Kimimaro was killed and will soon be turned into a Zombie. The Seals that eliminate Orochimaru's control over the Sound Four and Anko also have a kill switch that Naruto can activate at any time in case of treachery. Mind you, nobody knows that except him.

Sasuke escapes to Orochimaru, big whoop.

Shikamaru gives his report to Tsunade and learns the fate of Chouji and Neji. Tsunade orders the body of Sakumo to be dug up for obvious reasons to see if it is still there. She knows that the bodies of the Shodaime and Niidaime were stolen, but that is top secret.

Finally, Naruto shows up at a valley in North Eastern Hi no Kuni that has a number of cities in it. He brings about a hundred or so Soldier Zombies led by Hashirama, one of the Generals, and orders them to kill everyone to a man, and not to let any human escape man woman or child.

The reason he wanted Kimimaro so badly is so that he can use his bloodline to create the skeleton for the Special Zombies. The massacre he is currently committing is to gather what he needs to form the musculature and organ systems on the same scale. One step at a time. And that is where the chapter ended. Now let's get started!

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Konoha, Tsunade's office, the next day, Noon

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Tsunade has not been having a good day. Yesterday evening, she got word that the heir of the Akimichi clan was killed, as was one of the most talented Hyuuga in years. This of course led to massive general depression among the Akimichi, and their good friends the Nara clan who shared their pain to some extent. Shikamaru and his father took the blow particularly hard. Hiashi, who had been getting along with Neji and repairing his relationship to his nephew, was colder than usual.

In addition to that, the report she got from Shikamaru indicated that Konoha would have an enemy with some massive power. If Naruto was a Necromancer, then things definitely looked bad if he chose to be actively malicious to the village. Necromancers, according to legend, had massive abilities of their own that normal people could only guess at. Not to mention the fact that they would have immortal armies at their command who couldn't feel pain and would never surrender. If he was resurrecting people like Sakumo and her grandfather, it would be even worse.

They had dug up Sakumo's coffin, and as she feared it had been empty. She ordered several other bodies dug up, mostly those of ninja who had some small reputation in the Second War, and older ninja whose graves weren't visited anymore. A good number of them had been empty. She was obligated to inform the Council and the Fire Lord, and they were not very happy. Missing bodies was never a good thing when it came to a Ninja village, it was even worse when a potential Necromancer was involved.

Right now, Tsunade wasn't sure what to do with this whole mess. Konoha still had a lot of rebuilding to do, the last Uchiha had defected which took a large toll on morale, a Clan heir was dead, which took a further toll on morale, and the new power station still had some bugs in it. That had taken priority over most of the rebuilding, and they were mostly done with the most important structures of the village, but there were still a lot of residences to be repaired. Luckily the damage to those buildings wasn't as massive as the damage to the more important buildings which were specifically targeted in the invasion. But a drain on the treasury was a drain on the treasury, which was growing thinner by the day.

Combine that with the need to appear strong to avoid a fatal war, incoming missions that had to be dealt with successfully to keep up the village income to fund everything, a good deal of dangerous rogue ninja in the world who could attack at any time. Maybe they wouldn't do any massive damage but they would still do harm that they couldn't afford right now, the Akatsuki growing in power, a large debt to the Fire Lord that had to be repaid, and a potential Necromancer who wished the village harm, and Tsunade had a lot on her plate and a lot of stress to deal with.

Such a shame that it was all about to get worse for her, isn't it?

Tsunade was in her office, finishing up her morning paperwork before she had to go 'hold court' in the mission room to assign certain teams to a specific mission when Natsuki ran in with a piece of paper in her hand yelling "Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade sighed and put down her pen, lifting her head to face the long haired brunette. "What is it Natsuki?"

Natsuki looked at the paper and gulped once before saying "A report came in from the border patrol a few minutes ago, marked as high priority."

Tsunade looked at the relatively small stack of paperwork on her desk that grew a few centimeters when she looked away, and kept her eyes on it as she said "Fine then, read the message."

Natsuki nodded and recited "This message came from the twenty fourth border patrol team, lead by the Chuunin Koitsu Hanako. The squad's patrol route is a fifteen mile circuit by North to North Eastern Hi no Kuni, between the towns of Taro, and Fuka."

Tsunade didn't take her eyes off the stack of paperwork as she rolled her wrist saying "Yes, yes, I know which team is patrolling where Natsuki, get on with it."

Natsuki looked up, and nodded saying "Yes ma'am." Then she took a breath and continued "Moving on, Hanako reports that upon arriving at the town of Fuka, that everyone that lived there, thirty thousand people, had simply vanished."

Tsunade looked up suddenly "What? What do you mean 'vanished'?"

Natsuki looked over the paper and continued "It appears that there was some kind of fight. Blood stains are prominent along the walls of the buildings and upon the streets. However, no bodies were found belonging either to the civilians or to any enemies. What's more, the town's treasury and food stores were completely bare."

Tsunade looked up at a large map of the world that was hung upon one wall of the office, pinpointing Fuka quickly. Then she said "This could be bad. Fuka is only about fifteen miles from the Hi/Tsuchi border. Check in on the town of Oren. It's the castle city right on the border that's under our control. If they've been similarly attacked, tell me immediately."

Natsuki nodded once "Yes ma'am." And then left quickly. Tsunade meanwhile sat down and thought quickly. Oren was a town directly on the Hi/Tsuchi border that Hi no Kuni controlled. As with all border towns, it had a platoon of ANBU guarding it and the lord of the city 24/7. Captain Sozen, the leader of the Oren ANBU team, was one of the more capable ANBU captains hence why he was given such an important mission. If he was attacked then he would have found a way to tell Konoha about it before he was killed. It wouldn't take long for a quick messenger to get from Oren to Konoha or vice/versa, so they should have known about an invasion by now if there was one.

She quickly called in a Chuunin who was on guard duty nearby and gave him a scroll to take to the ANBU HQ immediately. "This is worth your entire career, so move!" She yelled

"H-hai Tsunade-sama." The man stuttered before vanishing. Tsunade sat down again and took up some paperwork while she waited for Natsuki to get back. As soon as the ANBU Commander got those orders, an ANBU team with long range radio equipment would be sent out to Oren.

Long range radios were a pretty new technology that could reach across a country, more than strong enough to reach Konoha from Oren. However, they were extremely expensive, about as much as the combined pension of an ANBU squad, and not many people trusted it so they were only used sparingly. Some were petitioning to get them installed in every city to aid in communication, but the majority vote shot those petitions down. Tsunade swore to herself that if those radios worked on this mission than she would give those petitions as much support as she could.

It was about six hours later that the ANBU squad finally checked in from Oren, the long range radios working like a charm. She hadn't gotten any messages from Captain Sozen during this time.

"Tsunade-sama" Came the crackly voice over the microphone.

Tsunade, who had been waiting for such a call immediately took up the mike and said "Commander, are you there? What's your status?"

There was a quick burst of feedback before the reply came "We're okay Tsunade-sama, we haven't met any enemies. We're at Oren, and this place is completely dead. It's just like Fuka, and it's creeping me out."

"What, are you sure? Have you found any survivors, or any indication of who did this?"

Another crackle of static came over the line before the reply. "That's a negative. We've checked the treasury and the city hall, and they're completely empty. There's not a body in sight, a lot of blood though. No indication of any enemy presence…."

Just then a shout came from the background "Commander, we've found something!"

A few moments later the Captain's voice came over the mike again. "Tsunade-sama, we've found a body."

Tsunade responded quickly "Do you have any idea who it is? Describe the person, is it a civilian?"

The Captain responded "Doesn't look to be a civilian. He's about five feet tall, grayish skin, and a lot of stitches across his body. He's clad in ninja clothing though."

Tsunade quickly asked "Is there any sign of a Hitai-ate on the body captain?"

After a moment a response came through "Negative. There's no Hitai-ate on him. The only thing we could get is this. He has a tattoo on his upper left arm. It reads 'SZ-049' Does that mean anything to you Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade's heart almost stopped at that. An echo of Shikamaru's voice went through her mind. 'He had a tattoo on his forearm. It read 'GZ-007.'

Tsunade immediately put two and two together. "Naruto" she muttered.

"What was that Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade regained her thoughts and gave the ANBU her orders. "Never mind Captain. Listen, how did this person die? Are there any obvious signs?"

There was a moment before the ANBU captain responded "Yeah, there are a number of knives in him, but the major thing was that apparently the ceiling fell on the guy."

"The ceiling?" Tsunade asked.

"Yeah, I'm guessing that this place is where Captain Sozen made his stand, we're in the food stores at the moment, there are a lot of narrow halls. They probably detonated explosives and the ceiling fell on this poor bastard. There was a large store of salt on the floor above so the weight from it and the stone and wood crushed him."

Tsunade sighed and said "Okay Commander, new orders. You are to retrieve the body you found and return to Konoha, bringing it with you, understood?"

"Hai Hokage-sama, we'll return immediately."

As soon as he finished saying that, another shout could be heard "Commander, you might want to have a look at this! Hotaru found something!"

"What is it commander, report!?"

"One moment Hokage-sama!" The captain replied.

About a minute later, the captain's voice came through on the intercom. "Hotaru was doing recon upon the area North of town, on Iwa's side, using the Fuuton: Bairitsu no Jutsu **(1)**. She managed to get a view of Korin, the town that was built by Tsuchi no Kuni to keep an eye on the border. Apparently there's some huge brawl going on over there."

Tsunade frowned, weighing options in her mind. If things were as she suspected and Naruto had killed the people in Fuka and Oren, and then taken the bodies of not only the civilians but Captain Sozen and his squad, then he would have a large number of possible undead under his command. Mind you, now he was attacking Tsuchi no Kuni and was apparently fighting Iwa Shinobi. If they attacked him now then crossing the border could be taken as a declaration of war by Iwa, even if they did help them. Not to mention getting a force of the size needed to hope for victory would leave Konoha very vulnerable.

However, if she did NOT take this opportunity to attack Naruto, then he would have a lot of bodies to bring to life and use as he saw fit, and make himself an even greater threat in the future. It was a lose-lose situation. So she did what she was trained to do in situations like this, take the lesser of two evils.

"Captain, you are to take the body you found and return to Konoha immediately, do NOT engage any possible enemy to the North, get back home as quickly as possible. Do you understand?" She spoke into the microphone.

"Yes Hokage-sama, we will take the body and return home ASAP, Captain Neko, out." Then the line went dead.

Tsunade put the microphone on its hook and closed her eyes in thought. Naruto had gotten away with the murder of thousands of people. Any attempt to attack him right now would be suicide for the people involved unless they had a lot of ninja on their side and were led by someone very strong. Committing those kinds of resources was beyond Konoha right now, they had no choice but to let him go. However, they recovered the body of one of Naruto's warriors.

As Tsunade continued her paperwork, she thought to herself 'You win this time Naruto, but we WILL stop you next time you try something like this.' The form she was currently writing was a petition to the Fire Lord to have long range radios installed in every city in the nation.

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With Naruto, Korin, Tsuchi no Kuni

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Naruto muttered to himself as he witnessed the battle below him from the top of a high building. "Damn, these people are like locusts, there's no end to them."

The Iwa ninja posted to Korin had been watching Oren using long range recon techniques and had seen the army coming at them. As a result, they sent messages to the next town over, and from them to the next town, and so on. They had ninja moving in extremely quickly so by the time Naruto had made it with his forces in tow, he was facing an army of roughly one hundred Iwa ninja, from Gennin to ANBU, with more on the way. Not to mention that Korin was a castle town, made to be easily defended, so strategically they had the advantage.

But numerically, and in the ways of endurance, Naruto had more advantage than anyone in the world. He had watched as his immortal creations finally showed their worth, scaling the walls like lizards, and mercilessly attacking the ninja before them.

The Iwa ninja however were resourceful, and they used what they had very well. A group of twenty Chuunin and Jounin stood in a straight line, facing the zombies coming straight at them, and unleashed concentrated attacks, covering the path to them in flames while hurling massive boulders through the air. Unfortunately for them, Naruto's seals made the zombies almost completely invulnerable to fire so they simply charged straight through and murdered a fair number of them while the rest got some distance. With the incredible strength the zombies possess, close combat was NOT wise, and the Iwa ninja learned that as they saw a blow from a reasonably small zombie miss a person's head by a hair and land upon a brick wall, the wall being all but shattered.

Naruto had watched intensely as the battle had raged on for almost an hour before reinforcements arrived from Iwa, boosting the ninja's strength and morale, and they had actually started to push the Soldier Zombies back.

Naruto did not enjoy that, so as a result he tried something that he had wanted to try for some time now. He had carried the dead from the two slaughtered towns upon vast sheets of moving shadow, tens of thousands of corpses, men, women, children, all of them cut down.

Naruto decided to show what someone like him could REALLY do, and what it means to stand against him.

He manifested his shadow, and it stood beside him upon the walls of the city as Naruto raised the great platforms of darkness above the walls of the city and tipped them over, raining the bodies upon the streets below. The ninja fell back not wanting to be buried under a mound of rotting and bloodied corpses.

The Shinobi watched in utter revulsion the dead flesh as it fell from the skies upon the cobblestones, the empty, lifeless eyes, the gaping mouths, the slit throats and revealed bones. They were trained killers, but this was simply inhuman.

Then, something strange happened. A strange beat filled the air, a rhythmic sound that they could feel through the ground as well as hear. They searched for the source of the sound and they quickly found it.

It was Naruto's shadow. It had sat down beside its master and a large drum formed in front of it. In its hands formed two black batons, which it rained upon the dark drum in front of it with a steady rhythm.

Naruto gave the command to the Soldiers below to fall back and that they did, eager to obey their master. After they did, Naruto closed his eyes and spoke. The Iwa ninja could not tell what he said, but they felt the words as well as heard them, even though he was whispering from a great distance.

Naruto's voice stopped, yet the beat of the drum continued. The ninja were unsure what to do until their attention was diverted to the gigantic mound of corpses.

The corpses moved. The dead bodies twitched and came to life as Naruto bent them to his will, his power flowing through them to animate their bodies, to bring their dead minds and organs to work even without life's spark.

The ninja before the now moving pile of dead flesh were scared. They could _feel_ the energy that moved through the air and it was unlike anything they had seen or felt before. They felt the massive cold of the energy that tantalized their senses and chilled the blood in their veins. There was something simply, fundamentally _wrong_ with that power. Something that made their skin want to crawl away and hide.

Still, they stood firm, even as the mound of corpses returned from death stood, one by one, and then quickly moved toward them. Men, women, children, stabbed, burned, throats slit and hearts pierced, walked and then ran towards them.

Fat obese nobles ran like a professional athlete, thin skinny women that looked more like sticks that humans moved gigantic obstacles out of the way, whatever the Iwa forces were expecting, it was anything but this as the undead hordes moved upon them, the beat from the black drum still reverberating through their bones.

The ninja watched and fought, each blow form the enemy felt like it could crack stone, each movement superhumanly quick. They stabbed, they used fire and burned them, they used earth and crushed them, they used lightning and pierced them, still the undead came, crawling over mounds of their own still twitching fallen struggling to stand in a fanatic desire to kill them all.

As the ninja fought, other groups of undead swarmed through the town, breaking down barricaded doors and murdering those inside with their bare hands.

An Iwa Chuunin with a katana sidestepped a heavy strike from a man and swiftly cut his arm off, only to be struck with the other arm and knocked off balance before he was swarmed by the former civilians.

A group of ninja were fighting off a great charge of rotting animated corpses, slicing them apart and trying not to look at their faces, reminded that these people were only a day ago still alive.

While they were attacking a threat from above, they were ignorant of a threat from below. A ninja screamed in pain and looked down only to see a small child, four or five at the most, with his arm elbow deep in his leg, ripping out gobbets of tissue. He was then tackled by another small child, and from that opening in the formation the rest were swarmed.

They tried to retreat to the castle where the town's lord was hiding with his family and servants, only to find the way blocked by hundreds of undead who had traveled a different route and gotten behind them. They hacked and slashed at the animated bodies as they tried to run, only for another zombie to drop from the heavens and land on one of the ninja who were holding the hordes of undead at bay, biting viciously at the nape of his neck. They swarmed the opening in the human wall, ripping and tearing at the remaining warriors.

Another group tried to escape using the rooftops, jumping from building to building. None of them could climb the buildings so they thought they were safe. That was until one of them was tackled in midair by a zombie who had literally jumped twenty feet in the air to reach him. He fell back, colliding with his comrades and they all fell to earth where they landed with heavy, ugly impacts and were then mercilessly attacked.

Through all of this, Naruto and his Soldier Zombies watched, as did the General Senju Hashirama, the former Shodaime. Through the carnage, the blood, and the screams of the fallen, the beat of the drum still played.

The Iwa ninja were superior in skill to the newly animated zombies, but they were hopelessly outnumbered a hundred to one and were vastly overwhelmed in brute strength.

Naruto smiled as a group of undead followed his commands and broke down the doors of houses, running in and ripping at the throats of those within. Civilians were mercilessly run down and murdered in their tracks. Lives which had been so bright and cheery were snuffed out in an instant.

The castle was ransacked, the valuables stolen and the bodies of the nobles and servants walking out with them, killed and then forced to move once more by Naruto's supernatural call.

The stores were raided, the supplies carried out upon the backs of the undead, moved into large pools of darkness that Naruto had summoned where the food and water was spirited away to Naruto's home.

Blood splashed walls and pavestones as the town treasury was located, broken into, and ransacked. The people there murdered, their throats slashed and their bodies broken and the iron doors pried apart, the metal screaming in protest. The zombies carried the contents out upon their backs, vast sacks that could hold a group of people easily, each of them stuffed to the brim with gold.

Over the last few decades in the Elemental Countries, governments had a habit of rising and falling like a child learning to walk. As a result there was a lot of economic instability and desperation which made paper money almost worthless. So, the various lords agreed to a single currency, the Ryo, and the denominations were simply gold and silver coins. Those metals always held their value, in bad times or good, and everyone could agree on their value.

As the sacks weighing thousands of pounds were dumped into the pools of darkness, and civilians were hunted down and slaughtered, Naruto watched it all, a bar of chocolate in hand.

After a while, he sent the Soldier Zombies back home, same went for Hashirama. After that demonstration, they weren't needed anymore.

He watched as a group of zombies broke open the doors to a basement to find a group of children huddles behind a man hugging them close. The zombies moved into the room quickly and twisted the man's neck with a SNAP, and the children had their entrails ripped from their stomachs even as they screamed and cried.

The spilt blood running in small rivers through the streets, the screams of women before they were abruptly silenced the thud of dead flesh hitting the floor, the cries of children as they were ripped limb from limb. Through all of this, Naruto ate from the store of sweets he always carried, and wore a gigantic smile on his face as he listened to the rhythmic beat of the black drum through which he controlled his hoards.

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(1) Fuuton: Bairitsu no jutsu, literally 'Wind Release: Magnification technique. A-rank Jutsu. A technique where, after performing the handseals, a ninja cups his hands together and using his chakra bends the air and light in that space, resulting in a telescoping effect that allows them to see far off objects as though they were close by.

Okay, that's the chapter. Tsunade finds a dead Zombie body that Naruto accidentally left behind, she also finds out just how ruthless Naruto is.

Meanwhile, Naruto commits the murder of a hundred Iwa ninja and the genocide of tens of thousands of people in one gigantic rampage of undead warriors. His Necromancy finally shows itself as he rapes, loots and pillages the defenseless town, enjoying every moment.

As for how Naruto's Necromancy works, and how the music plays into it. Some of you may know already, for those that don't, it will be explained in a later chapter. Until which I bid you adieu.

Oh, as for how I updated so quickly, I was in a writing mood, simple as that.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	45. Chapter 45

It's a bird, it's a plane, NO it's Kage no Naruto chapter forty five, the thing you have been checking your e-mail every day f

It's a bird, it's a plane, NO it's Kage no Naruto chapter forty five, the thing you have been checking your e-mail every day for in the last few days. Now remember, read it in comfort, enjoy it, and give a lengthy review at the end. That last bit is the most important so without further ado, LET THE CHAPTER BEGIN!

Note: I can't believe how many people bugged me about this. The 'rape and pillage' thing I put in the end of the last chapter, I MEANT IT AS A FIGURE OF SPEECH! Jesus.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, decent chapter though it could have been better. Pein continued to attack Konoha, and now TWO of Pein's bodies are fighting Kakashi. That weird looking body I told you guys about can apparently transform itself into this really weird blade thing. You have to see it for yourself to know what I mean.

Anyway, the fight between the two goes on, and The God Realm Pein draws in Kakashi like it was gravity, which is now what I think the God Realm's power is. Anyway, Kakashi gets stabbed through the stomach, we all think he's dead for five glorious joy-filled seconds, and then we find out that it's a new type of clone, the Lightning clone, which is kind of cool.

After that the weird transforming body gets crushed by a pair of Akimichi's specifically Choza and Chouji. Then the chapter ends.

Oh, before I forget, we finally see a bunch of Akimichi's at once. Akimichi clan members besides Chouji and his father, it's amazing!

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SPOILERS END

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Summary of last chapter

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Okay, moderate chapter short, Tsunade got a message that the people in Fuka had gone mysteriously missing. There were a lot of bloodstains throughout the town. Fearing that it was an invasion from Iwa, she sent an ANBU team with experimental long range communication technology to check it out and the town nearby that was on the border.

When the team checked in several hours later, the town was in the same ransacked condition as Fuka, they also reported a large battle happening at the next town over. Tsunade ordered them not to get involved and to return to Konoha immediately, taking the body of the dead Soldier Zombie that Naruto had overlooked with them.

Naruto assaulted and murdered the population of a large town containing several thousands people. A small army of Iwa ninja saw what he did to Oren and Fuka and were waiting for him, and they did epic battle with the Soldier Zombies.

Naruto, tired of wasting time, dumped the tens of thousands of bodies upon the streets, forcing the Iwa ninja to retreat, and animated them. He then sent his Soldier Zombies and General Zombie back to Dark Heaven Castle as he mercilessly killed everyone in the town and looted it for everything that it was worth, taking its treasury and food supplies, murdering men, women, and children indiscriminately, and that's where we left off.

Now, let the forty fifth chapter begin!

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One mile north of Korin, with two Iwa ninja

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Two Iwa ninja, both Chuunin, were running for their lives. One of them was clutching at his left arm, which seemed to be broken rather badly, and the other had a cut upon his scalp which bled freely, the liquid running down the side of his neck, though he held his hand to it to try and stop it.

The ninja with the broken arm said to the other "I can't fucking believe that we got out of there alive. I thought that we would all be killed by those… those _things_."

The second ninja looked back, checking to see if any enemies had followed them before replying "I know, thank God for that explosives stockpile, otherwise we would never have gotten out of there."

The broken armed ninja nodded, still stunned at their good fortune at finding several packages of explosive notes in the basement of the house they had hid in. They knew that the local ANBU team had a few weaponry caches around the city, but putting one in a man's basement seemed a bit odd. Still, they didn't complain.

They used the explosives and got out of there, blowing up the house behind them. They covered their tracks expertly, and they kept to lesser used pathways out of the city and through the countryside, there was no way that they could be followed, but still the two were nervous.

That was one extremely close call. They had each come close to dying on more than one occasion in that attack, they had never seen anything like that and they prayed to themselves that they never would again.

"All we can do now," The ninja with the cut said "Is get to the Tsuchikage and tell him what happened. He might know more about whoever that was and what the hell just happened."

His counterpart nodded but then asked the question that both wanted to know the answer to, i.e. "But what the hell DID just happen? Th-that guy he just spoke and played that drum and those people, all those people, they, they…."

The cut ninja cut him off "Listen, don't think about it. IF you think too much about it you'll probably get so scared that you won't be able to move knowing you. Just try not to think about it until we get to Tsuchikage-Sama to report."

The ninja with the broken arm nodded and checked behind them for possible enemies, relieved when there weren't any, and fearful of what would have happened to them if they had gotten caught like the others in the group. At the sheer, cold power in the voice that brought the dead to life, and for the first time in twenty years, he prayed as he ran home to Iwagakure.

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With Naruto, Dark Heaven Castle

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Naruto stumbled through the front doors of the castle, leaning heavily against the door frame.

Hogback, who had been waiting there for him, rose from his chair and went to greet him. "Naruto-sama! I trust that you're mission was a success? Where are the bodies?"

Naruto smiled weakly and said "Of course it was successful, though I only got three cities when I intended to do four. The bodies are piled up outside, a few of them are a bit mangled but there are usable parts in all of them."

After that Naruto walked slowly past Hogback, towards the stairs. Hogback asked "Are you okay Naruto-sama? You look a bit off."

Naruto just said, his voice weaker than before and quite faint "Tired… rest." And then he collapsed to the floor.

"NARUTO-SAMA!" Hogback shouted in alarm. "ABSALOM! PERONA! GET IN HERE!" He shouted.

The two in question were down in the basement, and up in the treasure vault respectively, but still Hogback's voice could carry, and they both heard, and reluctantly came up and down respectively.

Perona took one look at Naruto on the floor, yelled "Naruto-kun!" And rushed to his side, crouching down to check on him.

Absalom came up and did pretty much the same only he yelled "Naruto-sama!" before running over.

He went over to Hogback and asked "What happened? What's wrong with him?"

Hogback was unsure what to say, but he did his best "I-I don't know what happened. He showed up at the door, admittedly he looked a bit exhausted. He told me that he got his job done and staggered by me and said that he was tired before he just collapsed!"

Perona looked up and stopped trying to shake him awake. "Job? What job was he talking about Hogback?"

Hogback shrugged his shoulders and quickly explained "He went out to Northern Hi no Kuni and Southern Tsuchi no Kuni to gather bodies to assist in the production of the Special Zombie. He said that they were all piled outside."

Perona got up and went quickly to the door, opening it with a bit of effort. She looked at the piled up bodies outside and said "I think I might know what caused his exhaustion, but I can't be sure. Hogback, did he take anyone with him?"

Hogback nodded and said "Hashirama and about a hundred Soldier Zombies, fine specimens."

Perona nodded and moved for the stairs. Absalom quickly caught up to her and asked "Where are you going?"

Perona didn't look back as she said "To talk to Hashirama of course, he'll know what happened."

Absalom nodded and yelled "REI!"

The blue haired undead quickly appeared and Absalom quickly gave her orders to take Naruto and bring him to his room. Rei, not even able to disobey a direct order, just said "Yes Absalom-sama." And moved to complete the task that he had given.

Hogback and Absalom moved quickly to the General Coffin room, where the Generals slept when not in use. When they got there, Perona was just walking out.

"Do you know what happened Perona?" Absalom asked.

Perona nodded, and said "I know, and I'm surprised that he's as good as he is. If it was anyone else, they would probably be dead."

Hogback frowned and said "What did he do? What happened? Stop keeping us in the dark here!"

Perona just sighed and said "Fine, let's go to another room first. I don't want to talk about this in the hallway." Then she walked off before the other two could even nod and follow her lead.

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Small dining room

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Perona, Absalom, and Hogback were sitting around a small table while Perona gave them the information.

"Naruto-kun has been telling me recently of some of the things that he had learned in his studies of Heinrich Kemmler's books. What he could do, their strengths, the weaknesses of the techniques. He was incredibly excited about it all, he could barely contain himself." Perona told them.

She took a breath and then continued "He only has a fundamental grasp of the art of true Necromancy at the moment, though he is strong. He still doesn't know and cannot perform the more difficult workings. Hence why he only used very weak animated corpses in the attacks like he did. Naruto-kun brought the slaughtered people from the first two towns he massacred with him to the third, animated them, and used them to subdue the Iwa forces stationed there."

Hogback nodded and asked "So how does this tie in with his condition?"

She snapped at him "I'm getting to that! Now then, the point of Necromancy in this case is to bring a dead body to life and then bend it to your will. That is what Naruto-kun did. This gives the body strength, movement, and basically life. It can move, walk, attack, that sort of thing, and then he brings it under his control."

She took another breath and then spotted called in one of the maids. When Sasami appeared she told the smallish maid to bring in some drinks. The light blue haired, pink eyes zombie bowed and left.

She then turned to the other two and went on "Mind you, animating corpses isn't really all that complicated. It can be difficult, but it's not complicated, and for the bodies like the ones he used it isn't all that tiring either. It's bringing them under control that's the difficult part. It's one of the two flaws of Necromancy."

She paused as Sasami came back in with a tray bearing a pitcher of water and several glasses. Perona thanked the girlish zombie and when she left, Perona poured herself a glass and took a drink before continuing."

"You see, just because you bring a body to life doesn't make it obey. It's not like animating a body using a shadow, where the creation is bound to your word and will no matter what. Controlling them requires an ongoing effort and can go wrong. What a Necromancer like Naruto would have to do is play a sort of beat or rhythmic music."

She took another drink before going on "You see, a zombie isn't a person, but it's used to being a person. Its body is used to certain rhythms, patterns, like eating, sleeping, breathing, and most importantly a beating heart. What a Necromancer does to control the zombies is that he plays the music like I said earlier. From there he links his own power to the beat, and the beat to the zombie's heartbeat. When it's done like that, if he gives a command then as far as the zombie is concerned it's coming from inside of it and it wants to do it. That's how a Necromancer can control them so completely."

Absalom asked Perona the obvious question. "What would happen if the drumming stops?"

Perona took a breath and said "It isn't good. The zombie won't be destroyed, but if the music stops or the zombie gets out of earshot, the Necromancer's control ends. The zombie isn't killed, but now it is free from any kind of influence. If you control a group of ten zombies and stop drumming, they could all shut down or scatter to kill everything they see. It's totally unpredictable. A Necromancer would have to keep that beat going no matter what."

Perona took another drink before she continued "What's more, the zombies aren't immortal like ours are. They may have been killed once, but they're still flesh and bone. Massive trauma would kill a zombie sooner or later. Also, if someone could cut the flow of energy into them they would just drop."

Hogback grunted and said "I'm pretty sure that those hardly count as weaknesses. A smart and strong army that obeys orders perfectly on command doesn't have many drawbacks to it."

Perona shook her head and said "Wrong again, most unlike you Hogback. These zombies aren't intelligent, they follow orders to the letter but they aren't much more intelligent than the average animal. The thing you need to do to win a fight with a zombie is to outsmart him. Or rather outsmart the Necromancer controlling them, which in Naruto-kun's case is unlikely to happen anytime soon."

She finished off her glass and said "Mind you, there's one other fatal flaw to this Necromancy. Running Water."

Before the other two could do much more than stare awkwardly, Perona said "A large amount of running water, like a small stream at least, when given enough time would wash the energy keeping them alive right out of them, causing the zombies to drop, just fall over."

Hogback said "That's quite a flaw given today's environment."

Perona nodded and said "Yes, but luckily most Suiton Ninjutsu requires a nearby water resource to use well. The only known people in history who could make water out of nothing are the Niidaime Hokage and Hoshigake Kisame. So as long as he says clear of large sources of water the zombies are pretty useful. And even then the bit about the water is only known to the three of us so keep it under your hat."

Absalom nodded and said "Okay, once more, what happened to Naruto-sama?"

Perona said "He brought over ten thousand zombies to life and attacked a city, that's the problem. The record for holding massive numbers of zombies under ones control is only about half that, and the Necromancer that did it was Heinrich Kemmler himself. Each zombie added to the total would weaken the Necromancer himself as controlling the zombies takes constant effort and concentration, not much but in those numbers, it stacks up. He called up and controlled ten thousand undead warriors when the average was a few hundred. He's overextended himself… badly. If it weren't for the Kyuubi he would probably be dead, no he would definitely be dead."

Hogback asked "So, what do you suggest we do Perona?"

Perona shrugged and said "He didn't think this would happen but he came prepared nonetheless. He had to test himself somehow, and he didn't expect to tire himself like this, but what's done is done. We should just leave him in bed for a few days. That will probably do the trick."

Then she stood up and said "Now if you'll excuse me, I've explained to you what the problem is as far as my small knowledge of Necromancy allows me to know and I'm going to go see him." Then she left the room as quickly as she could.

Absalom said to Hogback "Do you think we should just let him stay there in his room? You're the doctor."

Hogback nodded and said "The best thing for something like this would be bed rest, so I'll get started on constructing the Special Zombie with Kimimaro. That's what he would want me to do." And with that Hogback left as well.

Absalom realized that he had been effectively ditched as he thought to himself 'Well, this isn't like High School at all. Still, at least I have my Icha Icha Paradise.' And with that Absalom left the room as well.

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In Konoha, Tsunade's office, next day

XXXXXXXXX

Tsunade was going over various autopsy reports and getting frustrated. She expected some kind of massive secret that would give her an edge in fighting these creatures in the futures, but she was getting next to nothing new.

The zombie was simply a human body. A human skeleton and musculature, there was nothing special about it at all. Sure, those muscle systems had been ridiculously increased in strength and the skin was a bit tougher than the human average but that wasn't amazingly rare.

There were dozens of injuries that would be fatal on any human being, including the piercing of both the brain and heart. She was hoping for a specific cause of death that sh4e would be able to replicate to use on the other creatures in the future, but she couldn't find anything.

Also, she had gotten her hands on another piece of information recently. Jiraiya talked to Lee while he was awake for a little while and got the Gennin to talk. The description of the creature that defeated Orochimaru's Jounin was an almost exact match with one of the creatures that attacked Jiraiya during the Chuunin exams and attacked Gai back at Tanzaku-Gai. She had the proof that she needed. She knew that Naruto had been actively hostile to Konoha and had been since before the Chuunin Exams began.

All that means is that Naruto had a lot more time and a much larger potential organization than she preciously could have thought. Combine that with possible war around every corner, a great many powerful people wishing them harm, and a number of other factors meant that Konoha was even tighter against the ropes than she thought. Hell, if it hadn't been for the Fire Lord granting them a loan for a few years Konoha would have been forced to shut down by now.

'Still' Tsunade thought to herself as she took a deep breath. 'I can't let these people just walk around and do what they please. I allowed that before thinking that they weren't an actively hostile threat and tens of thousands died because of my arrogance. I will not let that happen again. But to defeat an enemy, one must first know your enemy.'

Then she called for Natsuki and told her to retrieve several people and bring them to her office. Those people were Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, Asuma, and Jiraiya. Konoha's most powerful fighting force.

It was time that they got this matter in hand.

XXXXXXXXX

With Perona and Naruto

XXXXXXXXX

Perona was sitting beside Naruto's bed, making sure that the unconscious man was comfortable. Monitoring his condition, making sure that no one disturbed his rest, and so on.

She had almost fallen asleep in her chain when Naruto stirred and opened his eyes, much to her surprise.

She let out a small shriek of sudden surprise before spiritedly glomping him, crushing him to her ample chest. "Naruto-kun! Thank goodness you're alright! If something had happened to you, I'd, I'd…."

Before she could complete the heart felt sentiment, Naruto pried his face from Perona's shirt. Not that he didn't like the position, but he needed to breathe.

After a deep breath or two, he just asked Perona "Perona-chan? Why am I in my room what happened, and… why am I naked?"

Perona smirked a bit at that last one. She had taken the liberty of dressing him while he was asleep, but she couldn't seem to find his night clothes. In all honesty she just wanted the eye candy but at least she put the covers over him first, well after the first fifteen minutes.

"Well" she said "You went and overexerted yourself by using all that Necromancy at once. You should have known better than to summon THAT many undead on your first field test, if it hadn't been lower level undead that you had summoned, you would be dead for sure."

Naruto nodded somewhat wearily and said "Yes, you're probably right, it was a mistake I admit that. Still, it allowed me to get a grasp on my limits. It will take a lot of training before I can summon more powerful undead and support them better. This will take a lot of work before I can truly know everything in those books. There's a lot more in there than just summoning zombies."

Then a bit of a smile crossed his face and put one hand on Perona's cheek as he said "But still, a victory is a victory, and I prefer to celebrate my victories."

Perona blushed at the contact and his tone as she stuttered "W-what do you mean, Naruto-kun?"

That smirk widened as he said "I think you know already, do you not?"

Perona blushed more as she said "Well, I can't say that I haven't been looking forward to a while, but I have on thing to say first."

He raised one eyebrow and asked "What's that?"

Perona donned a smile of her own as she said "Perhaps we should bring Haku-chan in here first, she'll probably kill me if I keep having you all to myself."

Naruto's smile widened even further as he said "If you insist, but you know that I would never let her harm you."

Perona stood up and walked to the door, smiling at him as she left and closed the door behind her."

XXXXXXXXX

With Tsunade and the Jounin

XXXXXXXXX

Tsunade was facing several Jounin and Jiraiya in front of her desk, the ones she wanted the most on guard and prepared for the oncoming threat.

"Right, I summoned you all here to take part in a long term mission against a powerful threat."

Kakashi, who had actually put away his porn for once, solemnly spoke "What is the mission Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade took a breath and said "Guard duty against a powerful, and mostly unknown threat, the threat being one Uzumaki Naruto, made S-class missing-nin as of yesterday."

The people in question reacted with shock and in Gai's case, denial. "Why was he given so high a rank Tsunade-sama? He's strong but not strong enough to mandate that sort of danger level. If given a good reason he would come back to Konoha, if you put him in the S-rank section of the Bingo Book then he would be killed within days."

Tsunade looked at him and said, in a very cold voice "Gai, listen to yourself. You're telling me that the man who not only tried to assassinate you, me, and Jiraiya two times, is an innocent man who would come back to us? I understand that he was once your student and that the realization is painful to accept, but GET A GRIP! He's a bad egg Gai, and he's been planning against us for a lot longer than anyone ever thought. Hell, I've even found small amounts of evidence that indicate that he was actually a part of the Oto invasion that almost destroyed the village. And if you still don't believe that he's a psychopath and a serious threat than I have one more piece of information to tell you all."

Tsunade took a deep breath before saying the next part "Two days ago, he completely massacred every living person in the cities of Fuka, Oren, and Korin, almost a hundred thousand people, DEAD by his hand. He had no possible reason for it, but he slaughtered them all. He NEEDS to be stopped before more people lose their lives to this MADMAN!"

The Jounin were stunned at the news. Sure, they had heard what happened, who hadn't, but the news that Naruto was behind it was definitely something that no one expected.

Kurenai decided to speak up "Hokage-sama, how could he have killed so many? There were ANBU patrols and even an ANBU guard inside of the towns you mentioned. He couldn't have killed them all himself."

Tsunade nodded at the red eyes Jounin and said "You're right Kurenai, he didn't kill them all himself. In fact I doubt that he so much as touched any of them, but he was behind it, and he watched as his forces murdered them all in cold blood."

The Jounin were a bit shocked at that. Asuma lit a cigarette and asked "What proof do we have that Naruto is behind it at all Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade went to her desk and sat down, facing her former teammate and her subordinates before she said "We managed to recover the body of one of the attackers. It matched the description of the creatures that Naruto is evidently able to control. The same creatures attacked our people during the Uchiha retrieval mission, and attempted to assassinate Jiraiya during the Chuunin Exams and gave him that scar."

Kurenai asked "But Tsunade-sama, what makes you think that Naruto is controlling these creatures?"

Tsunade took another deep breath and said "Because several of those creatures attempted to kill Jiraiya and I when he as trying to convince me to become Hokage. Naruto was with them and they all referred to him as 'Master' and in addition to that they obeyed his every order without question or the slightest bit of hesitation no matter what it was. Naruto ordered those attacks and killed them all."

Before any of the people before her could ask more questions, she continued on "What's more, each of these creatures is obviously a dead human corpse that has been surgically modified to be given super human strength and speed. Every one of them survived wounds that should have killed a normal man. The reason that they survived is because they had already died once, they were dead and Naruto brought them back. He is a Necromancer, there's no way around it. That is the only explanation for all of this."

The eyes of everyone in the room widened at that. I've said it before, Necromancers are things of infamous legend, spoken of in whispers and fear.

"T-that's impossible" Kakashi stuttered, "There's no way that he could be capable of a lost art like that. Nobody has known how to perform Necromancy for centuries, if not longer."

Tsunade nodded at that. Naruto was the first Necromancer to appear in a long, long time.

Kurenai was a bit confused at the whole thing, being a new Jounin and all so she asked "Hokage-sama, what exactly _is_ a Necromancer? What are they capable of?"

Tsunade took a breath and said "I'm not really sure Kurenai. There are so many different accounts about what Necromancers were capable of that there isn't any reliable way to tell. The only thing that we can be sure of is that they have the ability to bend dead bodies to their will. We lack knowledge on our enemy. Luckily though, I have a way to correct that, hopefully."

She looked at Jiraiya and said "Jiraiya, I want you to summon the Elder Toads. The summoning tribes have been around a lot longer than human civilization. Maybe they would have something that we don't know. I know they keep records of all kinds of things."

Jiraiya was a bit surprised with the request but he nodded and went through the familiar summoning procedure. When the smoke cleared, there stood two large frogs. The Ma and Pa toad. Two of the three leaders of the entire tribe. The Pa toad, Fukusaku, immediately barked out "Jiraiya-chan, what the heck do you want kid? We were having dinner!"

Jiraiya wasn't sure just how to react to the angry Elder, so he just gave Tsunade a look that said 'Help!'

Tsunade got the hint and said "Elder Toads, we are honored to have you as our guests. We would like to ask you a favor."

Fukasaku looked over to Tsunade and said "So, you're the Hokage huh? Such a shame about Sarutobi, but you look like you'll do okay."

He turned to face her properly, as did his wife and he said "So, how can we be of help? We aren't too good when it comes to combat anymore."

Tsunade just said "I don't need anything for fighting. What I am seeking now is knowledge that I hope that you can provide. Knowledge on an old, old threat."

The two toads jumped onto the desk and the Ma toad, Shima, said "Old threat? What could you be talking about? There isn't anything that old by our standards could threaten you guys, nobody cares about you enough to try and hurt you."

Tsunade was a bit puzzled at that one "What do you mean nobody cares? We're Konoha, one of the five major Ninja Villages, not to sound arrogant but we're pretty high on everyone's list of importance."

The two Toad Sages did something completely unexpected. They laughed in Tsunade's face."

The Jounin were unaware of how to react to that so Gai just asked "Um, what's so funny?"

Fukasaku eventually managed to conquer his laughter and managed to say "Y-you think that everyone cares about you guys? Everyone mortal maybe but you're nothing compared to the really important institutions out there. The Faerie Courts, the White, Black, and Red Courts of Vampires, the Dragons, or any other member of the Unseelie Accords. Compared to them, you guys are ants to be stepped on, no offense. You're mortals, little more than cattle to the eyes of the immortal beings that really rule this world. You guys think that you're really important, that's funny."

Even Jiraiya wasn't sure on how to react to that one. "Um, Fukusaku, the Unseelie Accords? Faerie Courts? What are you talking about?"

Shima let out a 'humph' before saying "He just listed a few of the more powerful groups that exist today. But that's not the point. Why did you call us? What do you need information on?"

Tsunade put aside her barrage of questions before saying "We have evidence that a Necromancer is running around. We want you're help to fight him, you're knowledge of Necromancy, if you have any."

Fukasaku put his chin in his hand and said "Necromancy? You're sure?" When Tsunade nodded he went on "Damn, it's been a LONG time since one of those showed up. What I want to know though is how whoever it is managed to learn the stuff. What exactly did this guy do to make you think that he was a Necromancer?"

Tsunade ground her teeth a bit and said "He animated the dead and bended them to his will. Over ten thousand people turned from civilians to the Terminator if my reports are accurate. I just want to know what you know about it so that we can fight it."

The eyes of the toads narrowed a bit. She wasn't joking or mis-informed. She was fighting a real Necromancer.

Shima started off "Well, there's a lot that Necromancers can do. They can animate and control ghosts and corpses, stop people from dying no matter how badly they've been hurt, a lot of freaky things involving the soul. I've even heard that they can inhabit corpses with their consciousness, possess others. More than likely there's a whole lot that we don't know. Necromancy has been forbidden for a long time, in fact it always has been, the people who kept them in line are all dead now. Do you know who the Necromancer is?"

Tsunade nodded and said "It's Uzumaki Naruto."

The two gigantic amphibians jumped at that. "The Kyuubi kid? You're sure?!" Fukusaku asked. When Tsunade nodded he just said "Wow, you guys are screwed. The power of a Jinchuuriki in addition to Necromancy, you're in a tight position. A Jinchuuriki's power in the hands of a madman, that's one bad opponent."

Asuma asked "What makes you think that he's insane? He didn't seem that way when we last saw him."

Shima looked over and said "How can he NOT be insane? Trust me, there's a lot that goes into Necromancy that requires you to be at least a little screwed up."

Fukusaku nodded and said "She's right. Necromancy isn't like the Ninjutsu that you use, it takes more than just power and knowing what to do. You have to _believe_ in it for it to work. Not just that it would happen, but that it _should_ happen. In addition to that, Necromancy twists you inside. Just as he twists others, he is similarly twisted by that power. If he isn't already insane he will be soon in one way or another, it's inevitable. And that in turn makes him stronger."

Shima took over again and said "He's right. The more someone uses this stuff, the more twisted they become and the better they can use it. It gets easier to harm which causes them to harm, which causes them to be even more twisted and powerful and that makes it still easier to use. Then the cycle repeats. Trust me, as this guy gets more experienced he'll go from a minor, yet sane menace to a maniacal, insane world terror, just like Kemmler did."

"Kemmler, who's Kemmler?" Jiraiya asked.

Shima looked over and said "The most infamous Necromancer of all time. He lived over ten thousand years ago and people STILL know what he did, he was that bad. Nobody knows how many people he killed, but there are still artifacts of him floating around. Books and the like…. That's it, KEMMLER'S BOOKS! THAT must be how Naruto is learning Necromancy, he must have found a few copies somewhere."

Fukusaku nodded and said "That does us a lot of good dear. Now we can be pretty sure of what he's after." Shima nodded back at her husband.

Tsunade held up one hand and asked "Okay, WHAT books? And what is Naruto after?"

Shima cleared her throat and said "Sorry about that, but we know what this guy is probably after. Listen, Kemmler wrote four books. The Blood, Mind, Heart, and Word of Kemmler. These books teach some powerful Necromancy, and are really dangerous in the wrong hands. We can be sure that he doesn't have the Fourth Book otherwise you would probably all be dead by now."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and asked "Why? What's in this fourth book? And where can we find it?"

Fukasaku shrugged and said "Inside the Fourth book are Kemmler's most potent workings. There is a way in that book to become as powerful as a God, and a lot of other stuff that we don't know. Nobody knows where the book is, but trust me Naruto doesn't have it."

Tsunade looked at the pair intently and asked "What does this book look like? Do you know?"

Shima nodded and said "It's thin, black, and full of a strange language. That's wall we know about it. It's going to be heard to find since there's only one copy though. Hell, it may not even be on the mortal plane"

Tsunade finished writing a note and handed it to Jiraiya. The old man nodded and left the room, on his way to search for a book. He turned back before he left and said "I don't know if I can find it, but if I can, I will. I don't care how well hidden it is, but I'll do my best. I'll leave the village immediately and check back when I have something concrete on it. Until then Tsunade."

Something told Tsunade that she wouldn't see Jiraiya again for a while, but she put it out of mind as she looked at the various Jounin and said "You are all dismissed, we will continue this later."

Then after the Elite ninja left, Tsunade said to the toad Sages, taking up a pen and paper "Ok, I need everything you can tell me about this stuff, in detail. I won't let ignorance kill anyone else anymore"

The two Toads nodded, prepared to tell her everything they could about what she wanted to know. Before she could ask any questions though, Fukusaku said "Before we start Tsunade, there's something you should know."

"What's that?" Tsunade asked as she got a second notebook.

Shima took over and said "Kemmler was a single man, but it took an entire army of powerful fighters to take him down, barely. And Kemmler was fully human. If this kid is as talented as Kemmler was, it's going to take a lot more than an army to beat him. And if he gets that fourth book, if he manages to obtain _The Word of Kemmler_, then there's nothing that anyone mortal could do to stop him."

Tsunade nodded, anxious to get started, and afraid of what she might learn.

XXXXXXXXX

With the Sound Four, Dark Heaven Castle

XXXXXXXXX

The Sound Four, well technically three if you don't count Ukon, were settling into their new rooms. Unlike the other people in the castle, their rooms were assigned to them. They each had a room on the second floor, one right next to the other.

The four of them were currently in Sakon's room, putting their heads together on how to escape this place.

"Well, the first thing we have to do is scout this place out, find out what's where and any possible weaknesses we could possibly exploit to aid in getting the hell out of here." Sakon said.

Kidomaru replied to him by saying "Genius Sakon, I never would have thought of that."

After a second of watching Sakon fume, Tayuya interjected "I don't think that leaving this place will be a real problem. The biggest problem would be anything that might be sent after us. Those creatures defeated us before, and they would probably catch up to us pretty quickly too. Until we can take something like those things down, we don't have a chance of escaping."

Sakon looked over to her and angrily said "So what, we're just supposed to sit here and work on our skills under the thumb of that weirdo from before!?"

Kidomaru looked over to him and said "I'm pretty sure that's what she just said." Then, after a moment he said "I just have to wonder though, do we even WANT to escape? We're free from Orochimaru, and if we go back to him he would probably kill us. It's pretty unlikely that any other village would take us in knowing that we once worked with Orochimaru, well they might take us to an interrogation cell but I doubt we could expect a job. And let's face it, we're reasonably tough but we're not strong enough to set out on our own. We can't take down a squad of Oinin, even working together. Staying with this guy is probably our best bet for now."

Sakon looked down, taking in the logic before he said "Kidomaru, you may be right. This place really creeps me out, and I'm pretty sure that something here is simply wrong, but if we leave, we'll probably get killed before too long."

Tayuya closed her eyes and said "I guess that's settled, we'll stay here. Besides, if someone on this Naruto guy's side can take down Kimimaro, I don't think that we'll be strong enough to attempt an escape anytime soon anyway. I just have to wonder though, what does he have planned for us?"

Before anyone could answer that question, the door was kicked in. Standing in the broken door frame was none other that Mitarashi Anko herself, and smiling brightly. "Well" She said "I heard that there was fresh meat around here and it looks like I found it."

The three of them could do little except stare in surprise. They knew of Anko from Orochimaru and they weren't sure on how to handle her sudden appearance.

Walking in as though she owned the place she looked at them all and said "So, you're the new recruits from Orochimaru's elite huh? Right, well I'm here to tell you guys a few things about how this place works."

She went and sat down on the bed, pushing Tayuya aside as she sat down and said "Right, first thing's first, the pecking order here. At the top there's Naruto-kun, and then there's Hogback, Absalom, and Perona. Those four are the big wigs around here, so don't screw with any of them, ESPECIALLY Naruto-kun."

Kidomaru leaped on the chance to gather information so he asked "Who are those three? What are they like?"

Anko looked at him and said "Absalom's a pervert but a brilliant tactician and battlefield strategist. He's also way stronger and tougher than a normal human. Hogback's an intelligent and creepy bastard that hangs around in his lab more often than not. He's also one of the best medics of all time, rivaling if not surpassing Tsunade herself, he also prepares the zombies to be animated."

Then she took a deep breath before saying "And last but not least, there's that damn Perona. You'll know her on sight, pink hair, big eyes, and she's the only person I know who actually wears a damn crown. She's basically one of Naruto-kun's girlfriends."

Tayuya looked over and said "So, a weak fangirl is in the top brass here huh? Really well run, this place, isn't it?"

Anko gave her a side long look and said "Perona? A weak fangirl? She's anything but that. She may be absolutely crazy for Naruto-kun, and incredibly fucking possessive of him the bitch, but she's one of the more dangerous fighters I've ever seen. She can take me down pretty easily, that's for sure." As Anko said that she looked like she was talking from experience.

Before any other questions could be asked she went on "Then there's me, Haku-chan the second of Naruto-kun's girlfriends the lucky bitch, and Temari-chan. And then, there are you three at the bottom. So, if you want to live, I suggest following orders."

Anko got up and prepared to leave but before she did she said "Oh, and if you want ANYTHING done, do it yourself. The zombies around here only answer to Naruto, Hogback, Absalom, and Perona. If anyone else tells them to do anything they'll be told to go fuck themselves. They'll cook and clean your rooms, but that's about it. Dinners in about three hours by the way so if you don't want to starve I suggest you show up."

Before Anko left though, everyone in the room saw something odd. Perona ran by clutching Haku by the arm. Perona's hair was undone, they were both in bathrobes, and they quickly went up the stairs.

Tayuya looked over and asked "What the hell was that?"

Anko sighed and said "That would be Haku and Perona, running up to Naruto's bedroom. The lucky bitches."

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto's room

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto had fallen asleep again by the time Perona and Haku got to his room. He had recovered slightly but he was still pretty tired. The two of them wondered if it was right to do something like this, but the lust they both felt overrode those thoughts.

Haku went over to Naruto's bedside and whispered into his ear "Naruto-kun" and sent a bolt of cold through his arm with a touch. He woke up almost immediately.

He looked around for who had caused that but was side tracked by a needy kiss from Perona, who had snuck up from behind Haku and got into the bed. Haku herself was staring at the two shyly, not really sure what to do in such a situation.

Perona broke the kiss and looked over to her as she said "Come on Haku-chan. Isn't this what you wanted?" As Perona said that, Haku watched as Perona made a few quick movements under the bed, and a robe slipped from the sheets to the floor.

XXXXXXXXX

WARNING LEMON ALERT **(1)**

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto looked to his pink haired lover and said "Perhaps, Perona-chan, we should simply show her what to do. This is her first time after all."

Perona nodded quickly and launched herself back into the kiss, throwing off the sheets so that she would have an easier time moving around. Haku blushed like a tomato at the size of Naruto's sculpted muscles and large dick and Perona's large, dangling breasts and shaved sex.

As the heated make out session went on, Naruto's hands wandered, running up and down her sides before coming to a rest on her breasts, tenderly squeezing the mounds of flesh, causing Perona to moan her approval.

Naruto broke the kiss and flipped Perona onto her back. Then he nipped the flesh of her throat, moving slowly downwards. Paying a long time on her breasts, running his tongue over them and giving them the attention that they evidently needed going by the hardened nipples. He kept going, causing her to moan and cry out in the ecstasy as he moved further downward, giving her slit a harsh lick.

Perona cried out for more, but Naruto was cruel even in a moment of passion. He took his time, simply running his hands over her smooth, pale thighs and licking only the very edges of the labia, giving pleasure in small amounts, teasing and torturing her.

"Naruto-kuuuuun." Perona whined "Don't tease me."

He looked up at her and grinned, enjoying her frustration. Alas, he gave in and gave her what she wanted, returning to her slit and her jewel that was engorged with blood and begging for attention. But he ignored it, licking the insides of the labia, but still taking it agonizingly slow.

Perona continued to moan, and Haku continued to stare as Naruto pierced her with a single finger, and then two, penetrating Perona much to her delight. All the while he continued to lap up her juices, loving the taste and the smell, and Perona loving the feeling of his fingers in her snatch and tongue fluttering along her vagina like hummingbird wings.

Naruto listened until Perona's moans gained in tempo, and her inner walls started to convulse, signaling her impending climax. The moment he received these signs, he immediately removed his fingers from her nether regions and his lips and tongue from the same.

"What, Naruto, don't stop!" Perona pleaded.

Naruto ignored her pleas and turned his attention to one of her thighs, moving his hands over the silky skin and kissing a certain spot a few times before suddenly and without warning, biting into it, not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough to leave a bright red love bite behind and to bring Perona back from the edge of ecstasy with a cry.

"Aaah, Naruto-kun, why did you, oooohhhhh." Perona moaned as he returned to his previous activity, pleasuring her once more, much to Perona's enjoyment and Haku's envy. She thought that it was almost her turn and she was forcing herself not to touch herself at the sight of Perona having her desires fulfilled.

It was after the second bite upon Perona's leg that Haku lost her patience to her lust. She stalked forward and pulled Naruto away from Perona's nether regions, much to the surprise of both of them, and engaged him in a fierce kiss.

Perona was absolutely pissed at that, and she immediately got onto her knees and moved over to the ice girl.

Unfortunately, Haku had her metaphorical number. She glanced over to the angry pink haired ghost princess and quickly shoved her hand right where the sun didn't shine and shoved chakra right into her mostly ignored clitoris.

After two rounds of Naruto's teasing, the surge of cold charka on that extremely sensitive organ sent Perona into a mind numbing orgasm that drenched the sheets below her as her eyes squeezed shut at the immense release that she had been denied for so long.

While Haku sent Perona into mind numbing pleasure and then watched as she melted into a contented puddle and recovered, Naruto regained control of the proceedings once more. He rose from the position he was in on his back and put his arms around Haku, admiring her abnormally cold skin temperature, resting one hand on her throat and the other upon her belly, near the knot that kept her bathrobe on.

As Haku froze immediately, one hand still upon Perona's clit, Naruto whispered into her ear "Now then, you don't think that I can let you off easily for ruining my fun, do you?"

Haku pulled her hand away from Perona's satisfied pleasure zone as she looked around her shoulder at Naruto's hungry eyes and shook her head slightly.

Naruto smiled a bit and said "I didn't think so." And then pulled apart the know that kept her robe on, causing it to open and with a little help slink off of Haku's body before it was thrown to the floor.

Haku was shocked and embarrassed at her sudden nudity, moving her hands to cover her breasts, and behind forward slightly, hiding herself.

Naruto frowned at that and whispered into her ear "Haku-chan, there's no need to be afraid, you don't need to hide your beauty, especially from me."

As he said this, one of his hands engulfed one of hers, removing it from her breast and lifting her to meet his eyes. Her eyes met those cold blue orbs as he took in the pale flesh, slightly frightened expression, raven black hair, long lovely legs, large breasts and shaved sex, adoring every detail.

He just said to her "Haku, do you trust me, do you love me?"

Haku closed her eyes and said "Yes, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled and moved forward and whispered "Then trust me too." Before catching her lips in a deep kiss which Haku returned with great passion.

Unlike with Perona, Naruto didn't torment Haku. He knew that this was her first time, so he didn't want to leave her with any marks or unpleasant experiences. He delicately cupped her breasts, brushing his thumbs against the hard nipples, causing her to gasp suddenly at the new sensation.

Naruto loved the cold feeling of Haku's skin against his warm palms, and Haku enjoyed the warmth of Naruto's hands against her cold breasts, writhing in the pleasure that he gave as he teased and molded the twin globes.

Naruto moved his mouth to her chest and took one of the nipples into his mouth, lavishing it with his tongue and gently biting down on it, causing her to let out a slight squeak at the unexpected feeling, but loving it nonetheless.

After a while, he positioned himself just the way Haku wanted him to and asked "Are you ready?" Haku nodded and he plunged himself in without warning or waiting, penetrating the hymen and taking Haku's virginity.

Haku let out a small cry of pain at the sudden intrusion and the flesh of her vagina was stretched further than ever before. As he began to thrust in and out however, that sharp pain vanished to be replaced with great pleasure.

Naruto himself however was also in bliss. The cold of her skin combined with the great heat that came from inside her had an immensely pleasing affect, and as Haku wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him in further, that effect was amplified.

With it being Haku's first time, she didn't last long. After a short time, she felt an immense heat come from inside her and immense, mind numbing pleasure that blocked out any thought except for that exact moment and as she climaxed she let out a great cry that echoed through the castle.

After that gigantic climax, Haku was spent and she went limp. However, Naruto was quite the stamina freak and kept going. Haku was in neither a position to protest nor of a particular disposition to tell him to stop. She just leaned back as best she could and enjoyed the feeling of him using her. This lasted for several minutes before she suddenly felt him twitch inside of her and a grunt from her savior and now lover before a large amount of hot fluid rushed from him into her. The feeling of his semen rushing into her set off Haku even more and she orgasmed again at the feeling. Alas that was too much for the ice girl and she promptly passed out from the pleasure overload.

Naruto panted a bit, still tired from his overextension earlier, but still conscious as he pulled out of Haku and pulled the covers over her in time to hear a familiar voice from behind him. "Well, that took you long enough."

Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw the girl who had said the words. Perona had been watching the whole thing and judging by the wet spot underneath her and her fingers dripping in fluid, she hadn't been idle at the sight.

Perona crawled forward and turned around, getting on her hands and knees and shaking her ass slightly as she said "Now that she's finally done, would you care to finish what you started?"

Naruto just smiled and said "Do you even have to ask Perona-chan?" Before he thrust himself into her with abandon, going swiftly and roughly, grabbing her behind as he pleasured her, and judging from Perona's loud moans he was doing a good job.

After a while Perona panted louder than before and her inner walls clenched down upon him, causing them to climax together in one moment of absolute pleasure just before Perona passed out.

Naruto smiled down at the sleeping princess before moving her to the top of the bed and laying her down before lying down beside her and brining the covers over them all.

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LEMON END

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Naruto looked over at the two naked sleeping girls and thought 'I will have to work hard so that I don't overextend myself again. I must learn my limits and then expand them. This power MUST be mastered. I know that it will take a long time, years at least before I could possibly consider myself a master, but I will take as long as I need to gain this strength. There is power to be gained, gold to steal, control and power to wrest from the pleading hands of their rightful owners, and much more. To do all of this, I need power. I will work, I will train, I will spy, I will plan, I will make myself stronger than anyone else before me and anyone who wants to stop me will die.'

And with those thoughts, Naruto drifted off to sleep as well beside his two lovers.

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(1) I know that I said that the lemons would be done by kyuub16 but I decided to give the whole sex writing this a second try and I think I did better this time around. Let me know how I did. To kyuubi16, if this goes well I'll be writing my own lemons from here on out. I hope you aren't mad or anything.

Okay, gigantic chapter right here, the biggest in the story so far in fact. I hope you enjoyed it. As for the various things mentioned in this chapter, the Accords, the Faerie Courts, and the like, those will be explained in greater detail later on, and they will probably be a pretty big plot point.

As for the lemon, people have been clamoring for one for god knows how long, there it is, enjoy it.

With that said, I will see you next IN SHIPPUDEN! That's right, that's the end of part one. The next chapter will be after the three year time skip. A bit of an awkward transition I know, but I can be a bit lazy at times. For god's sake people, lazy is pretty much in my name! What did you expect, a workaholic?

Anyway, that's all I've got to say, I hope you enjoyed the revelations, the plot points, the lemon, the foreshadowing, and the entirety of part one, so I shall leave you now and remember to review.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	46. Chapter 46

Okay guys, long story short, my computer is pretty fucked up and I am borrowing a laptop to get this message up. Just so you know, don't expect any new chapters for a few weeks. I will be back as soon as I can, but until then don't expect any new updates. I truly am sorry, I'll get the next chapter up ASAP, but until then.

With deepest apologies,

Artful Lounger


	47. Chapter 47

I'm baaaaaack! Ah, you guys have no idea how good it feels to be writing again. Finally starting on the Shippuden section of the story and really getting into the long term plot is absolutely amazing. I'm sorry about the incredibly long delay, but my computer is fixed now and I'll be writing again at my usual pace.

It's amazing how one tiny corrupted file can screw up everything in a computer if it's in the right spot. I had it looked at and though I could have had it fixed, it would have cost an insane amount. In fact, I just bought a whole new computer, uploaded everything I had on the old hard drive into it (Thanks to my foresight in having everything on my computer backed up), save the corrupted file which I had re-written, and worked it from there. Was it difficult? No, I have a friend who knows computers but he couldn't fix the original problem. Was buying a new, state of the art, computer expensive? Maybe to some people, but this is one of those times when I love having the benefit of having more money than I really know what to do with.

Sorry by the way if the general layout of the chapter is a bit different, new Word Processor and all that.

Now then, it's been quite a while and I have fallen behind with my manga reviews so I will have to remedy that immediately. My solution is to do not one, but TWO manga reviews in the same chapter. Yes ladies and gentlemen you heard me right, you get a double helping of criticism today, you should be happy. It's Christmas in November!

Now then, I have nothing more to say so let's get started on the manga reviews, and then we can FINALLY get started on Shippuden. Enjoy!

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Naruto Spoilers

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In Naruto chapter 423, the battle rages on! No sign of Naruto, which is to be expected. No sign of Sasuke, which is a blessing, and no sign of Killer Bee, which is disappointing.

The thing is focusing on Kakashi and Pein fighting. Also, Chouza and Chouji are helping Kakashi. Almost forgot about that. Anyway, apparently the ability of the 'God Realm' body is the ability to manipulate gravity to a certain extent. Either blasting enemies away from him or bringing them toward him. Also, that long range combat body is almost totaled.

It went on, and apparently that ability can blow away any attack from above, below, or any direction. However, it has an interval on how quickly it can be used. It's short but it's there. The three of them aimed for that interval.

The group attempted a calculated strike against the God Realm body and Pein used that blast, only for Kakashi to come after him with a Raikiri to the face.

Only that broken body I told you about before moved and jumped in the way, taking damage and slowing the strike allowing the God Realm blast to 're-charge' in time to be used.

As the chapter ends, Kakashi is buried up to his neck in rubble and Pein uses that ability to send a nail straight at his head from medium range, Kakashi being unable to dodge or block.

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In chapter 424, the action continues. Danzou and his ROOT forces are hiding undergroud waiting for Pein to win and Tsunade to die. That's Danzou's plan. He's betting on the fact that with Tsunade's healing abilities and leadership skills, Konoha won't be completely destroyed. He's hoping that Pein will kill Tsunade so that he can become Hokage. Big surprise.

Then it shows one of those mini-Katsuyus we haven't seen since the Tanzaku-Gai Sannin battle healing a guy with Tsunade controllling them all from a distance, surrounded by guards. She's amazed at the number of casualties and all that.

Moving on, it then segues to that interrogation with Inoichi and those others probing that poor Ame bastard's mind looking for information on Pein. They show a few scenes with the guy drinking and gambling before showing a piece where he's helping to bring a body into a tower, saying that all dead bodies are brought to that tower and that rumor has it that Pein is in there. The body is recognizable as that of the 'Animal Realm' Pein.

After that Shizune breaks in and says that with the information from the interrogation combined with the information she currently has, they can solve the puzzle of Pein. Am I a bad person for wanting Pein to swoop in and kill everyone there? Because if I am I don't really care. Oh yes, that's right. It shows the Animal Realm and Human Realm Pein bodies outside the interrogatoin building going in, silly me. GO PEIN!

Then it returns to the Kakashi Pein battle. Kakashi is slumped over being near useless while Chouji is weeping over his father who is apparently badly injured. Then Pein tells him to get to Tsunade and tell her about Pein's powers, not to sit there moping like a bitch. Or something like that. Chouji gets over his surprise and gets moving, only for that broken long range Pein body (Damn that thing can take a beating) to launch a missile at Chouji from his broken mechanical arm.

After that Kakashi goes on an internal monologue for a bit on how using his Mangekyou Sharingan to destroy the missile would completely exhaust his chakra reserves and kill him. He already used it once to save himself from that nail that Pein sent at his head and that if he did it again, he was a dead man.

Just before the chapter ends, Kakashi just says that it's up to the next generation, it shows a flash of Kakashi's Mangekyou, and then the missile disappears. Kakashi closes his eyes, and his last thoughts are 'Obito…Rin.' Then the chapter ends.

To that, I solemnly say: DING DONG, THE HYPOCRITE'S DEAD! Now excuse me while I break out into song and dance. In the meantime, read the chapter.

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Summary of last chapter

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In the last chapter of Kage no Naruto, Naruto launched an all out invasion of southern Tsuchi no Kuni. An entire town was slaughtered by the masses of undead warriors, and their corpses brought home to be disected and used by Hogback. However, using so many zombies tired Naruto extremely and he went back home, only to collapse in the entry hall.

Hogback, Absalom, and Perona put him in his bedroom, and Perona explains what went wrong to the other two of them, and help explain how Necromancy is worked. After that she goes to watch over Naruto.

Tsunade calls together a meeting of her most powerful Jounin and Jiraiya, and she has Jiraiya summon the Elder Toads to help them gain knowledge of Necromancers. She learns that there are a great many forces that she doesn't know about. They find out what Naruto is somewhat capable of and what he is probably after, the Word of Kemmler, which Jiraiya goes to search for. Everyone leaves Tsunade and the Toads to talk.

Naruto wakes up and has a private celebration of victory with Perona and Haku if you know what I mean, and that is the end of the chapter. And now begins Shippuden. Enjoy!

There was more than that in the chapter, but it's been a while and I don't feel like re-reading my own chapter to find out what the hell happened in extreme detail. Sorry if it lacks detail, so bear with me.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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It had been three years for the inhabitants of Dark Heaven Castle. Three years since Naruto pressed the Sound Four into service and created the Kimmimaro zombie. Three years since Naruto all but declared war on Tsuchi no Kuni. Three years since Konoha started to actively seek him out. Three years since Naruto began to grow stronger.

Over the last three years, Naruto had changed somewhat. He no longer wore the skin tight material as a shirt that showed every muscle. He replaced the latex with a shirt of black silk, a comfortable material that didn't show exactly where everything was. Other than that he changed his wardrobe little.

He had grown even more over the last three years. With Kyuubi's unnatural assistance he now stood at a towering 7'0. In his opinion, it just made it harder to get clothes to fit, but he did acknowledge its edge in making an impression.

In the days of old, Naruto wore black gloves of leather, he had forsaken those gloves and had replaced them, wearing several rings of gold, each of them set with a number of diamonds. Three rings for each index, middle, ring, and little finger, all of them inscribed with seals upon the inner surface. He also wore two bracelets upon his wrists, the one on his left was of braided silver, though it held several other metals. Upon the bracelet hung several medieval shields made of solid silver, nickel, copper, gold, and brass.

Upon his right wrist he wore a bracelet of black metal, upon that band were several golden plates inscribed with archaic, blocky runes. He knew that his defenses were immense with the Shadow Shield and his own abilities, but Naruto never stopped at an opportunity to grow stronger. In his opinion, no defense was too extensive. He had grown somewhat paranoid and was always prepared to add new defenses to his person.

He demonstrated this even further with a change to his coat. Underneath the shadows that lined the inside of the jacket and contained hundreds of weapons, upon the leather of the coat, were rows and rows of seals written in a flowing silver ink. These seals augmented the leather of the jacket, making it extremely resilient to heat, cold, kinetic damage, and other ailments. It acted as a further layer of armor that he constantly improved over the years, making his coat more difficult to damage than three inch thick steel.

In the past he had held his sword upon his back, but that had passed. He now kept the sword Zanmato in the storage shadow underneath the bracelet on his right hand. In its place was now a long staff of twisted, gnarled black wood, runic figures carved into it. The staff was meant for a single purpose, to act as a focus of earth chakra. Naruto had mastery over wind and water, but his ability to wield earth as a weapon was nowhere near as easy. He required assistance and the staff provided it, making earth techniques easier and more powerful.

The thing that changed the most however, was Naruto himself. In the past he was always calculating, showing little emotion or joy, enjoying little or no indulgement. That time had passed. He had indulged himself immensely in the bounties of war, doing what all great conquerors did and surrounding himself with the finer things in life. He ate several times what the normal human would be able to tolerate every day, and he slept often, sometimes for days at a time.

He had also grown quite intimate with Perona and Haku. Trying more and more things at night, and he would sleep with one or both of them almost every day. He had also grown more intolerant of failure. He kept his emotions and rage more or less in check on a day to day basis, but when he was angered he went out and leveled buildings in pure, mindless wrath.

Many would say that with the amount of food he ate, he would look like an Akimichi but that wasn't true. His own pride would not allow him to become horrendously fat such as the members of the Akimichi clan. He trained, not often, but enough that he would keep his weight in check, and his body strong.

The things that had grown the most however, were his envy, and his greed. He had waged his war on Tsuchi no Kuni for three straight years, conquering town after town, city after city, especially the ones in the mountains.

Many would look at this situation and say that he was attacking the country so that he could obtain bodies to help build the Special Zombie, and they would be wrong. Yes, he obtained countless bodies from the battles, but that was a side benefit. To him the true purpose of the constant fighting was nothing other than riches.

Tsuchi no Kuni was the absolute most powerful country, economically speaking. They had the largest treasury in the world. The reason behind this was because of the large and numerous mountain chains that wound throughout the country. These mountains were riddles with veins upon veins of precious metals, and in turn great shafts riddled the mountains searching for the veins of ore. Copper, iron, silver, bronze, and most importantly, gold were in ready supply. Large reserves of precious gems such as rubies, sapphires, opals, and diamonds could also be found in the country, and it was for that wealth, not the bodies, nor the pleasure of slaughter that drew him to Tsuchi no Kuni. His Envy of their riches, and his greed to obtain as much gold as possible, even though he had no reason to have any at all.

Aside from Naruto however, no one in that old castle had changed much at all. The Sound Four had grown more experienced and sometimes assisted Absalom and Perona in a siege when Naruto attacked. They had a long way to go, but they were definitely better than they were before. Perona, Hogback, and Absalom still formed his counsel and were the only ones he trusted. Anko remained as murderous as ever, and Temari had changed little over the years, growing more powerful certainly, and growing taller. She had changed from a teenage, experienced girl into a young woman with great talent.

He had grown out his zombified army as well. Over time he had lowered his standards a bit, preferring quantity over quality however slightly, which led to the creation of no less than four hundred new Soldier Zombies, and three new Generals. Among these Generals were Momochi Zabuza to Haku's shock. Though she did recover and accept it, she still did not expect anything like that. It had been an ordeal for Naruto to convince Haku of his reasoning, but she eventually relented and went with Naruto's commands.

The other two Generals were a man whom he gave four arms and he wielded four swords, and was coated in plate armor. He was known as Grievous.

The second General was a beast of a creature. Eight feet tall and thick with muscle, wearing thick armor he wielded a gigantic machete that had manufactured niches in it meant to catch and break swords. He also wielded two small hatchets that were kept at his belt. This General was known as Zodd.

Naruto ate breakfast in silence, as usual. Nobody mentioned anything as he went through the mountain of food. Eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, pancakes, toast, and many other breakfast foods were devoured by the gigantic man, yet he finished roughly at the same time that the others did.

After everyone was done eating, the maid zombies emerged to clean up the mess.

Naruto nodded at Absalom and said "Let's go", before walking out of the room, the beast man hot on his heels. It was time for another siege. It wasn't a question of whether they would win, but rather how much of a fight would the people put up and how badly did the people want to survive. Those were the only two variables in Naruto's equation of Conquest. The two went through the castle, gathered together the Soldiers and Generals that they would bring with them, and departed into a doorway summoned by their master.

It was a sudden transition from dank stone castle to rough mountainside. The city before them was circled with thick stone walls and within it hid a hoard of people that in Naruto's opinion really had no reason to live. What purpose would they serve to him? They did not obey his orders and fight his battles, nor did they provide him pleasure, rest, or wealth, or build his armies. If they did not do anything like that, then the only purpose to Naruto that they could fulfill was the providence of flesh to be used to create the first Special Zombie in millennia.

So, Naruto watched from the back of the host and said a single word. "Charge"

He did not say it loudly, but the servants nearest to him heard, and soon the soft spoken command rent the air with noise as the undead legions swarmed forward in a mindless obedience to their lord and master.

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With Konoha

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Just as three years had passed for the inhabitants of Dark Heaven Castle, three years had passed in Konoha as well. Three years that the people there put to good use. Gennin became Chuunin, he Jounin grew stronger, and other things occurred. As the years passed, trade increased. The village began to heal from its many injuries. The physical damage from the Oto invasion was completely healed and they had begun to regain their losses in personnel that died fighting Orochimaru and his followers. It wasn't easy, but the village managed to prosper however slightly.

With the increase in numbers, more people learned that Konoha was strong again, although weaker than before. That did not matter however as it encouraged people to bring missions to the village, which they eagerly accomplished for the much needed funding. Slowly but surely, as with all things, the village had begun to heal from its grievous wounds. The new power supply was finished and paid for, and they had even been able to start paying back their loan to the Fire Lord, who was kind enough to excuse any interest upon their debt.

Lee had tutored under Gai ever since the day he recovered from his defeat at the hands of Kimmimaro and had done his best to become stronger. He sought to finally find his old teammate and do his best to set him straight, he knew that Gai would help him, but if their efforts should fail they both knew what they would have to do and had come to terms with it enough to perform the act if they had to, though they would both detest the necessity.

Squads 8 and 10 hadn't changed at all in the terms of their membership save for the deaths of their teammates. Hinata, and Kiba still worked under Kurenai and together had become a powerful scouting and tracking unit. Asuma still commanded Shikamaru, and Ino who had become an excellent spying and infiltration group, though they still mourned Chouji's death. The members of all of them had become Chuunin in the last three years.

Unlike the others though, Team 7 was officially disbanded at the failure of retrieving Sasuke. Tenten had decided to train on her own, though she occasionally received help from Gai, and she had no set squad, often taking part in missions with other groups that needed another member. Sakura on the other hand, after much begging and pleading, was tutored by Tsunade herself. She may have been ignorant of the ways of the world before, but her single minded devotion to finding Sasuke had given her the drive to excel in her training, and she had also become a decent medical ninja. Tsunade may not have liked her, but she had to give the girl some amount of credit, when it came to healing she had somewhat of a gift.

More than anything else though, the village had increased its security. They had learned their lesson when hoardes of Oto ninja swarmed their village and killed the Sandaime three years before. More patrols were scheduled and background checks were even more thorough then before. In addition, they had several of the village ninja who were proficient with seals place a barrier around the village that would allow them to know whenever someone crossed it. Two ANBU squads stayed on permanent stand-by twenty-four-seven prepared to respond to such intrusions.

The thing that had grown the most over the populace of Konoha was a single emotion, namely fear.

They could not cross the border without giving grounds for war, but their spies had reported what was going on in Tsuchi n Kuni. The relentless assault that Naruto was waging upon the land, slaughtering tens of thousands and razing the villages to the ground. The method of dealing with things changed if it was a town with a mine of some kind. In those cases he enslaved the workers, forcing them to extract whatever treasure the old caves had. They were treated harshly and brutally, working for eighteen hours a day or more if the mood struck him to increase the hours and given the minimum of food and water to continue living. Nobody knew what Naruto did with the riches he extracted from the country. Some speculated that he was building a grand army of mercenaries to conquer more territory for his selfish purposes. Others believed that he was procuring funds to forge one of the greatest trade empires ever seen, though they were fewer in number than the first group. Others believed that he was simply hoarding it away in whatever dark den he decided to make his home. Either way, the death toll in Tsuchi no Kuni climbed with every attack in Iwa ninja, civilians, and the militia that the Earth Lord conscripted to help fight the threat.

It was common sense that if the Earth Daimyo simply asked for assistance from his fellow countries then he would have a much greater chance of pushing back his invaders, but still he threatened the various countries with war if any armed forces from another country or village were caught in his lands. It was obvious that his current forces could not stop Naruto, yet he did not call for aid.

It was a well known fact that the Earth Daimyo was a fool consumed with greed and pride. His own pride would not allow him to ask for help and his lust for gold and wealth had long since clouded his judgment. It was obvious to any that looked that his forces could not hope to defend any city in his country, save two. The only two places that might be well defended enough to repel Naruto's forces were Iwagakure, the ninja village led by the Tsuchikage, or the country's capital city of Houfu, where the Earth Daimyo, Lord Yokushin, resided protected by his most powerful guards and an army of samurai.

Alas, until Lord Yokushin called for aid, nobody could assist the Lord for fear of attracting his wrath, and if by unlikely chance he DID win his war and defeat Naruto then everyone wanted to stay on his good side. The man may have been a fool, but a man with that much wealth at his fingertips was not one to be crossed lightly.

Many tales had travelled though, through the lands of how warriors who would not die overran the forces set to guard the various cities, but the greatest tales were of the Beast Man and the Ghost Woman who could rip through men as though they were paper and annihilate entire buildings with impunity. Nobody recognized the descriptions of the Ghost Woman, but the Beast Man Tsunade recognized and had him listed as an A-rank criminal in the Konoha Bingo Book with a sketch by Tsunade for a picture, same went for the Ghost Woman though her entry had no picture. Both had a bounty of two million Ryo, enough to live comfortably for over a decade.

The greatest tales though had been of Naruto himself. He hardly ever participated in the battle directly. He stayed on the sidelines and commanded his warriors as any great King or General would do. Whenever someone had reached him though they always died quickly. The few times that he had ever directly acted in battle was during the siege of a great city, such as the trade capital of Naiya which was the home of a great diamond mine. It was so important that it had an entire citadel and army devoted to the city's protection with great thick walls of stone surrounding it on three sides, the mountain on the fourth.

The city was well managed. The General of the army and Lord of the city, who were the same person, commanded the army with extreme skill and devastating strategy. Such was the Lord's abilities that he actually pushed the army of Naruto back. That was when he intervened directly. It was said that men were sliced to pieces as Naruto approached and that the winds and earth themselves turned upon them, cutting men apart and with a slam of his staff people fell into great gaps in the ground. Strange green blasts reduced men to a liquefied mess, and others were smashed against the walls of the city walls with bone disintegrating force. When it came to the city walls themselves, another of those green blasts reduced a great chunk of the stone to fine dust and allowed his warriors to break through, and when it came to the citadel itself he simply crushed it under gigantic rocks that under his command fell from the height of the mountain. The city was laid to waste but not before every last man, woman, and child was handed a pickaxe, hammer, chisel, and bucket, and forced to work in the great mine of the city.

It was months afterward, when he was sure that every last gem was extracted from the old cave, that he ordered the workers into the mine again and unexpectedly collapsed the tunnels by detonating explosives planted in the ceiling of the tunnels closest to the exit, trapping everyone inside there forever. Rescues were attempted but all ended in failure due to a combination of the mine's instability, further explosives hidden in the rubble, and the lack of men to send to the place. It was considered a horrifying massacre and it earned the enmity of all the countries when they heard of it.

The most chilling tales were that most of the places attacked by Naruto never had any dead. The bodies co8uld not be found. There was blood, and not a single gold piece or scrap of food left in the city or village, but the people were simply gone. It is because of this and the famous assault of Korin where he brought the dead to life and forced them to slaughter the living that he was known as Capiorcorpus no Naruto. Naruto the Corpsetaker, or more often simply Corpsetaker. He was listed as an S-class criminal in every country for his cruelty and crimes against humanity itself. His bounty varied from country to country but in every case it was over five million Ryo, enough to retire early no matter what your age.

He was however as hard to find as he is well known. He appeared and vanished out of nowhere before and after every sieges and he had never been seen outside of Tsuchi no Kuni since his assault upon Tsunade at Tanzaku-Gai three years before. The only place where he had stayed in Iwa for any length of time was in a conquered city where he was extracting the wealth from any mines or natural resources that city had before he killed the people, and those cities were well guarded to the extreme. The only place where you could be sure to find him was at the sidelines of a great assault or walking amongst the dead bodies of those that fell before him and those he commanded. A fell omen of death for the people whose lives had been so bright the day before and nothing more.

Very few cared much for Tsuchi no Kuni's plight, in fact only Konoha and Suna even wanted to held the Earth Country and its Lord. The reason for this is quite simple. Those two nations knew that Naruto would not stay in Tsuchi no Kuni forever, they knew that when the country of the Earth was conquered, its people dead and its riches plundered, that he would turn his burning gaze to the other countries and continue his bloody crusade. They knew that one day, Naruto would come for them, and they trained their ninja, and their soldiers in preparation for that dark day.

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With Akatsuki

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In a dank cavern stood three mysterious figures. They were immaterial and rainbows splashed across them, making them almost impossible to make out but for three facts. One of them had small eyes like a fish, the second had eyes of crimson, and the third had eyes of grey concentric circles.

The man known as Pein, leader of the Akatsuki, gave his orders thus "You are to infiltrate Tsuchi no Kuni and capture the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki Capiorcorpus no Naruto. You are to leave immediately and without delay."

The two figures bowed and said "Yes, Leader-sama." And one of the figures vanished.

Before the other could however, the figure that was the leader of the Akatsuki said "Itachi…." And the other figure paused.

The leader of Akatsuki said to Uchiha Itachi "Itachi, you failed to capture his man once, I will not forgive a second failure. Do you understand me?"

The figure merely nodded and said "Yes, Leader-sama." Before vanishing as well.

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In Kaze no Kuni, near Sunagakure

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While Tsuchi no Kuni had its problems and AKatsuki were attacking one of the most infamous men in the world, in another part of the globe in a great desert sat a desert city filled with ninja. They were led by the Kazekage Gaara. After killing his own brother Kankuro, he was detained in Suna and the seal was finally seen to. Gaara was made sane, and was allowed to rest for the first time in years. After that good things followed Gaara's career. No longer forced to kill for peace of mind, he turned his wrath to the enemies of his country and in time replaced his father as Kazekage, although a Kazekage with little trust from his elders. They had not forgotten that Gaara once murdered his own brother Kankuro in the forests of Konoha years before.

That is hardly important however compared to another important event heading straight toward Suna, just within the view of the outermost scouts.

This event wore straw hats with bells, and black cloaks with red clouds.

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(Drops into a dramatic pose) the Hypocrite's DEEEEEEEEAAAAAAD!!! (Takes notice of surroundings) Oh, you finished that already? Okay then.

I'm sorry if this chapter isn't as long as you hoped it would be, but I hope that I did okay with the transition from Naruto to Naruto Shippuden without making it look bad. I'm sorry it's been so long, I really am, but I am back in action and will get chapter forty seven uploaded as soon as I can.

With great joy, Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	48. Chapter 48

Hello all, this is Artful Lounger here with none other than Kage no Naruto chapter forty eight! By the way, sorry to anyone who felt disappointed or anything by the last chapter, I will admit that it was a bit of a rush job, so it could have been better.

Alas, what has happened has happened and there is no changing it so let's just move on.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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In the latest Naruto manga, Kakashi is seriously dead. Anyone who had doubt should discard it because he is finally gone. How do I know? He went into a flashback and just before it ended it showed him at a campfire talking with his FATHER! He is dead ladies and gentlemen without a shadow of a doubt. HOORAY!

As for the rest of the chapter, it turns out that Naruto can't use Sage Mode with Fukasaku because the Kyuubi is rejecting him or something like that. ANOTHER weapon stripped from Naruto by Kishimoto. Oh well, who didn't see it coming?

Also, the Animal Realm Pein has started attacking the interrogation department. The Mini-Katsuyus managed to save everyone inside though. Ibiki and a few ANBU are going to fight the Animal Realm Pein while Shizune and Inoichi leave to consolidate the information they collected. Just before it ends, they show Konohamaru watching everything through a window. And that's it.

A moderate chapter at bet, more than a bit pissed off that Kishimoto has given Naruto ANOTHER good technique that he can't use, though seeing Pein go into battle trying to protect his secrets is kind of cool and seeing Kakashi die was absolutely incredible. Could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse.

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Summary of last chapter

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Right, more or less people grew. Naruto's been leading a siege against Tsuchi no Kuni for three years and the Daimyo has not allowed anyone to come to his aid so it's been Iwa and the civilian police and military forces against Naruto's armies for three years.

Naruto has been leading a bloody campaign through Iwa's mines and cities, robbing and looting and should the town have a mine of gold or jewels, or iron or other precious material, the people would be enslaved alive and forced to work until the mine was completely tapped before they were all killed. He has shown no mercy or any sign of letting up.

Meanwhile, Konoha has begun to grow again since they are as close to normal as they have been since the Sand/Sound invasion three years before. The people are doing their best to live on and thrive despite their losses. They have also managed to increase the number of shinobi for fear of Naruto attacking.

Akatsuki has remained dormant for three years, but no more. Pein sent Deidara and Sasori to capture Gaara, the now Kazekage, while sending Itachi and Kisame to capture Naruto in Tsuchi no Kuni which is the only place that he has been seen. Without further ado, let the chapter begin!

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Dark Heaven Castle

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The army had returned after the last attack. The town had little to offer in the way of supplies. Apparently food had become scarce in light of the repeated attacks upon caravans trying to enter the country and the burning and salting of every bit of farmland that they could get their hands on. The morale of the soldiers had broken quickly and they were quickly overrun.

They brought home with them what they usually brought home from such raids: the bodies of the slaughtered people and soldiers to be stripped down into raw material which would be used to create the Special Zombie, iron which had been looted from the various smiths and storehouses around the town, which was always useful to forge weapons and armor, and of course gold and other forms of wealth. The town wasn't the richest of them, though the defenses were thick in their own way. From what Naruto's spies could ferret out, most of the ninja were stuck defending Iwagakure and the capital. As a result the defenses of the towns they had been attacking were mostly made up of a small corp. of trained soldiers sent by Lord Yokushin supplemented by a quickly conscripted militia of townspeople hardly able to fight. They were essentially lambs for the slaughter before Naruto's near immortal, painless force of trained fighters.

At the moment, the zombies were transporting the wealth of the city to the cluster of sealed off rooms that had become the treasure vault. The rooms were piled high with coins and bars of lustrous gold, gemstones of every shape, size, and color sparkled in the lighting, great artifacts of great value such as ancient suits of armor and precious books lined the walls, it was one of the greatest collections of precious items in the world, and it was meticulously guarded. The door was of solid four inch thick steel reinforced by Naruto's seals and other methods that could only be bypassed by him. If someone tried to open those doors without shutting down the defenses, which only Naruto himself could do, they would be lucky if there was anything more of them than a greasy spot on the floor.

As the zombies lugged in bags of gold, chests of jewels, and other valuables found in the city, now burning to the ground, they were watched by Naruto and Hogback. They both trusted that the bodies would be properly delivered to Hogback's lab, but Naruto never let anyone enter the vault unwatched. He was most jealous of his horde.

Hogback asked Naruto as he watched two zombies struggle with a large marble statue "Tell me Naruto-sama, what did you obtain during this raid?"

Naruto smiled and took a clipboard from a called upon zombie and looked upon it as he said "Three thousand, four hundred pounds of gold, in both coins and ingots. Seventeen diamonds of high quality, a suit of armor that was worn by the founder of Tsuchi no Kuni himself as he established his domain several hundred years ago, and fourteen hundred pounds of silver. Those are the greatest of the treasures that we garnered, a nest egg worth almost seventy million Ryo if not more. It doesn't mention the several hundred pounds of iron ore that was found, or anything of the like. There IS more of course but it would be boring to list it all to a person."

Hogback nodded, conceding the point. Then, after a moment, he asked "Naruto-sama, I'm just wondering, after all these years, why Tsuchi no Kuni? You may try to fool others that it is merely greed that drives you and you do it quite well, but I'm a good enough judge of character and have known you long enough to know that you must have ulterior motives to your actions. You always do."

Naruto immediately glared down at the shorter man, whispering "Interesting, how did you know Hogback? I did my best not to mention any other reason to attack this country to anyone, and I did my best to appear unconcerned with anything else in my conquering. How did you know?"

Hogback laughed, a strange high pitched sound before he said "You underestimate my intelligence Naruto-sama, you may not mention it, but you take many other things than wealth from these cities and I learned long ago that you were too intelligent to be so easily taken by pure greed. There are always multiple reasons for your actions. But in all honesty, I wasn't entirely sure until you told me just now."

Naruto stood there, stunned for a second at the thought. Then he chuckled a bit under his breath, he couldn't help it. He was so used to advanced ploys that were always complex traps and snares that he overlooked a simple possibility and the thought amused him slightly. "Well, it looks like I will have to guard my motives more closely in the future Hogback." Then he broke into another fit of quiet chuckling.

Naruto sighed and then turned to the shorter doctor and said "Very well then, if you truly want to know then it would not hurt to tell you, you've earned it in any case. You are correct that there are more reasons behind this assault than meets the eye. There is the wealth of course and I will admit that it was one of the first reasons I thought to attack Tsuchi no Kuni."

He looked over to the grand piles of precious metals being carried in as he mumbled to himself "I cannot help myself in that regard, I love gold tremendously and I do not know why. It has gotten to the point where I cannot bear not having some amount of it upon my person at all times, it's luster, it's allure, I can't help but look at it as a fly does a bug zapper, utterly entranced. I know that it may be used against me but at the same time I can't bring myself to care. It's quite disconcerting at times."

Naruto shook his head and looked back to the doctor and said "It is one of the reasons I wear these rings upon my fingers Hogback. I couldn't leave without them. I couldn't let something this beautiful go without use though, so I actually did a bit of experimenting with this metal."

Hogback tilted his head slightly to one side, not even having to speak his question and at the same time afraid that speaking might stop Naruto from speaking. He did not give up information often. Naruto went on "Most people know that gold is a soft metal, too soft for weapons or armor. I couldn't bear leaving such things be useless, so I experimented and researched the metal's properties and I found something remarkable. When treated properly, the metal can be hardened while still remaining pure. These rings are made from a normally soft metal yet they can take more punishing that three inch thick steel before suffering a scratch. Another thing that I learned is that gold can contain an immense amount of energy, and gemstones can contain even more. I put seals upon the inner surfaces of these rings and made them from metal jewelry into deadly weapons."

Naruto looked at one of the rings on his forefinger and quietly said "Each of these rings can take in chakra and retain it. The seals turn that chakra into kinetic energy that I can release at will. At full power a single one could knock over one of Konoha's great trees. And I have made sure to fill every one of them to the brim. I have taken my weakness and made it a strength. The bracelets are also fixed with various defensive and offensive properties. I cannot turn away from the wealth but I can at least make it more useful than anyone would expect."

Naruto shook his head as though returning from a trance and said "I'm sorry, my mind wandered away. But as I was saying there are many reasons to attack Tsuchi no Kuni. For example…."

Naruto put one hand out to the side and said "Look over here." The moment Hogback did he mimed puching him with his other hand, causing the doctor to flinch. Naruto looked over and asked "Do you understand?"

After a moment, Hogback said quietly "A distraction." And Naruto nodded.

Naruto explained "While I draw attention to Tsuchi no Kuni, the various lords pay less attention to places where I don't want them to pay attention to. As I attack Earth Country, I have agents combing the other countries for The Word of Kemmler. However, that has become increasingly difficult."

"Why's that Naruto-sama?" Hogback asked.

"JIRAIYA'S FUCKING SPY NETWORK!" Naruto yelled. "THAT BASTARD HAS BEEN DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO FIND THE FUCKING BOOK! I DON'T KNOW HOW HE FOUND OUT ABOUT IT, BUT HE'S LOOKING FOR IT TOO, AND I FEAR THAT HE MAY BE GETTING CLOSE!!! IT CAUSES ME UNFATHOMABLE RAGE AT THE VERY THOUGHT!!!"

At this point Hogback started to edge away. If Naruto lost control of himself to his own wrath it was doubtful that he would survive, no matter how important he was, and in Hogback's experience Naruto was about as stable as a chunk of Uranium right now. He would run but that might have set him off.

After a moment Naruto managed to control himself, breathing rather deeply, but in control of himself. Then he said, very quietly, "I can't stand the thought of that old bastard getting to the book before me. It is MINE, and nobody else can hope to claim it. Nobody can take from me, _what is mine_ is _mine_ _forever._ "

Then Naruto fully regained his composure and said "But aside from that, there is the reason of attacking the other nations in ways that they don't expect. Tsuchi no Kuni is one of the world's top three producers of iron ore. It makes up almost twenty percent of their economy. It is also of a higher quality than the iron sold by other countries so it is quite sought after by weapon smiths. It is this iron that invariably finds its way to the smiths that work in the hidden villages and make their weapons. Not directly, but by third parties, the ore is made into ninja quality weaponry. Depriving them of quality weapons will only help my long term ambitions."

After that Naruto just said quietly "There, you have my reasons, now begone from here Hogback, you doubtless have work to do. Get to it."

Hogback bowed and quickly left after saying the usual "Yes, Naruto-sama."

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In Konoha

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Tsunade was holding court as usual in the mission room, assigning various missions to the various squads and hoping that she made the right choice of team for a specific mission. At the moment, the reformed Team seven stood before her, comprised of Kakashi, Sakura, Tenten, and a strange boy from ROOT called Sai who Danzou managed to force into the squad with the help of the other Elders.

Before she could give them the mission she planned to though, a mid B-rank difficulty mission to escort a trade convoy, a messenger charged into the room yelling "We have an emergency Godaime-Sama!"

Tsunade looked over immediately and inquired "What is it? Is Naruto finally attacking us?"

The messenger shook her head and said "No, we have no new information about the Corpsetaker, but this is just as important if not more so."

She handed over the message at Tsunade's order and she quickly read it over. "WHAT THE HELL!" Tsunade snarled.

"What is it?" Asked Kakashi.

Tsunade bit her thumbnail and said "Sunagakure's Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, has been captured by the Akatsuki."

The entire room was in shock at this news. This was extremely bad news. If it was the Tsuchikage or Raikage they would probably be cheering, but this was horrendous.

Tsunade acted quickly and said "We have to send a team immediately to assist Suna, and we don't have time to get one put together."

Natsuki looked over and said "Tsunade-sama, you can't be intending to send Team Kakashi over to deal with Akatsuki! They're mostly Chuunin!"

Tsunade silenced her with a glare and said "It doesn't matter, we need to get a team over there immediately."

Then she turned to Team seven and said "Right, as of now your new mission is to reply to this message from Sunagakure. You are to assess the situation and send a report back to Konoha. You are also to obey their orders and do whatever you can to ensure the safe return of the Godaime Kazekage. Am I understood?"

After the resounding cry of 'Yes, Hokage-sama!' she waved a hand at them and yelled "Then get going!" Before the four of them dashed out of the room.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Naruto was sitting in his office, a small room adjacent to his bedroom, pouring over a map of Tsuchi no Kuni. He was mapping out the next part of his campaign. He had conquered the southern regions and the more unfortunate mountain towns. There weren't many cities in the northern mountain chains. The roads around there were difficult and there was little farmland to grow food, and thanks to the rough terrain it was only occasionally that a caravan of merchants managed to reach the region. The only important cities were to the East of the country where Iwagakure and Houfu, the capital, laid.

At this moment he was planning the order upon which he would assault the last few cities before attacking the areas with the greatest defenses. It was during this introspection that a zombie knocked on the door and shouted "Master, we have reports that you may want to read immediately!"

At Naruto's approval, the messenger entered and said "Here are the reports Master." Naruto took the papers and ordered the creature to leave, and it immediately obeyed.

Naruto looked over the papers quickly, a bit irritated. 'Hmmm, normal stuff this is, Houfu is having its garrisons fattened in preparation for my arrival there, it is good to see such a large sacrifice offered to me. As for this one, nothing special, not much progress in locating the Word, though I suppose all I have to do is wait for Jiraiya to find it and then take it from him.'

Then he stumbled upon one report that caught his interest. 'Gaara has been captured by Akatsuki hmm? I haven't thought about him in some time. I may bring this up with Temari later.'

Then he stumble upon a report that set his blood on fire. 'Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame have been spotted in Southern Tsuchi no Kuni, motives unknown but presumed to be my capture? This is insulting! Thinking that they can merely wantz in here and think that they can bring me to my knees! Such arrogance will NOT go unremarked!'

After reading this he decided upon a course of action immediately, calling in Temari and four Soldiers.

When the former Suna kunoichi entered, he had her read the report. After reading it she carefully his her emotions and asked "What do you want me to do?"

Naruto looked at Temari for a moment, thinking about her question and the girl herself. Temari had grown over the last three years, adding a few inches to her height. She had changed her clothing slightly, though she still wore her normal battle fan. He couldn't help but notice that her strength had increased ever since she began training three years ago. She was now at the level of a Jounin, although not a particularly powerful one. From a one to five, five being the strongest Jounin in a village, she would be a two or a three. Not to be trifled with by any means, but not in the same weight class as a Kage or an Akatsuki member.

After a moment, Naruto said "What I want you to do is to distract and delay the teams being sent from Konoha to Suna and from Suna to the Akatsuki hideout where they are keeping Gaara, wherever that may be. Doing so will guarantee Gaara's death and the weakening of Sunagakure as a whole, you will have these four Soldiers under you to do with as you wish. Do you understand?"

Temari nodded and turned to leave. Before she could leave though, Naruto's voice reached her ears. "Temari" He said. She immediately stopped to listen and heard him say "I'm trusting you Temari." She nodded and left the room, the Soldiers following her.

Naruto leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and thought 'There, the wheels are set in motion. It is finally time for you to prove yourself Temari. Did I make the right choice in saving you? It is time to prove your loyalty, intelligence, and power to be worthy to be under my command. Do not fail me.'

Then he turned his attention to the other report and felt the hot anger of indignation claw at him again. Without second thought, he grabbed the report and left the room.

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With Itachi and Kisame

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The two Akatsuki members had passed through Tsuchi no Kuni's border uncontested. It was unsurprising since there were no border guards anymore. All the ninja in the country were holed up in Iwa or the capital to defend it from Naruto.

Speaking of him, they were having difficulty finding him. It was unsurprising but it was still aggravating, especially since there were no towns to get a decent meal or a good night's sleep in anymore. They had entered the place that had once been a small yet happy town, but there was nothing there other than some charred ruins of buildings and scorched earth that was once good farmland. Out of curiosity, Itachi had checked some of the once fertile soil and found it laced with salt. Nothing would be able to grow there for a long time.

The two had wandered through the countryside after that, hoping to find some survivor of one of the attacks that might indicate the presence of their quarry, but they found not a single hint of life for over twenty miles of the burned and salted village. There was grass, there were plains, but the world was unnaturally silent. It was a place of mourning and death brought upon them by the hands of a madman.

The two of them has talked about the best strategy to find Naruto, but their options were anything but numerous. There weren't many towns or cities left that Naruto would attack, and those that were still around were likely to be attacked and destroyed before either of them could arrive there. They probably could reach one or two of them before that, but then they would be so tired from the constant running that they wouldn't be in any shape to face a superior opponent such as Naruto.

The easiest solution would be to go to Houfu or Iwa and wait for Naruto there, but that was a bad idea. Both of the cities were swarming with Iwa's forces, waiting to be attacked. The security around them would be tighter than a camel's nostril in a sandstorm. They would be spotted and identified within an hour and then they would have to fight their way out again, and if they went to Iwa, there was a very real chance of facing the Tsuchikage. Neither of them were weak or cowardly, but facing a Kage in his own village and winning is no easy feat no matter who you were. Orochimaru did it yes, but he had the support of two villages behind him and he managed to get the Hokage away from everyone else before fighting him in earnest. Neither of the two Akatsuki members had the knowledge of seals to separate the Tsuchikage from his multitudes. If they fought the Tsuchikage, they would have every man and woman in Iwa helping him out. Houfu was just as strongly defended. In terms of ninja, it was quite high when it came to population. That combined by two or three of Iwa's most powerful ANBU Captains meant that the Daimyo was well defended and that security was as tight as possible. Neither city was a good stakeout point.

It would be a lot easier if they could get Naruto to come to them, but that was extremely unlikely. He had nothing that he really cared about as far as they knew, so he had no incentive to leave his hiding place, wherever it might have been.

So, that is where we find the two Akatsuki members now, sitting around a campfire thinking of possible ways to find their target. They slept in six hour shifts, each one sleeping while the other stood watch against possible attacks. However, it was hardly the perfect solution.

It was at the weakest moment of the pair that it happened. Just as Itachi woke up to take his watch, and Kisame was tired and desperately needed sleep. A number of quick shadows dodged and weaved from their hiding spots where the tired Kisame did not see them and rushed towards the pair with glints of steel in their grip.

Kisame was tired, but one of the attackers got too close and Kisame cleaved off his head because of it. Itachi used a Kage Bunshin and quickly assaulted two others, knocking the knives from their hands and slitting their throats. The thing was… none of the injuries stopped their attacks. The headless man continued to attack Kisame, the two men with slit throats continued attacking. They both knew immediately with what they were dealing with.

Itachi dodged a thrown knife from a fourth zombie and drew a small pouch from his belt, the pouch filled with salt pellets. A fifth zombie, this one with a katana in its hands, lunged forward in a fierce stab only to get a pellet of salt in the mouth for the trouble.

As the other four saw their brother convulse and his shadow leave him, returning the body to that of a common corpse, they froze for a swift second. Death simply did not come to zombies, it was almost unheard of. They were so amazed that they stopped long enough for Kisame to dart over to the removed head of one of the undead ninja and forced salt into its mouth.

As the second zombie had its life leave it, the other three realized that they may not win this fight. Even so, their master had ordered them to attack and kill the two before them, they had no choice but to obey regardless of how much they wanted to run.

Two of the zombies jumped toward Itachi, who was still a bit sleepy and his mind was not at its best at the moment. Otherwise he would not make such a great mistake as to use the Mangekyo Sharingan against such weak foes.

His right eye bled crimson as he said a single word "Amaterasu."

The moment the word was uttered, black flames materialized around Itachi and leapt forward to embrace the two zombies. For the first time, they felt the heat and pain of fire. A mere two seconds after they were embraced by the black flames of Amaterasu they were reduced to ash.

Kisame was having a bit of a more difficult time against his opponent. Under normal circumstances he would have easily dispatched the soldier zombie assassin before him, but he had not slept in over a week so his strength was decreased dramatically. The creature had actually managed to force him to drop Samehada and dodge backwards. The thing he didn't expect was that the zombie knew the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. A clone approached Kisame from behind and was about to jam a knife into his back before Kisame smashed his elbow into the construct's nose, destroying the clone.

After the clone was dispatched, the real zombie immediately put another strategy into use and simply tackled Kisame to the ground, attempting to shove a knife into the shark Akatsuki's throat.

Kisame managed to avoid getting impaled immediately but the fact remains that he was on the ground with an assassin sitting on his stomach about to stab him through the heart.

Kisame knew that anything short of killing the thing outright would save his life, but he couldn't reach his salt from where he was. As the zombie screamed and knife descended, he took a chance and hoped that it would work.

As the knife descended, Kisame took a handful of the dark, salted former farmland in his hand and quickly shoved it into the yelling zombie's mouth. He immediately choked upon it and the knife stopped. Kisame backhanded the zombie and knocked him over, immediately standing and going over to pick up Samehada.

The tired Akatsuki member immediately turned around to deal with the zombie if he stood up, but he quickly saw that it was unnecessary. The poisoned earth apparently had enough salt content to destroy the bond between the flesh and the animating shadow, killing the zombie.

Kisame sighed as he saw the shapeless black mass rise from the fallen zombie's mouth and vanished. That was a pretty close call. 'I seriously need some sleep.' Kisame thought to himself as he returned to where Itachi fought the others by the campfire.

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With Naruto

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Naruto watched with a scowl on his face as the zombies were incinerated, pondering how Itachi managed it and coming to a swift conclusion. 'I set up those seals to absorb heat so that flames wouldn't harm them, they must have a limit that the Amaterasu clearly exceeds. Apparently after this limit is broken the zombies are fair game. This could be irritating.'

As Naruto thought, a hulking figure beside him rumbled "Master, with your permission, I will destroy them both. It will not take long."

Naruto put a hand on the creature's gigiantic forearm and said "Easy Zodd, go only for the fish man. Feel free to kill him. The Uchiha is mine.

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With Itachi and Kisame

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Kisame had only lumbered into view of the campfire when Itachi said "Kisame, we should get moving. If the enemy knows that we're here it's only a matter of time before reinforcements appear to assist them. We'll need to find a new campsight."

Kisame nodded but before he could move over to put out the fire, a large figure moved in the darkness.

Itachi quickly said "Look out!" But it was too late. A monstrous figure layered with muscle dashed from the darkness, from wherever it was hidden and rammed into Kisame's side, propelling him backwards.

Itachi did a number of swift handseals and yelled "Doton: Tsuchi Kairou!" and then slammed his hand onto the ground. As soon as he did so a circle of rock swept up from around the figure, imprisoning it.

That didn't do much to help though. The figure smashed through the rock without a second thought and rushed toward the recovering Kisame.

Before Itachi could do anything to help, a strange green light hit the ground in front of him and as Itachi jumped back he saw that the ground had been reduced to dust so fine that you could almost see the individual particles. Itachi looked to the direction that the blast came from and saw the last person that he wanted to see at that moment.

Naruto smirked a bit and said "Hello Itachi, we meet in person at last."

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Okay, that's the chapter. Maybe a bit slow for my standards but I hope I did a good job. I hope you guys don't mind me skipping over the Deidara versus Gaara fight in this chapter, but it went more or less as it did in the canon. I also gave you guys additional reasons to attack Tsuchi no Kuni, so with that, I shall leave.

Oh, by the way, those who reviewed last chapter and said that Kakashi wasn't really dead, I TOLD YOU SO! Sorry, had to say it.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	49. Chapter 49

Greetings all, and welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter forty nine! I would like to entertain you with some witty opening comments, but I can't come up with something at the moment, so you'll have to go without. Better luck next time, eh?

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Summary of last chapter

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Okay, Naruto explained reasons behind attacking Tsuchi no Kuni after destroying another city, revealed that Jiraiya was getting close to discovering the Word of Kemmler, and nearly lost his temper and killed Hogback, though he managed to control himself.

After that, there was a scene in Konoha where the reformed Team seven comprising of Kakashi, Sakura, Tenten, and Sai were sent on a mission to assist Suna with the entire 'Akatsuki kidnapping the Kazekage right in front of them and them being helpless to do anything about it making them look like total bitches to the world' issue, preferably being able to bring Gaara back alive after all is said and done.

Naruto got two new reports, one being the Akatsuki/Suna matter and Konoha sending a team, after which he sent Temari with four soldiers to destroy the team and prevent it from getting to Suna, and to prevent any teams from Suna from reaching Akatsuki, guaranteeing her brother's death. He did this to test her loyalty, ability, and intelligence once and for all.

The other report was a scout report indicating that Itachi and Kisame were in Tsuchi no Kuni, looking for him. Angered about this, he sent five soldiers to attack them in the night, and they failed. But they were only meant to tire out Itachi and Kisame even further as Zodd attacked the weary Kisame while Naruto confronted Itachi himself. And here we are.

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With Kisame and Zodd

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Zodd hit Kisame head on when he had no idea it was coming, as a result he went flying about fifty feet before landing, and after that a few bounces put him about twenty yards from Itachi's positon.

Despite his large size though, Zodd covered that distance quickly. Kisame had just gotten up before he jumped back to avoid getting his head cut off by Zodd's gigantic notched cleaver.

Zodd leapt after him, closing the distance as quickly as possible, going after him with a hatchet held in his left hand, to be blocked and pushed back by Samehada.

Kisame took a quick swipe for the General's chest, but Zodd quickly ducked under it and swung his hatchet at the Akatsuki member's leg in retaliation. Kisame jumped over the blade and brought Samehada down in an aerial overhead slash that Zodd rolled back from, immediately coming to his feet.

Kisame charged the creature, bringing Samehada down upon his head, but Zodd blocked it with both the sword and hatchet. He immediately pushed him back and swung both at Kisame in a wild flurry of quick blows that he backed away from, holding Samehada in front of him horizontally to block any strike that came too close.

Zodd immediately took a given opportunity. He rushed forward quick as though and jumped up, _stepping_ on Samehada and using it as a step stone to launch himself a few feet in the air and came down immediately, putting all that momentum and his own weight behind the edge of his blade, all aimed at the nape of Kisame's neck.

Kisame leaped back, almost horizontal with the ground and jabbed Samehada into the ground, causing him to flip. This not only righted him so that his legs would reach the ground when he landed, but also allowed him to face Zodd to know what was coming next.

Zodd landed heavily, causing a deep crack in the ground where his blade hit and surged towards Kisame who just reached the ground, swinging wildly with both sword and hatchet.

Kisame brought up his blade to block them as he moved back and to one side to avoid as many of the strikes as possible, and for the most part he succeeded, but one of the strikes from the hatchet caught the edge of Samehada, the immense strength of the blow moving the blade aside for a strike from the cleaver.

Kisame backed away as the deadly piece of metal neared his flesh but the last few inches of the sword caught him horizontally across the chest, causing a relatively short but deep cut. What's more, the massive strength behind the strike caused the Akatsuki member to fly backwards in a slight spin, landing heavily on the ground.

Zodd reared his head back and let out an animalistic roar before charging at his opponent who was just getting up.

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With Itachi and Naruto

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Naruto smiled at the newly awakened Itachi and said "Ahhh, Uchiha Itachi, we finally meet face to face." **(1)**

Itachi looked at his opponent, his hair was a deep gold, his skin rather pale, as though he hadn't seen as much sunlight as he should have. He was about seven feet tall, towering above him, and his clothes were completely black, from his black silk shirt, to his pants, to the combat boots that clothed his feet, to the black trenchcoat that he wore like a cloak, clasped at his neck with a silver chain, while the rest hung about his back and sides and reached his ankles. His arms weren't in the sleeves, they were at his sides, inside the coat. In his left hand he held a long staff of black, twisted gnarled wood that was carved with a few dozen symbols whose meaning he couldn't describe. In his right hand he held a long sword of black metal. It's hilt was of gold and was several feet long on either side. The handle was long, meant for two hands rather than one, but he still held it quite easily. The golden hilt was embossed with several large rubies and emeralds and in the end of the handle was a very large sapphire. Upon each of his hands he wore twelve golden rings, three on each finger embedded with diamonds, and he wore two bracelets of differing design upon his wrists. The jewelry gave off an aura of danger, and Itachi could feel that something wasn't right about those gems and metals. It was like being near high power lines, he just knew that whatever those rings were meant to do, it wasn't good for whoever was on the receiving end.

The most intimidating thing about him though, Itachi decided, was his eyes. They were a dark blue that shone with complete confidence, not an ounce of fear, but most of all a deep malicious joy in his surroundings. He knew that there was once thriving life in this area and that he drove it all away, and he enjoyed it all immensely. Most of all though, was a slight glitter of something alien and familiar in his eyes. After a moment, he realized what it was. He had not seen it since he last saw Hidan but he knew what it was. Total, utter, madness. Whatever else Naruto was, he was completely insane.

Itachi carefully enunciated "You must be the one then, our target. The one called 'Capiorcorpus no Naruto'. One of the most ruthless men in the world and the sword enemy of Tsuchi no Kuni."

Naruto smiled a bit, revealing pointed teeth, as he said "Yes indeed, it feels good to be reknowned Itachi. I hope you enjoyed my little welcoming committee earlier. I will admit that I didn't put much thought into it, but it's the thought that counts."

Itachi stared at the black clad giant before him, nodding slowly and never keeping his eyes off of the sword. Something told him that when the violence inevitably started, that sword would be a worth watching. Something about it was odd, that was for sure. Itachi was positive that that sword, whatever it was, was much more than a simple blade.

Naruto's smile widened as he said "Good, I do hope you forgive Zodd for being a little overzealous with your partner though, he hasn't had a decent opponent in a long time so he was a bit overeager. But still, the small talk is nice Itachi, but I'm afraid that I will have to ask you to come with me, not for long just a day or two, and after that you can go on your way. What do you say?"

Itachi said coldly "I'm afraid that I won't be able to do that Naruto-kun. I will have to ask you to come with me however."

Naruto's smile vanished at the words and he just said, as though cautioning a child "Now, now Itachi, you should listen to your betters. You can come with me voluntarily or not, but either way it's going to happen. I suggest that you think about what you say next very carefully for it could mean the difference between a few days of inconvenience or death. And know that although I would like to go with you to have my Bijuu sucked out of me, I'm afraid that my hectic schedule just doesn't have time for it, war is a daunting activity after all. But still, what do you say Itachi, I'm sure that you will find my abode most accomidating. Just come with me to my palace for a few days and that's all. What do you say?"

Itachi just said "I'm afraid that I won't be able to go with you Naruto-kun. I hope you understand that you don't really have a choice though in coming with me."

Naruto just sighed and said "What a pity, if that's your choice than so be it." The blade of Zanmato twitched and Itachi leapt back. Naruto immediately touched the tip of the staff to the ground and said a single word "Erde" and the ground shifted and the rocks below moved in a small wave rather swiftly moved toward where Itachi was going to land.

Itachi, seeing the danger, wordlessly created a Kage Bunshin that caught him in midair and then threw him toward a nearby tree. The clone landed on the ground where Itachi was supposed to just as the wave reached the spot. The moment it did, the ground surged and the pseudo Itachi was sucked under the ground in less than a second. Underneath the ground, the rocks tore and ripped at the clone for a second before it dispersed.

Itachi, who was flung by his clone towards a tree, caught one of the branches. Before he do anything else though, he saw that Naruto was a few feet away and immediately pulled himself upwards to avoid his sword. The blade whistled as it passed a few inches beneath his feet, where his ankles were not long ago, and Itachi quickly got his legs under him on the branch.

Before Itachi could do anything however, Naruto moved and cut straight through the tree. Both ends caught on fire from the friction of the parted wood as the top half of the giant plant fell to the side.

Itachi jumped back as Naruto hacked through the branch he was standing on moments before and then he saw as Naruto kicked at seemingly nothing and said "Rankyaku"

Itachi didn't think anything of this until a blade of bright blue force soared toward him from his opponent's leg. Itachi dove to the side in order to avoid the attack which, when it hit the ground, caused a large gash in the earth to appear which was about four feet long.

Naruto didn't wait at all, he merely said two words "Rankyaku Ran" before moving into a swift series of movements, a combination of low, mid height, and high kicks at a variety of angles so perfect that it almost looked like a dance. From each of the kicks emerged one of those same bright blue blades of force that came towards him at a surprising speed.

Itachi knew immediately what to do and activated his Sharingan. With its insight, he was able to see and anticipate where the blades were going to be, and with that information he dodged the attacks easily. Seeing that none of his attacks were connecting, Naruto ended the barrage short and took on a different tactic. He swept his left hand toward Itachi and from the bracelet on his left hand emanated a blast of strange green energy that was directed at Itachi's legs. Itachi saw the blast and with his Sharingan assisting him was able to avoid it. The place where the blast landed glowed bright green for half a second before collapsing into incredibly fine dust.

Itachi, sick of being on the defensive, decided to take the fight to his target. He swept his hands through several familiar handseals and said "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" as he launched a gigantic fireball at his enemy.

Naruto saw it coming, how could he not, and threw his staff into the air above him, then swept his hand forward in an imperial gesture. The darkness around him gathered together and launched itself toward the mass of fire.

The two attacks swirled together but instead of exploding as such things normally do, they collapsed into nothingness, leaving not a mote of flame or puff of smoke behind.

Itachi was unsure what to do seeing that. Naruto just said "Surprised? You shouldn't be. Darkness doesn't give off energy, it takes it in, that is what darkness is, the power of the endless abyss. Anything that hits it would implode, leaving no evidence behind. If you were hoping to create an explosion to serve as a distraction, it won't work against me. You have my most sincere apologies, but that is the way of battle."

Then he reached to the sky with his left hand, catching his staff as it fell and slammed it into the ground as he yelled "Druck!"

The ground below surged and the shadows swelled. The ground below swept up in a wave of rock and dirt and dust and attempted to crush Itachi while the shadows swirled around him, attempting to grasp his throat and neck to strangle him and his limbs to entangle and snare him.

Itachi moved with unreal speed, managing to get away from the crushing wave of rock and earth, while attacking the shadows with a cry of "Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!" sending balls of flame to burn away the tendrils of darkness.

Itachi sensed danger and leapt back just in time to avoid a Rankyaku from Naruto, and while he was in the air he saw another of those green blasts speeding toward him from Naruto's extended left hand.

Itachi met this with a Kawarimi no Jutsu, avoiding the blast by replacing himself with a rock from the scattered wave that Naruto had earlier summoned.

Itachi saw that as the blast hit the rock, it was reduced to the same fine dust. 'Apparently anything hit by those green blasts face complete immolation.' thought Itachi. 'It would be best to avoid them.'

Itachi then looked at his opponent and saw something rather ominous. Naruto's sword was nowhere to be found and he was holding the staff with both hands, one end stuck in the ground, the runes upon it shining with a dark light. Naruto was rapidly muttering something under his breath.

Itachi decided that whatever was happening would not be in his best interest so he moved to attack Naruto immediately. Before he could get there however, Naruto shouted out as he yanked his staff from the ground and slammed the point down again "Verschiebung und erstickt!"

The moment Naruto did so, the earth below shifted and stirred, causing a small earthquake as the ground broke apart in several places and clouds and clouds of dust and gasses spewed forth, causing sight to become almost completely unreliable as well as making it hard to breathe.

Itachi coughed as he was consumed in the fog of toxins, his eyes started watering as they were exposed to the poisonous air. Desperate to escape the fumes and dust he ran as fast as he could in one direction, desperate to escape the choking, smothering death that was all around him.

After a few moments of running he realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere this way and quickly went through several handseals, yelling "Fuuton: Diatoppa!" as he blew a gigantic gust of air from his lungs, blowing away a part of the noxious cloud and allowing him to breath for a few seconds.

What Itachi didn't notice in his joy to be able to breathe again was the strand of darkness that zipped from the cloud of dust and wrapped around his ankle, pulling him back into the airborne earth that immediately stung his eyes and throat once more.

Before Itachi could do anything about freeing his ankle, another tendril slithered around his right arm, holding it in place, others did the same for his other leg and arm, others swarmed around his torso as they formed a solid black cocoon. He couldn't move and he could hardly breathe.

Itachi struggled against the black cocoon for a few seconds before realizing that it was hopeless. 'If this lasts much longer' he thought 'the fumes and dust will cause me to pass out. If I don't get out of this then I'll either suffocate or be captured, but I can't move my arms or legs. Taijutsu is out of the question, as is Ninjutsu since I can't form handseals. Genjutsu is pointless since I don't have a target. I have no choice in the matter, I have to use it.'

Naruto watched from nearby, outside the dust and fumes, watching as Itachi struggled in his cocoon of shadow. He saw him struggle and then he saw him go limp. Naruto smiled and pulled his staff from the ground, causing the fumes and dust to stop spewing from the ground, though the material already in the air would stick around for a while, and went forward to retrieve his prisoner.

Before he could take more than two steps though, he heard a bellowing cry before a massive heat bloomed in the midst of the dust and gas.

The single word that sounded from the center of the dust was none other than "AMATERASU!"

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With Kisame and Zodd

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While Naruto and Itachi dueled ferociously, Kisame and Zodd still brawled back and forth. Both of them had collected a variety of bloody wounds, and one of Zodd's hatchets had broken, forcing him to turn to the second one, which was already cracked. Zodd knew no Ninjutsu, nor Genjutsu. All he had on his side was immense muscle, incredible strength, and a fierce amount of speed and skill. He was the first General made with the shadow of a non-ninja.

Kisame jumped back from a swing of Zodd's sword, only for the General to rush forward with both hatchet and sword at the ready. He blocked a swing from Samehada with his blade, and swept the hatchet at Kisame's neck. Kisame ducked under it and rammed himself into Zodd's belly hard with one shoulder, tossing him back.

Kisame ran after Zodd as he landed on his feet, meeting a strike from Samehada with one from his own sword. It was in a position where Zodd couldn't swing his hatchet at Kisame, which was what the Akatsuki intended as he brought one leg forward toward Zodd's knee.

Unfortunately for Kisame, he underestimated Zodd's ingenuity. Zodd couldn't swing with the hatchet but that didn't make it unusable. He held it vertically and thrust it forward, not chopping more than smashing it against his opponent, blade first. The cut wasn't as bad as it would have been in a normal strike, but still Kisame received another wound as the blade cut into his chest and the enormous force behind the strike flung him back.

Kisame landed on his feet and ran forward, Samehada held low for an upward strike that Zodd jumped back from. Kisame attempted to stab Zodd in the neck, spikes shooting forth from the tip of Samehada to give it a point, but the General ducked under it and moved forward under the blade. More spikes came from beneath the bandages to cut at Zodd's shoulder but that didn't deter him at all.

Zodd swung with his sword and Kisame angled Samehada to block it, using the motion to get Samehada in position to perform a devastating swing that connected with Zodd's side, sending him back with Kisame's inhuman strength. After Zodd landed Kisame noted that the attack didn't do as much damage as it should have. 'He must have gotten his sword in the way so that only the tips of the scales reached him. Damn it.' Kisame thought.

Zodd ran forward and attempted to cut Kisame's throat with his blade, only for Kisame to dodge to the side, causing him to run past. Kisame swung his sword at Zodd's back, but Zodd back-flipped over it, which was surprising considering his build, and rushed forward, batting aside Samehada with his sword as he dealt a devastating cut to Kisame's right shoulder with his hatchet.

Kisame jumped back and brought Samehada down on Zodd with an overhand blow which Zodd mostly avoided but still got cut on his forearm, Kisame followed up with a upwards slash which got Zodd across the chest, belly and throat in a blow that would have caused enough bleeding to kill a man, but not a zombie. Zodd dodged a third strike that was angled downward and Kisame immediately launched a fourth strike that, if it connected, would hack through Zodd's abdomen.

Copying a move he once saw Naruto use, Zodd bent over backward, narrowing avoiding getting cut in half, though his stomach got a few scratches from the blade.

Kisame followed up with another overhead slash which Zodd sidestepped. He then stepped on the blade to keep Kisame from raising it again. Spikes impaled his foot but he didn't pay them any mind.

Before Zodd could attack Kisame yanked back and freed his sword, and immediately stabbed forward with the blade. Zodd ducked to one side and prepared his sword for a killing blow at the base of Kisame's skull, but Kisame swung Samehada back to the right, smashing it against the sword, and then swung again to hit Zodd in the side, but not before Zodd moved his hatchet over his side, blocking the brunt of the attack and avoiding a great deal of damage as he was tossed back once more.

Kisame rushed forward and attempted to hack through Zodd again only for Zodd to jump back a few feet in the air and bringing his entire weight down behind his sword as he aimed for Kisame's neck. Kisame hit Zodd's sword from the side with Samehada, forcing it to miss, he then ducked down and avoided a follow up strike that would have taken off his head as Zodd touched down again. He struck and Zodd swung at Samehada, the blows rebounding off of eachother and sending both fighters off balance. Neither of them stopped attacking though as each swung his sword at the other, both of them missing however. Kisame's swing was too high and Zodd's sword was too short to hit his target at that angle.

Kisame charged his opponent, hitting him with his unwounded shoulder and stabbing his blade forward, which Zodd side-stepped. Kisame angled his sword down to block an upward strike from the hatchet and then jumped back to avoid Zodd's sword.

Kisame blocked as Zodd swung at his arm in an attempt to hack it off and kicked Zodd in the chest hard enough to send him back almost ten feet. Kisame jumped back and put his sword under one arm as he went through several quick handseals before yelling "Suiton: Suikoudan no Jutsu!"

Water spewed forth from Kisame's mouth and formed a large shark that zoomed through the air and hit Zodd square on, causing him to fly backwards and drop his hatchet.

Kisame capitalized on this opportunity and ran forward, slashing at Zodd overhand. Zodd met the attack with a sideways slash that met with Samehada midway through. Kisame pushed forward to free up his sword and swung his sword at Zodd's abdomen in another slash that, if it connected, would cut him in half, but Zodd bent over backwards again, causing it to pass above his stomach with minimal damage. Kisame followed up with a downwards slash that Zodd sidestepped.

In return Zodd attacked but his sword was met with a downward heading Samehada determined to hack him in two.

The two broke the stalemate and Kisame swung at Zodd's neck. Zodd ducked under the sword and slashed at him. Kisame met Zodd's attack with a powerful blow. The two swords hit and let out a peal of steel on steel so loud that dust shook on the ground.

Zodd backed away perhaps an inch to free his sword and swung wildly at Kisame, swing after swing after swing, which Kisame matched perfectly, blocking each one with an attack of his own. Until, at last, Kisame brought Samehada down in a swift overhand blow that Zodd attempted to block. However, this time, something was different.

Perhaps Kisame just got too much leverage with this strike, perhaps Zodd blocked incorrectly, but either way, Kisame bore down upon Samehada, a large row of spikes giving it a deadly edge, and Zodd's battered body, although immortal, gave out. It had taken too much damage and at long last, after a grueling battle of attrition by two master swordsmen, Zodd's strength failed him. Kisame's blade bore down and Zodd's arm gave out and fell, allowing Kisame to sink his blade deep into Zodd's collarbone, cutting through it, and then in that same strike slicing through the chest and ribs, cutting Zodd in two unequal pieces, leaving Zodd only his left arm still usable.

Kisame bore down on the General, stabbing downward with Samehada, he broke Zodd's teeth and forced his jaw open.

Kisame reached to his belt, took the bag of salt pellets, and jammed the entire thing down Zodd's throat. Zodd's torso convulsed, and after a moment the shadow that gave Zodd movement and life spewed out of his mouth before Zodd fell, dead at last, to the ground.

Kisame, tired, battered, broken and weak, saw his foe fall and bellowed his victory into the night.

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With Itachi and Naruto

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Naruto covered his eyes with one hand as the incredibly oppressive heat soared over him, its cause obvious as black flame roared through the cloud before him, purging it from existence with it's never ending heat. He could feel the tendrils holding Itachi being burned out of existence.

Naruto immediately jumped back as the flames shifted and moved toward him, dodging to the side as more flames joined the first amount in attempting to burn him to death.

AS Naruto danced away from the black fire, the flames that were once the cloud of earth and dust parted, revealing Itachi, battered and crying tears of blood from his right eye as it was fastened upon him.

Naruto knew at that moment that winning this fight was In his grasp if he moved quickly, but if he didn't take this opportunity, he would be destroyed by the Amatersu, despite all of his defenses, he couldn't survive that.

As Naruto jumped through the air, he clenched his right hand into a fist and pointed it right at Itachi before triggering two of the rings on his right index finger.

Itachi had no idea what happened as the sudden, brutal, and invisible wave of pure kinetic energy slammed into him, sending him flying back several dozen yards before landing, an ugly CRACK sounding as he hit the ground, his ribs breaking.

Itachi slid for several yards out of pure momentum of that enormous strike before he hit a large boulder, another loud CRACK sounding for a long distance as more of his bones broke.

Itachi's vision swam and he blurrily looked around as he tried to ignore the blinding amounts of pain going through his system at that moment. He could tell, judging by the darkness at the corners of his eyes, that he was going to lose consciousness very soon. Maybe for a few minutes, maybe an hour or two. Or, depending on whether or not Naruto got to him before he woke up, never.

Itachi realized that if he slept now, he might never wake up but he could do nothing about it.

Itachi's vision blurred again and he saw a few things. He saw black, white, and green come out of the rock he smashed into just before everything went black.

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With Naruto

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Naruto soared over the black flames upon a cloud of darkness that supported his weight. He was very pleased with himself. He had managed to do it, one of his earliest ever goals since he acquired his abilities, he defeated Uchiha Itachi, and more importantly, he captured him. Itachi's shadow would soon be in his grasp, as would his eyes. With those two components, he could finally awaken the first General Zombie. The one that he had been working upon and perfecting for years and years, waiting for Itachi's shadow and eyes to perfect it and bring it to life. The General Zombie that would be more powerful than even Ryuuma would finally become a reality. It's possible that it might even exceed the power of the Special Zombie that was nearing completion even now.

Naruot hummed a happy tune to himself, extremely happy with his victory. Then he reached the spot where Itachi landed and then the spot where Itachi stopped moving, and saw nothing.

Naruto almost panicked and looked around the immediate area thoroughly, growing ever more worried when he didn't see any tracks or any other signs of movement.

Eventually Naruto came to the conclusion that Itachi was gone. Taken. Someone had gotten there before him and beaten him to the prize. The thought left him dumbfounded for about five seconds, but then once it set in, it filled him with an unspeakable rage.

Naruto quivered in his own anger and yelled into the night "DAAAAAAAAAMNNNNN YOOOOOUUUUUU! I'LL FIND YOU WHEREVER YOU ARE! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! I WILL KILL YOU, YOU WILL WISH YOU COULD DIE WHEN I FIND YOU. NO MATTER WHAT, I GUARANTEE IT_ YOU WILL DIE! _AAAAGGGGGHHHH!"

Naruto immediately swept darkness forward and crushed a nearby tree. He took Zanmato from its storage and hacked away at the rock and trees around him, driven into an insane fit of rage at the thought that someone had taken his prize.

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Alternate opening line: "You want to see me make this pencil disappear?"

Okay, that's the chapter. I tried to get it out quickly seeing as how everyone was probably looking forward to it considering the massive cliffhanger I left you all on. So here you have it, a well described sword fight and an epic battle between Itachi and Naruto. Hope you enjoyed it.

Oh, by the way, before I go, here's something that I decided to do, just for fun. I will give you guys an answer, and you will try and guess the question. The first one to get it right will receive a reward that shall remain unknown for now. It could be anything from a mention in a chapter to a one-shot written to your specifications. Okay, here we go. The answer is 'Cheese, Wine, and Rubbish.' What is the question? Good luck! And before anyone says it, it is NOT 'What three words best describe France.'

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	50. Chapter 50

Okay, welcome one and all to Kage no Naruto chapter fifty! I would like to say that many of you gave that little challenge thing last chapter a good try, but I'm afraid that no one got it right. Such a shame. I'll see what I can do to offering another opportunity later on. There were multiple answers that could have been right, a number of people said 'What three things age well', which doesn't make much sense since rubbish only starts to smell worse with age. But for those who were wondering, the correct answer that I was looking for was 'Name three things that scientists are trying to develop new bio-fuels out of.' And no, I am not shitting you, that is what they are trying to do. Better luck next time everyone!

As for now, let's get to the chapter. A lot of people liked the last chapter, others thought that it was uninteresting, didn't flow well, and didn't bring out the best of Itachi's abilities. I have to say that they're right, but consider the fact that Naruto didn't give Itachi the time or freedom of thought to pull off any of his best techniques, he was forced on the defensive the entire fight, which was Naruto's battle strategy. But for those of you who didn't like it, don't worry. There will be other fights between Itachi and Naruto later on, I can guarantee it.

And without further ado, the chapter summary.

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Summary of last chapter

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Long story short, Itachi fought Naruto while Zodd fought Kisame. By the end of the chapter, Kisame had killed Zodd by cleaving him in two and force feeding him salt. Naruot defeated Itachi but lost sight of him as he was knocked unconscious and when he finally got to where Itachi's unconscious body was, there was nothing and he went into a terrible rage.

What will happen next? What will happen regarding the Gaara rescue operation, how will the war with Tsuchi no Kuni progress and what will Naruto do with the badly weakened Kisame? Read the chapter and find out.

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With Naruto

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After Naruto had calmed down from Itachi's disappearance, he called for backup, and had a dozen Soldiers at his position in a few minutes. Under his orders, they went with him to Itachi and Kisame's former campsite, where they found the bodies of the five Soldiers that had been killed by the Akatsuki duo.

Naruto looked at the dead bodies of his former underlings with disdain. He told the Soldiers "Take them back to the castle, and give them to Hogback. Tell him that they are to be processed into parts for the S-Project."

The Soldiers realized that the bodies were in good condition, and that they could have been revived if given a new shadow, but they dared not question their master's orders and hastened to do as he commanded. As five Soldiers devoted themselves to dragging the bodies into a way to Dark Heaven Castle that Naruto opened up, Naruto and the rest of the Soldiers headed toward where Zodd did battle with Kisame.

When they finally got there, Naruto was stunned at the location, or more specifically what it contained. Kisame was unconscious, lying upon the ground with Samehada in his grip. Zodd however was sliced in two, from his right shoulder to his left hip. More importantly, he was dead. For the first time, a General Zombie had been killed.

The various Soldiers assembled there quivered in fear in the wake of Naruto's unspoken rage. He did NOT deal well with failure. He did not say anything, but they could feel it in the air, the slight tremors in the ground, and the way that the shadows nearby wiggled and writhed erratically, as though aching to reach out and strangle someone. Naruto however, was still. Most times when Naruto got angry, he ranted and raged, taking out the strength of his wrath upon the land and those around him. He was only silent when he was truly, murderously pissed off. The Soldiers knew that right now, Naruto's pride had been damaged by the death of a General and that wounded pride was spewing arterial anger, he was at his absolute most deadly at that moment. When he was like this, anybody could end up dead because of a single word out of place. It didn't matter if it was a Soldier, or Absalom, or Perona, or anyone else. EVERYONE obeyed Naruto without question when he was silently angry, it was a necessity for survival.

He spoke quietly, slowly, and softly, but his tone was deceiving. He was at his most unpredictable and most dangerous at the moment. "I want you all to take Zodd to Hogback with those Soldiers back at the campsite. Tell the doctor that he is to process and dismantle him for material in the S-Project. Move, now."

The various Zombies hurried to obey his command, knowing that a single mistake with Naruto like this could get them killed or worse. Death was a big punishment for Zombies, but Naruto had far worse fates prepared for anyone who disobeyed him when he was in an angry or sadistic mood. Some of those punishments could be used on normal humans too, and NOBODY wanted to incur them.

Naruot ordered four of the Soldiers to stay behind and while Zodd was being carried off, he went and inspected the sleeping Kisame. He spoke to the unconscious man, as though he were awake and they were alone.

He spoke in that deadly calm, cold voice "You should be proud Kisame, you have done what few have ever done. You have taken something from me. A General Zombie, you are the first to slay one. I suppose I should thank you since I now know a vital piece of information. Never make a General from a non-ninja shadow."

Naruto paused to take a breath and then spoke again. "You should be proud, but know that the only reason I do not kill you is because you can serve me one more time. You will lead me to a true prize."

Then Naruto crouched over Kisame and spoke, even softer so that the Soldiers had to strain to hear him as he said "But rest assured that once that prize is mine, we shall settle the score. NOBODY takes anything from me and goes unpunished, and punished you shall be." He paused for a second and then said "Yes, that's appropriate. When Itachi is mine and you are within my grasp again, your punishment will be… Encystment."

The moment that the Soldiers heard that word, they universally shivered, cowering at the mere mention of the word. Encystment was the very cruelest and most painful method of punishment that Naruto bestowed. It was unsure how long a mortal could survive it before dying, but it didn't matter. Naruto would find a way to postpone Kisame's death for as long as he wanted.

Naruto bent over and from his pocket he took a piece of wire. He quickly wrapped it around one lock of the unconscious Kisame's hair, and cut off the lock with the pair of scissors that he usually used to cut shadows from their owners.

He took the hair and put it in one of his pockets and then turned to the soldiers and said "Take him and his sword and dump him at the border of the country. He'll wake up and rejoin the Akatsuki again soon enough."

The Soldiers dared not ask questions when Naruto was like this, otherwise THEY might be the ones who ended up Encysted. With Naruto as angry as he was, it was a very real possibility.

Naruto handed one of the Soliders a necklace with a crystallized shadow that they would use to return to the Castle and then walked off.

His hand drifted to the pocket where he kept that lock of Kisame's hair. With that, he had a solid link to Kisame. He could use the hair to track him no matter where he was, and he could use it as a link. He could use that hair to do whatever he wanted to the Akatsuki member, kill him, worse than kill him, and there was nothing that anyone could do about it. As long as he held the lock of Kisame's hair the Akatsuki member was completely at his mercy. What's more, eventually Kisame would be travelling with Itachi again, and when that time had come, he could find Kisame and by extension, Itachi. His anger was not quenched, his vengeance was not forgotten. It was merely postponed until Kisame had outlasted his last bit of usefulness.

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With Itachi

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Itachi was a bit confused. One moment, he was smashed against a rock and his enemy was not far away and looking for him. The next moment, he was on a bed of straw, most of his torso bandaged and aching like there was no tomorrow, in a cave in the middle of god knows where.

Not long after he woke up, a voice filtered in from a different part of the cave. "It's about time you woke up Itachi."

Itachi looked over to where the voice came from and soon he saw a man in an Akatsuki cloak, wearing an orange mask. The man said to Itachi "You are lucky that I had Zetsu watch your fight, otherwise you would be the prisoner of the Corpsetaker right now. You were careless to give him an opening like that."

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment and said "I didn't expect him to attack me the way he did, using the earth itself as a weapon. I didn't know that Doton Jutsu could be used like that. Hell, I'm still not sure how he hit me. My Sharingan saw no chakra when I was attacking him with the Amaterasu. One moment, I had him dead to rights, the next moment, I'm sailing through the air and suddenly stop, every nerve on fire."

The man in the mask nodded and said "Yes, indeed that bears thinking upon. The Corpsetaker has always promised to be the most difficult Jinchuuriki to capture, but something tells me that time is not our friend in this matter. He's gotten considerably stronger in the last three years, and his forces grow more and more every month. As for how he attacked you, I don't know but whatever he hit you with, it left you with no less than seven broken ribs and it dislocated both of your shoulders. Either this attack, whatever it is, was at its most potent, which would be a good thing since that means that it can be survived, or it could be a fraction of what this attack could do, which means that he could have killed you but didn't because he wanted to take you alive for some reason. Either way, it requires watching out for in future battles with him."

Itachi coughed a bit before he asked "What of Kisame? Do you know what happened to him?"

The man merely said "After Zetsu rescued you from the Corpsetaker's clutches, he had to leave immediately. If he revealed himself again to rescue Kisame, he never would have escaped. Kisame was facing one of Naruto's greater subordinates, but whether or not he won or lost, with Naruto nearby, I doubt that we will see Kisame alive again. Still, if he does return to us by some miracle, then he will remain your partner in this organization."

Itachi started coughing again, and the man in the mask said "You should rest. You had a close call with death Itachi, and you need to recover."

The man turned to leave, but before he did he turned back and said "Itachi, the next time you face Naruto, you should not limit yourself as you did before. Because of you refusing to use your full abilities for fear of killing him, he defeated you without receiving a single wound, and if Zetsu had not intervened, you would be either dead or imprisoned. I will talk to Pein and make sure that you are not punished. Now sleep."

Itachi nodded and said "Yes, Madara-sama." And did so.

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With Temari

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Temari was perched atop a large monolith of rock in the desert. It was high enough that the air was cooler, and that she had a vantage point for the surrounding five miles. The four Soldiers assigned to her by Naruto were also with her, waiting upon her orders. They knew that Naruto had given her the position to command them, and they would not dare cross him, even though they would normally not care about what she said.

Temari was waiting there for any signs of the advancing Konoha team. This monolith was a place that most travelers passed on their way to Suna, and it was a good place to wait for her victims to appear. As long as they didn't see her, she was safe since anyone not from Kaze no Kuni wouldn't know how to get to the tops of such places, since chakra was unreliable due to the fragile rock. Nor would they know that the air was cooler higher up since they weren't used to living in a desert.

She had been waiting there almost since Naruto ordered her to kill the Konoha team. Her only fear was that she arrived too late and that the Konoha team had already passed her position, or that they went on an entirely different route. Since they weren't used to traveling through the desert, it was possible that they would choose a more difficult path to Suna in their ignorance. She decided that if they didn't show up for another day, she would move to a different location and hope that she encountered them.

It didn't matter much to her, she had learned the valuable lesson of patience. Naruto drilled it deep into her mind with a bit of his own training. He made sure that she would never forget it.

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Flashback, Dark Heaven Castle, two and a half years ago

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Naruto decided to teach Temari some of what he knew. Anko, and the various Generals taught her quite a bit, but Naruto noticed something that she lacked. Patience. She thought that she was patient, she could wait for hours for an opportunity. However, under times of stress he noticed that she would give in to her instincts despite what logic might say and run or hide instead of stay put and wait like she should have, or she might jump the gun and attack too early.

So, Naruto locked her in a tower for two straight days, no food, no water. There was a cess pit in the floor where a brick had been removed. That was about it. She got one cup of water every day at noon.

He left her in there, and let her starve for forty eight straight hours. Then, on the third day, at noon, he had a bowl of rice brought up to her in her prison. Naturally, in her immense hunger, she pounced upon the food and ate it within a minute. It was about two minutes later that she realized her mistake.

The rice was poisoned. Almost lethally. She fell to the floor in convulsions not long afterward.

Later, after she had been cured and was in a bed in Hogback's medical ward. Naruto told her what the purpose behind it all was. If she had tested the rice for poison first, instead of giving into instinct, she would not be in the hospital. Even with Hogback's expertise, it was still a close call. Inside of that rice was an extremely potent toxin.

According to Naruto, if she had ignored the rice, then two hours later, the rice would have been taken back, to be replaced by a more tempting dish. This food would have also been poisoned. This would have continued for several various meals, each more delicious than the last, each as deadly as the last. Except for the last one. At midnight, an extremely tasty dish would have been brought in, this one un-poisoned.

If Temari had given into instinct, accepted a pattern as fact and assumed that the dish was poisoned like all the others without checking it first, then it would have been taken away and she would have been left to starve.

The entire point of the lesson, Naruto said, was to teach patience, and most importantly, vigilance and timing. Always check everything, and always approach things carefully.

Temari failed the exercise, but she never forgot the lesson. Naruto had made sure of that.

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Flashback End

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Temari shook her head to clear it of the memories. As much as she appreciated the lesson that Naruto gave her then, it doesn't mean that she wanted to remember the particulars of the event.

Then she looked over the next dune and saw four small black shapes coming over a dune several miles away. She couldn't help but smile. Especially when she got out a pair of binoculars and verified the identities of the four as Konoha shinobi, and three of them she knew by name. The fourth one was new to her but it didn't much matter in her opinion. Regardless of who the person was, he was going to be dead if she had anything to say about it.

It was a good bit of timing too. Temari took out her fan and went to one side of the immense edifice of rock, looking near the horizon, where a large sandstorm was heading in their direction with incredible speed.

Temari knew quite a bit about sand storms. Hell, she got lost in one when she was ten. But she knew that sandstorms were one of the main reasons that people died in the desert. It's really easy to get lost in one of the storms, and the air gets painfully dry. So dry that dehydration can occur within two hours.

Temari opened her fan and felt the wind chakra flow through her as she prepared to work some extremely delicate Ninjutsu. With a little work, she knew that she could make that storm even deadlier. She could increase the speed of the wind to the point that the moving sand would rip flesh from bone, and that was exactly what she set out to do.

To turn a force of nature to one's will to kill an enemy without getting directly involved. Indeed, Temari learned more than mere patience from Naruto.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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When Naruto returned to Dark Heaven Castle, everyone stayed out of his way, which is what he wanted. He had started to reign in his rage, but it was a gradual process. Everyone stayed clear of him as he went up the stairs and retreated to his office, where he kept everything he needed to plan a war. He spent the hours since his return planning and plotting. Estimating a certain village's response to an action in the future, planning ever so carefully a plan of action that would stay accurate for years to come. Most importantly, he read and catalogued various recon reports that told where numbers of his enemies had moved.

For the most part, the people hid in either Houfu or Iwagakure itself. Other refugees who couldn't get into either one of the cities had formed camps to try and help each other out. Such was the actions of humans when confronted with something greater than them. They come together in hopes of mutual protection. It's a primitive herd instinct, though it works for some situations, it wouldn't do much good for this one. He scheduled groups of Soldiers to kill or preferably capture the various refugees. He still needed able bodies slaves to work the mines of Tsuchi no Kuni, laborers to help him extract the wealth of the land.

Other reports detailed the movements of troops near the capital, where several decent sized forts had been erected a few miles from the city to act as a first line of defense as well as a guard outpost, to help the sentries know when the enemy was coming.

It was interesting however to watch how the politics of Tsuchi no Kuni shifted in light of his attacks. The ninja of Iwa had fought hard to defend the border cities early in the various attacks, but as Naruto took more and more territory, the Tsuchikage didn't send out nearly as many ninja, keeping them in Iwa to help defend the city for when Naruto eventually attacked it. The capital city of Houfu had been sending messages to the Tsuchikage to ask for assistance, but they were left in the cold.

Naruto didn't know what the Tsuchikage was playing at. Even assuming that the war turned on him when he attacked either of the two cities, the Tsuchikage would then be in the soup with the Daimyo after everything was settled. Naruto thought to himself 'Perhaps he's hoping that I attack Yokushin first and kill him, so that when I attack Iwa the Tsuchikage could take the title of Daimyo in addition to his Kage title if he won. One hell of a gamble.'

Naruto removed the various thoughts from his mind and settled on his next goal. The capture of the capital city of Houfu and the death of the Earth Daimyo, one Yokushin Minoru. There was only one problem: the city was nigh on fucking impenetrable.

Houfu was built in a valley in a way that high, steep mountains protected the city on three sides. Upon the fourth side was the thickest wall in the world, the Kongoubenso, the Diamond Defense. The wall was no less than three miles long and spread from one side of the valley to the other. It was two hundred feet high and twelve meters thick. The wall got its name because the solid granite that made up the wall was reinforced by a matrix of diamond rebar that made the thing able to take a gigantic battering without so much as getting a crack. It was considered an architectural marvel and was one of the greatest tourist attractions of the country. There were three passages through the wall, each of them blocked by four gates of solid steel each one two meters thick and barred with thick bars of solid steel that could be slid into the wall. The gates were opened and closed by the use of a complicated system of gears operated from a switch room on the top of the wall.

What was even worse was that the doors and wall were interlocked with hundreds and thousands of seals and other workings built over the centuries meant to give the material strength and flexibility, as well as traps meant to decimate those that would try to pierce the wall, and they were quite sensitive. At least twice a year someone threw a rock at the wall a bit too hard or something like that only to be destroyed by one of the seals reacting to what it thought of as an enemy attack. That wall had stood for over eight hundred years and had to this day never been pierced.

And that wasn't the end of it, the place was protected by its own army. None of them were ninja, but that didn't mean that they weren't dangerous. Every Daimyo had an army of at least ten thousand soldiers under his command should he need them. They mostly let the Kage of the local Hidden Village deal with military matters, but when push came to shove, the Daimyos had their own forces when they needed them. It was mostly as a check on the power of the various Kages, letting someone else control the country's military matters was idiotic so the lords had their own forces to counteract the ninja of the Hidden Villages if any of the Kages felt like attempting a coup to try and take the throne.

The city was well defended to the extreme, and even assuming that he managed to get through the impenetrable wall, there was still the Daimyo's personal guards to worry about. Twelve Jounin level ninja guarded each Feudal Lord, and each wore sashes that displayed the symbol of the country whose lord they were protecting. Some eventually returned to their own home village after several years, but most of such guardians were personally loyal to the Daimyo and not to their village and spent the rest of their lives guarding the Daimyo.

Combine all of that with easy access to the largest gold mine in the world and you had yourself a city that could withstand the end of the world. A strong defense and something that needed protecting. The equation of fanaticism was balanced. The defenders of the city would rather die than willingly give up their city to an invader.

As Naruto rolled up the various reports and maps and focused entirely on developing a way to get through the Kongoubenso, he was determined to find a way to make them go through with that oath.

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Okay, that's the end of the chapter. A bit boring I know, but it's mostly a set-up chapter anyway. Sorry if it's a bit short by my usual standards, but I hope that I gave enough information in this chapter to make up for it. I don't have much to say at this point except to start on the Omake that I do every ten chapters. Enjoy it!

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Omake

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Questions that were rejected from the Chuunin Exams:

Spell 'Iwagakure' without looking at how we spelled it on this test.

Amy is sixteen, at least she said she was. How much trouble are you in?

On the diagram below, show on the body where you like to be touched.

Complete the following sequence: 8, 39, 17, 23, 9. Now open the safe, grab the stuff, and get in the getaway car.

Vladimir had 10,000 and you have 3. Why would start a war? Discuss.

In twelve years, the population of the world will go up by twenty percent. How do we find that slut Karin and stop her?

Using Darwin's theory of Evolution, explain canon Naruto

Complete the following crop rotation. Wheat, fallow, rock festival, BNP rally.

Sex education practical. Report to the stationary cupboard.

If I add one eight to one sixteenth, how stoned will I be?

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Okay, that's all I've got for you guys this chapter, see you all later. And to you Americans, happy Thanksgiving. No idea what it's about but it only seems polite.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	51. Chapter 51

Welcome, one and all, to Kage no Naruto chapter fifty one. I still can't believe that this thing is so god damned long. You know that this story is now over a quarter million words long? I am not joking, check the word count, it's over two hundred and fifty thousand words!

Author's Note: By the way, I've recently discovered that Slash fiction has reached a new low with the entire yaoi premise. I have heard that there is a yaoi lemon story between Frankie Boyle, and Hugh Dennis. HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT!?

Amazing story length aside, let's get this chapter started.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, a decent amount happened in this chapter. First and foremost, Ibiki headed off the Animal Realm Pein to stop him from attacking Inoichi and Shizune from pooling their knowledge. What nobody saw was the Human Realm Pein going after them when nobody was paying attention.

After that, we get a bit with Naruto and Fukusaku hardly able to believe that a problem like this is coming up at this stage of the training. Now Naruto is determined to find a method of using Natural Energy while moving, which is impossible. Fukusaku is pretty sure that Naruto is insane, but is going along with it anyway. Remember, Naruto tried to gather Natural Energy while moving before, during his earlier training and failed. He's planning to try the same thing. Remember, the definition of Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

After that we enter a scene with the Hell Realm Pein interrogating two Chuunin. They refuse to tell him anything and so they get their souls eaten by this weird Rinnegan thing. It's one of those things that you need to see for yourself, it's hard to describe.

During this time, Konohamaru had been watching the entire thing and makes a run for it, or is about to. Before he does though, Ebisu of all people jumps in and starts to fight the Hell Realm Pein. Then it shows him a bit later held by the throat like the two from before. It goes into a bunch of flashbacks about how the villagers reacted to Naruto's various triumphs through the years, then to a bit with Ebisu accepting his own death. And then, just before the end, it shows a bit of Naruto saying to Konohamaru that he had a technique for Konohamaru to learn, and then it has a page with Konohamaru stepping out of the alley he was hiding in, shouting at the HellRealm Pein that he was the guy's next opponent. One after another, Naruto's friends and allies are getting cut down, eh?

I would say that this was a pretty good chapter. Not much in the way of action, but it had plenty of potential in set-up action. I hope that the next chapter shows Konohamaru getting butchered, that kid always did seem a bit annoying to me, and Ebisu he's always been a bit of a prick, not to mention a pervert, albeit an in-closet one.

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Summary of last chapter

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Right, Naruto took a length of Kisame's hair and had his soldiers take the Akatsuki member to the border to set him loose. He did this because while he had Kisame's hair he could find him wherever he was and before long, wherever Kisame was, Itachi wouldn't be far behind. Naruto also promised that Kisame would receive a horrible punishment for killing Zodd after Itachi is captured and Kisame's usefulness had expired.

Temari was in Suna, reflecting upon her training while waiting for the Konoha team to show up. After a flashback of Naruto's cruel training, the four of them showed up in the distance. Temari decided that the best way to get rid of them would be to manipulate a nearby sandstorm, making it stronger than it should normally be, to the point where it would rip flesh from bone.

Naruto contemplated upon a way to breach the defenses of Houfu, the capital city of Iwagakure, thinking of the various defenses of the Kongoubenso which was the immense wall that protected Houfu for centuries without ever being pierced, the massive army, and the twelve ninja that were guarding Lord Yokushin, the Earth Daimyo. And that's where the last chapter ended. Let the fifty first chapter begin!

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With Kisame

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Kisame woke up in the middle of nowhere, with a pounding headache and a variety of wounds that had been bandaged up. He shook his head to clear it and got up, looked around and soon found and picked up Samehada which was nearby.

After that he had a look around his surroundings, and from a pocket he took a compass. He quickly oriented his position and headed south. He would look for a town, where he would then be able to find out where he was, and then once he knew that he would head for Amegakure. Pein had always said that if you and your partner are separated and cannot find each other, head for Amegakure. There, he would link up with Itachi and then follow their new orders, whatever they might be.

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With Team 7

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The newly re-forged Team 7, consisting of Tenten, Sakura, Sai, and led by Kakashi, weren't making the fastest of progress to Sunagakure. They had gotten lost in the desert and had to find their way again. In fact, the only reason they were able to get back on track was due to a combination of Kakashi's experience in the desert when he was here on the occasional mission, and because they had stumbled upon a traveling merchant who had pointed them in the right direction. Still, regardless of reasons, they had found the large cliff that was an important marker for finding Suna. 'Once you find the cliff, head north about fifty miles and you'll find Suna. You can't miss it.' Said the merchant.

Kakashi urged his team to hurry up. "We're already a bit behind schedule as it is, and there's a big sandstorm coming. We've got to get to the cliff before it hits, or we'll probably get lost." Kakashi said to the rest of the team. The three merely nodded and quickened their pace.

At the pace they were moving at, they quickly closed the distance, but the sandstorm moved even closer. The strange thing was that the storm moved faster than it should have. By the time they were halfway to the cliffs and the caves that would offer sanctuary from the harsh weather, the storm got even closer, and it was a lot stronger than Kakashi thought it would be. Before long the wind was stirring their hair and sand was moving around the ground. By the time they were three quarters of the way to the cliff, the wind started blowing sand around enough to deteriorate line of sight.

Things got a lot stranger when the wind picked up even more. This time exponentially. Suddenly Tenten cried out, and the other three looked back immediately. She was holding a hand to one cheek. She pulled it away and they saw that her cheek was stained with a slim, horizontal line of blood. "What the hell was that?" She asked angrily.

Kakashi looked at the sight with serious concern. Were they under attack? Then he felt a line of fire against one finger and looked down to see a similar cut to Tenten's. He looked at the cut closely and picked a single grain of sand out of one end of the wound. That's when he realized what was happening. "GET TO THE CAVES!" he shouted. "WE CAN'T GET CAUGHT IN THE STORM!"

Galvanized by the fear in his voice, the other three started running as fast as they could in the sand, desperate to get to the caves in the cliff. As they moved, they suffered a number of similar small cuts across their arms, legs, and faces. Small gashes were torn in clothing and seeing became more and more difficult. During this time Kakashi was trying to sense what he feared would be there, and he soon found it. A large amount of chakra was feeding the wind of the storm, making it far stronger than it should have been under normal circumstances. He shouted back to the rest of the team to hurry up and everyone put all of their effort into movement, pushing large amounts of chakra into their legs to propel them greater distances.

During this time, the storm got even closer, pushing the sand around faster and faster, causing small, thin cuts to happen more frequently, and as the sand flew through the air faster, the cuts they inflicted became longer, and deeper.

The storm only got worse as they neared the cliffs, and Kakashi could feel the chakra that fueled the storm increase as whoever worked the wind worked harder and harder to make the storm move faster, to move closer and unleash more of its fury upon them. Kakashi knew that so far they were only in the storm's outskirts. If they got caught in the center of it they would be lucky to have any flesh left at all.

Kakashi and the rest ran as fast as they could, and they finally reached the cliffs, and the caves that would provide shelter from the deadly storm. There was only one problem though. There were no caves. Kakashi could see mounds of rubble where the entrances were, but the holes in the cliff-face had been sealed shut. They were trapped.

Far above Team 7, Temari stood at the peak of the cliffs, above the storm and safe from it, holding her fan in one hand as she drove the wind to move faster and faster to kill her targets. Behind her stood four Soldier Zombies. Each of them a bit worn from recently ascending the cliff again, and each minus several explosive notes from when they arrived in Kaze no Kuni.

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With Naruto

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Naruto stood in a rocky, grassy plain, in the valley between two chains of mountains. Two miles in front of him stood the Kongoubenso, the impenetrable wall that protected the capital city of Houfu from all would-be-invaders. It stood as it had stood for over five hundred years. Tall and magnificent. The polished granite that made up the wall shone like a mirror in the sun, and the steel of the doors was kept in top condition, bright, shining, and impenetrable. It was meant to be a beacon of hope to the citizens of Tsuchi no Kuni. A light in the darkness, a place where the people would be safe from their enemies, no matter how fearsome. The Kongoubenso was built over a one hundred and twenty year period under the command of the first Earth Daimyo, and continued by his son who inherited his title. Ever since then, the great ninja of Iwa, the Tsuchikages, the Jounin, the seal masters, every man who could came to reinforce the great wall even more ever since it was built. Before them, it was the ninja clans that existed before the Hidden Villages who reinforced the walls under the terms of their pact with the Daimyo. He let them stay in his country, they kept his city safe.

It was on this day, eight hundred years since the great wall, the Kongoubenso, the Diamond Defense, was built that Capiorcorpus no Uzumaki Naruto, the master of shadows and the undead, the terror of Tsuchi no Kuni who had conquered, murdered, and enslaved its people would for the first time in two hundred years test the greatest defense in the Elemental Countries. For the first time in living memory, the impenetrable defense was to be challenged.

Behind Naruto stood a number of his subjects. Fifty Soldier Zombies armed to the teeth. They were clad in steel armor specially prepared by Naruto to be stronger than normal steel and made to take chakra strikes and shrug them off like a feeble wind, they carried gigantic axes to crush rock, massive shields to defend themselves, and heavy spears to pierce the material that stood before them. All of these weapons were large and sharp, forged by Zombies in the forges of Dark Heaven Castle, imbued with seals and power to rip defenses apart. These weapons were meant to be wielded by Naruto's inhuman, supernaturally strong monstrosities, not man. Ten of them would stay in the back wielding massive bows so large that normal men could not hope to pull the string, fit with specially prepared steel headed arrows that, wielded by the undead warriors that Naruto created would send deadly projectiles that could run through a steel wall, and then strike fully armored man, pierce his breast plate, his heart, and the armor upon his back and still retain enough force to kill the man standing behind him. These were Soldiers meant to destroy the defenses of the enemy, to be indestructible messengers of death to the people of Houfu.

Behind them stood a hundred or so Soldiers, not nearly as heavily armed. They were armed with knives, hammers, axes. But strangely, beside them stood great piles of lumber, boxes held nails, iron spokes and other such building supplies. They didn't look like they were here to fight at all.

Naruto watched as the army meant to defend the city and its lord gathered upon the wall, he watched as the figures in shining iron armor gathered to defend their home. He waited until a large amount had gathered that he said a single word. 'Charge'

The moment that the word crossed their master's lips, the fifty heavily armed Soldiers screamed in defiance and fury and ran full sprint to the gates of the Kongoubenso. They ran almost a mile hauling that heavy equipment and they didn't slow down at all. Fifty yards from the gates, the archers held back and took up their bows. They pulled from their quivers arrows two inches thick and four feet long that they fitted to those massive bows made of fine oak. They took aim for a moment, pulling the bow-strings under incredibly tension to a position beside their ears, and after a moment's aim they let them fly. The wood snapped back into position with a sound not unlike a gunshot and the deadly shafts of wood and metal went flying into the air. Not toward the gates though, the arrows went higher, and struck the army that was watching from the top of the wall.

Now THAT was utter carnage. Nobody knew what happened, suddenly three men were spitted upon a length of wood and a fourth was left with a dent in his chest plate deep enough to restrict his breathing. The arrows rained from the sky like a hailstorm from hell, piercing armor, smashing helms, piercing flesh and bone and killing everyone near where they landed. Flecks of meat flew through the air, limb were torn off by the sheer force that the projectiles carried. Every arrow killed at least one man, and most of them killed two or three, or more. The ten Zombies that wielded the bows had two hundred and fifty arrows between them. As suddenly as that, almost a tenth of Lord Yokushin's army was slaughtered.

As the soldiers were hastily getting off the wall, trampling the bodies of the dead and the badly wounded in their haste to get away from the raining death that killed their fellows. While they did, the archers dropped their bows and took up their spears, as did the other forty Soldiers. They raced for ward and, as one, threw their spears in a perfect formation. The spears landed with an ear-splitting CRACK!

They struck the great wall of the Kongoubenso in a perfect arch, burrowing almost half of their length into the stone and cracking a visible shape into the defensive wall of rock. The fifty Soldiers took up their axes and ran to the cracked doorway in the wall they swung them back and with deafening howls swung the steel into the stone of the wall, cracking the rock beneath them and splitting it, slowly but surely hacking their way through the wall that had stood as long as anyone could remember.

It was at that moment however, that the wall struck back.

The stone let out a groan almost like a living thing and the nearby earth shook, knocking the zombies off balance. There was hardly a warning before the area cracked into an arch flashed red and the area of wall the zombies were hacking at flames spewed from the stone, bathing the creatures in fire.

The Zombies however were all still protected by the seals that Naruto placed upon them to absorb fire, to protect them from a terrible weakness. Their armor glowed cherry red, the steel in their hands shone white with unbearably intense heat, but that did not still the zombies from hacking at the wall as though the flames weren't there at all. Before long, the flames stopped as a combination of the chakra dedicated to the attack by some unknown ninja wearing out and the steel of the axes, sealed within them the power to pierce defenses, hacked into the very fabric of the chakra defense and shorted it out.

The imbued defenses of the Kongoubenso did not stop there. Barely a second after the flames ended, the wall shivered and spears or rock shot forth from the granite wall, but barely dented the steel armor of the siege zombies. They were made to defeat the Kongoubenso's defenses and hack through the granite and diamond standing before them and they were doing their best to split the rock before them.

Then the wall shivered and groaned again, once more as though it was alive and a great surge of water poured from the top of the wall over the zombies, drenching them horribly but they did not care about the cold, nor the blazing hot steam that rose from their cooled weapons. They continued to attack the wall before them, determined to pierce it. Far from the offensive, Naruto and the hundred Zombies watched in anticipation.

Then, while the water was still pouring over the zombies, bolts of lightning arced from the stones and struck the water, electrifying the undead warriors. THAT got a reaction. The electricity forced their muscles to clench tight, and they were paralyzed as they were electrocuted. That hardly mattered however since they couldn't die. Before long the water ran out, the lightning stopped, and the Zombies were freed from their paralysis. Then they returned to hacking at the wall with a single minded fury.

Then the wall shook and the stone filled in. The damage they had done so far healed over in moments, the rock flowing like water. They were about ten feet into the wall at this point. They moved as fast as they could, but the Soldiers were trapped in the encompassing rock as the wall was healed. Two Soldiers managed to escape the fate of their fellows and were not devoured by the wall.

Then, fifty great tendrils of stone emerged from the smooth rock and wrapped around the spears that were still embedded in the rock face, they pulled the shafts from the stone and the wall healed the damage that they had caused. Then the tendrils launched the spears through the air toward the remaining two Soldier Zombies. The spears pierced their armor like hot knives through butter, and pierced their bodies in all places. The head, the chest, the limbs, the stomach, they were each run through twenty five times by spears meant to destroy built in defenses. Not even Naruto's Zombies could survive that. They fell dead to the ground.

Even though the Zombies could not be killed by normal means, they still depended upon the seal placed upon them by Naruto. Their shadow, under normal circumstances, would vanish the moment that the original owner died, killing the zombie with it. Naruto's seal prevented that by trapping the shadow in the zombie. If the zombies are fed salt, then the shadow is released from the zombie and if the original owner was still alive, it would return to them. If the original owner was dead, and the shadow was kept on Earth by Naruto's seal then the shadow would vanish. The spears that Naruto created to destroy defenses did the same thing to the zombies that they did to the wall. They destroyed the built in chakra defenses of the zombies. The spears destroyed the seal that kept their shadows trapped on Earth despite the fact that their original owners were dead. The shadows that kept the zombies alive and moving vanished, still trapped in the zombies, and the Zombies died as well.

Atop the great wall, the remaining soldiers of Houfu's army cheered in victory, happy that the great defense had held.

A good distance away, Naruto scowled with distaste and thought. 'Well, that ended about as I expected it to.' He thought. 'But it was necessary to see what that wall was capable of.'

Then he turned to the Soldiers behind him and nodded, giving them a clear signal to begin. The Soldiers nodded and took lumber from the piles, nails from the boxes, and started laying them on the ground and nailing them together. They were building a foundation.

As the army of Houfu stopped cheering and watched what was happening, they watched as the Zombies built something. In the next six hours, a definite shape took form and was filled in by rock and stone. In the six hours since Naruto's attack failed, the Soldiers had built a structure across the entire valley. It was a wall. Nowhere near as grand as the Kongoubenso, but a wall nonetheless. It had one gate, and that was barred by several steel bars. It was fifteen feet high, and as wide as the valley floor. The hundred Zombies that built the wall sat upon the top of the wall, putting away building supplies and taking out swords and shields and spears.

Naruto went to the land before the Kongoubenso and shouted, chakra filling his voice to make it carry. With a handseal he altered the wind and made it carry his voice longer, so that everyone in the entire city could hear him and said. "People of Houfu! I must congratulate you, that wall is quite sturdy, but not impenetrable, and even if it is, what good does it do you but to keep you in as well as keeping me out? My servants will stay here, and man this wall. No supplies of any kind will reach Houfu until I say otherwise. It does not matter to me how you fall. Either you are defeated by me, or you starve to death it makes no difference. So now, I offer you a choice. You can surrender, and you will all be taken as slaves, your lord will be killed, and you will work for the rest of your days under my command, you will work in the mines of your country, extracting ore and gemstone as you have always done. Or you can defy me, and I shall break down your wall and kill you all. And should I fail, I will merely wait here until you all starve or die of thirst. It makes no difference to me. I will go now, to conquer Iwa, to slay the Tsuchikage and the ninja that might yet offer you assistance. You have until I return to make your choice. I suggest that you make the right one."

Then Naruto released the handseal and the wind stopped amplifying his voice. He turned and stepped into the shadow of the wall that would block any and all trade with the city, that would leach Houfu until it starved, and vanished as though he was never there. The people stopped cheering ,and they realized just how bad their situation really was.

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And that is the end of the chapter. A bit short, I know, but it seemed right to end it there. You all saw a bit of what's happening to Kakashi and Co., and you see the defensive abilities of the Kongoubenso. Naruto gives them a lose-lose ultimatum for a lose-lose situation and prepares to take on the other nugget of resistance that stands between him and complete conquering of Tsuchi no Kuni.

As for what happens in the battle for Iwa, you will have to wait next chapter.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	52. Chapter 52

Right, welcome all, this is the beginning of Kage no Naruto chapter fifty two, hoe I didn't keep you waiting too long for this update. Either way, whether I did this in my normal time-frame or not, none of it matters because none of you know where I live, and even if you did, I live behind a big gate. So from the safety of my home, I calmly say, 'Haha, you can't catch me.' And in the case that I updated on my normal schedule, just ignore all that. Or don't, I don't particularly care on that point.

And with that memorable note, let the chapter begin.

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Summary of last chapter

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A decent bit happened last chapter, for starters, Kisame woke up at the border and as per standing Akatsuki orders headed for Amegakure to meet up with Itachi.

In Kaze no Kuni, Team seven was trapped between a flesh ripping sandstorm orchestrated by Temari and a cliff that used to have caves in it, but they were sealed off by the Soldier Zombies under Temari's command. For them, things looked bleak.

At Houfu, Naruto sent a group of fifty Soldier Zombies specially armed to destroy defenses, to attack the wall. They were all destroyed by the wall's defenses. The wall came through the entire thing without a scratch.

After that, Naruto had a hundred Soldiers build a wall spanning the length of the valley and had his Soldiers guard it. They were to stop any and all merchants from reaching the gates. Naruto gave the citizens of Houfu an ultimatum: Surrender and be taken as slaves to work the mines or defy him and die. If they defied him than he would try harder to breach the defenses, if that failed then he would simply leave them to starve. They have until he returns from destroying Iwagakure to decide upon their answer.

Then he left and the chapter ended. On that note, let this chapter begin.

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With Team 7

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Team seven had seen better days. They weren't badly injured, but they were still pretty messed up. Kakashi sported long, bleeding scratches along his hands and forearms, and one cut across his cheek, barely a quarter of an inch below one eye.

Tenten was doing a bit worse, having scratches along her abdomen, hands, arms, and calves, a few of them rather deep.

Sakura came out of it the best. A few bad scratches along her upper arms, a few on her stomach that had gone straight through her top, but aside from that she came out fine and was healing everyone's wounds, particularly Sai's.

Sai came out of it the worst. He was wearing the least clothing so of course the deadly sand had cut into him good and deep, carving out a gouge of flesh two inches wide and half an inch deep across his stomach, about half a dozen scratches on his cheeks and face, two deep cuts going straight through his bottom lip vertically about an inch apart, cutting out a flap of tissue. Other scratches cut through his pants and into his thighs, almost severing some of the large arteries that lay there. It figured that Sai would be the worst off, he was the last one in.

When they were caught in the deadly sandstorm, their only shelter blocked off by rubble, Kakashi had taken charge and did the only thing that came to mind in that situation, get into those caves.

He went through handseals at an amazing rate, forming a Raikiri in one hand. Given all the wind chakra flowing through the air it took about three times as much chakra as it normally would, but he managed to get one fully formed and he used that to destroy the rubble at the entrance to the nearest cave, which was thankfully a deep one.

None of them knew that the Raikiri could be used like that. Apparently it could be used to pierce a target deeply in a narrow spot, or it can be spread so that the impact hit a wide area for less damage instead. Kakashi was pretty tired at the moment thanks to the effort. Outside the cave, the storm was still raging at full force. Going out there for even a moment would be suicide and everyone knew it. But not everyone knew why.

"Kakashi-sensei…." said Sakura as she worked on healing Sai's injuries, "What just happened out there? All of a sudden everyone started getting cut badly as though by invisible knives. I didn't see any enemies so what happened?"

Kakashi looked over and sighed before saying "We just escaped the most deadly sandstorm that I've ever heard of, that's what happened. The wind was going fast enough to allow the individual grains of sand to move fast enough to cut right through skin and muscle. If we were caught out there, we would have had our flesh ripped from our bones."

He gave them a moment to let that message sink in before saying "However Sakura, there WERE enemies out there. Storms don't get this strong on their own. I felt a definite presence of chakra making the storm stronger and controlling it however slightly, though I couldn't tell where it was from. Someone's out there, nearby, and they want us dead. I don't know who it is, or where they are, but we definitely have enemies in this desert."

Tenten was quiet for a moment before saying "Could it be Suna? Is it possible that the entire story about the Kazekage getting kidnapped was a deliberate false trail meant to lure ninja squads to come to Suna for ambush in preparation for another invasion?"

Kakashi was a bit impressed by the chain of logic. "Well, that's one possibility but I don't think that it's very likely. Suna wouldn't want a war with Konoha right now due to our current alliance along with the fact that we have stronger ninja. They wouldn't want a fight, at least not right now."

Kakashi sighed and said "More likely is that it's a member of Akatsuki, or even more likely a servant to a member of Akatsuki sent here to slow us down and kill us if possible. And we're right where the enemy wants us, in an enclosed space, altogether, with one way out that leads to suicide. If someone managed to get an explosive in here, we'd be fucked."

Sakura quietly looked toward the cave mouth as though waiting for an enemy to appear or an explosive rushing through the deadly sand.

Kakashi looked at her with amusement and said "Don't worry Sakura, they won't attack us right now. They're as limited by this storm as we are, they can't leave their own shelter for fear of the storm killing them instead of us. They'll wait until the storm goes down, or one of them will do their best to make it go down, before attacking. Anything else would be wasted time and an almost guaranteed death courtesy of the enemies' own attack. No, we'll wait here and tend to our wounds while we wait for this storm to die out. With any luck the creator of it will attack us then, when we're ready for him at which point we subdue him and either kill him or take him prisoner. That's all I've got for now."

Sakura nodded and returned to healing Sai while Teneten check out her weaponry. Sai snored.

What Kakashi DIDN'T say was what really bothered him though. 'This person has at least a decent amount of training with Fuuton Ninjutsu, and a lot of natural talent and skill. Controlling sandstorms is extremely difficult, though it appeared as though this person could barely do it. He didn't command it to go after us so much as nudge it in the right direction and give it a little push. If this guy had another year or two to train he could have had that thing right on top of us before we got near this cave, that's a small comfort. At least this guy is going to be tired after the massive exertion that this whole storm business would have taken. If we're lucky, we'll be up against a lone, tired, and cornered opponent with a lot of information. The worst case scenario….'

Kakashi didn't even want to THINK the worst case scenario. The scenario in which either a member of Akatsuki, in person, just tried to kill them and would be tired, but would have a partner nearby. They weren't anywhere close to taking on an Akatsuki member, even four on one. Two of them would be suicide, even with the squad fully healed and rested.

Then there was the even worse case scenario. That Suna had betrayed them and attempted to lure Konoha forces into the desert in a pre-emptive ambush before launching an invasion of Konoha. They barely recovered from the last one, Konoha couldn't survive another war right now. They would put up a fight, and take a lot of enemies with them, but in the end Konoha would fall.

Kakashi settled in against the cave wall and closed his eyes to think and meditate, partially to rest his aching and tired body, partly to think upon possible strategies, and most of all to help regain his chakra. He felt that he would need every bit of it in the fight to come.

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With Temari

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Temari stood upon the top of the cliff in which Team 7 was hiding, a scowl marring her features. She didn't know that the Chidori could be used like that. If she did then she would have put more effort into blocking off the caves.

Now she was worn out from controlling the sandstorm and strengthening it to the point where it could kill quickly. She had cut off her chakra flow from the storm since Team 7 reached safety, ending her control over it completely. Now she was simply waiting for the storm to move on, which would take about an hour at its current speed.

The four Soldiers were seated nearby, awaiting orders. Temari glanced back at them and went over the various statistics in her head, the likelihood of victory in the upcoming fight.

Temari was scared of what was going to happen in the next hour or so. She knew that she was skilled, but this was Sharingan no Hatake Kakashi, one of the best ninja in Konoha. However ill-gotten his namesake might be, his Sharingan eye provided a major advantage when it came to a Ninjutsu specialist like her. Combine that with over a decade more of experience, much more Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu knowledge, and a lot more speed and you had a very dangerous opponent.

Temari swallowed when she went over the facts again and again, comparing the abilities of herself and the zombies under her command with the known abilities of Kakashi, not to mention those three Chuunin with him. She was fairly confident that she could defeat Tenten, she remembered defeating her in the Chuunin Exams years ago, the pink haired girl was weak back then, but could have improved, and she had no idea what the third one was capable of.

Temari couldn't help but com to one inevitable conclusion every time she went over the information. Even wounded somewhat, Kakashi's team against Temari and her subordinates could only have one outcome.

Temari swallowed again as she forced herself to think the cold hard truth. 'If this fight is allowed to occur, I am going to die.'

There was no way around it. Even at full strength she was no match for Kakashi. The zombies may not be able to die, but they could be beaten down and knocked out given enough time and muscle was put into the task. They could also be immobilized if the spine is severed or the limbs are broken severely enough.

No matter what plan Temari went through in her mind, every last one had the same result. The zombies broken and defeated, and her, dead on the ground. The only differences in the various images of her own death was the method, location, and how badly wounded Kakashi was when he finally finished her off.

Temari grew increasingly distraught over the fact that her death was looking her in the face. So much so that she didn't notice the cold coming from the pouch at her side for several moments.

When she did, she put one hand into the bag and grasped the freezing object, drawing it out for her to see.

What was in her hands was a small, rectangular picture frame about the size of a walkie-talkie. In the frame was a picture of a dead face, slightly marred with impatience. It was one of Naruto's miniature Portrait Zombies used for communication. She saw a seal glowing dark blue around the rim, apparently Naruto gave the things the ability of getting the attention of whoever was holding it.

She just said "Yes, what is it?" at the undead messenger, hoping that whatever it was, it was something that would allow her to get out of her sure-death situation. Either she stay and get killed by Kakashi, or she ran and got hunted down by Naruto. If this messenger didn't have good news, she was a dead woman.

The Portrait Zombie looked at her from inside the frame and said "About time you noticed I was here, I've got a message from the master, and I haven't the time to be ignored by some little desert rat."

Temari was more than a little indignant at the comment. "What did you just call me!? You're lucky that I don't break this frame on the ground for that insolence you pint-size postage boy!"

The trapped undead just let out a rather loud raspberry at the comment and said "Whatever you camel-humper. The Master may have given you command over those four nimrods over there, but you can't do shit to me, or command me. So, with no respect whatsoever, STUFF IT YOU SLOW WITTED SAND COW!"

Temari was taken aback at THAT particular insult. She tended to forget how surly the Portrait Zombies could be at times. Spending years and years trapped in a painting did wonders for the attitude. To Naruto, Perona, Hogback, and Absalom they were polite and respectful, but to everyone else except a few of the General Zombies they insulted at every opportunity.

Temari swallowed a loud reprisal and said "Fine, whatever. What's the message from Naruto-sama then?"

"Oh, finally getting your mind on business are you? About time you dead weight wind bag." The Zombie cleared its throat and said, in an eerily close impression of Naruto's voice, "Temari, plans have changed. Get you squad and return to base immediately. I'm gathering every available resource for the next assault and we're on a schedule so hurry up. Regards, Naruto."

The Zombie cleared its throat again, and said in its own voice. "Right, with that out of the way, I shall now leave to take up conversation with more appropriate company to one of my personal stature. See you around, you shrieking harpy." Then the picture in the frame went completely black as quickly as switching off a light.

Temari stood there and looked at the picture frame for a moment in shock, and then let a very wide smile grace her features. 'THANK YOU NARUTO-KUN!' she mentally shouted, happy for a way out of a sure-death situation.

She turned to the four Soldiers and said "Change of plans, we're going home early so get up."

The four Soldiers jumped up and approached Temari as she took from around her neck a small gem of purest black. She held the crystal in one hand as she crouched down and put the other hand on the ground, willing her chakra through the gem and into the ground.

As she did so, a black material rushed from the gem to the earth, forming an oval about eight feet wide.

One by one, the Zombies jumped into it, vanishing form Kaze no Kuni and reappearing in the central hall in Dark Heaven Caslte.

Temari got up from her crouch and after a deep breath of relief and joy, jumped into the darkness as well, welcoming the cold of the shadows as she landed upon a familiar marble floor.

She looked up at the familiar stone walls and staring portraits. She was safe at home.

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With Naruto

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For the first time, all of Naruto's forces prepared themselves for battle.

Before now, the only ones sent out were a fraction of the strength that Naruto had accumulated with a combination of Hogback's medical genius and his theft of shadows taken from the great. This time was different. This time, this assault upon Iwagakure itself, was no small raid or small siege. This was to be complete and utter destruction of an entire organization that had survived for over a hundred years.

Every Soldier save a few were going into battle, every General save Kimmimaro was to take part in the assault. Perona, Absalom, the Sound Four, Haku, Anko, and Temari were also to be taking part in the attack, led by Naruto himself.

All of the leading elements of Naruto's group were gathered together in a large meeting-slash-throne-room. The room was massive, a large hall that had a floor of gold flecked granite, held up by pillars of white marble veined with gold. In the alcoves between the pillars stood ancient paintings of master artisans depicting scenes of carnage and chaos, or sculptures of demons and other beings that tormented mortal man. The room itself was at the very top of the castle, directly underneath the steeple of the roof.

From the thick iron door that led to the hall went a red carpet that led past the marble pillars upon which hung oil lanterns which lit the room, that led to the other side of the hall where a large round table sat near the end. The table was three feet high and made entirely of black marble flecked with white marble and silver. Surrounding it were several chairs of fine dark wood, straight backed and expensive, with thick cushions upon the back, arms, and seat. In these wooden chairs sat the Sound Four, Anko, Temari, Haku, and Ryuuma, the strongest General. Perona, Hogback, and Absalom sat in taller chairs made of silver and bronze, positioned directly adjacent to Naruto.

Naruto himself sat against the wall, directly facing the door, a mosaic of a great battle between humans and demons upon the wall behind him. He sat upon a throne that was at least a foot taller than the silver chairs of the Three Enigmas, the entire thing made of solid gold, studded with rubies and sapphires. Plush cushions made the thing extremely comfortable as well as extravagant. It was from this position that he dictated the meeting. Beside him stood Shizuru, one of the maids, who held a pitcher of a fine dark red wine which Naruto held a glass full of.

When Temari had finally returned and sat down, Naruto went through several quick handseals, enveloping everyone in a small Genjutsu that projected a map of Iwagakure itself along with the surrounding lands in the air above the table.

Naruto spoke "Right, the Soldiers will be split up into three divisions, which will attack the village simultaneously at these points." As Naruto spoke, points of red appeared on the map and arrows formed that led to three points on Iwa's wall which were marked as gates.

"One such division will be led by Absalom, a second by Perona, and the third is to be led by Anko. You are to attack the various residential areas and market places, doing as much property damage as possible, and stealing all valuables that aren't too heavy. Any ninja below the level of Jounin are to be killed on sight. Jounin are to be captured if possible, if it's not possible, kill them."

Naruto took a drink before going on "The Generals will act of their own volition, doing damage and killing the enemy's more powerful combatants. With the Generals supporting the main body of Soldiers, we shouldn't have much difficulty until we reach the Kage Tower. Temari and Haku, you are to operate under these guidelines as well."

Naruto gestured and a small, golden icon appeared upon the map, surrounded by four smaller red dots. He took another sip of his wine before saying "While the three groups attack the village and make their way to the Tower, I will be operating with the Sound Four. You are to come with me to Iwagakure's graveyard, where I will work my talents upon the corpses there. There aren't nearly as many ninja bodies buried as in Konoha, but there are a lot of civilian corpses there and I will make use of them to create some stronger undead to assist us in the final assault upon the Tower. Sakon, you will act as my drum, Tayuya, and Kidomaru will be guarding you. Any objections?"

Naruto held out his glass for Shizuru to refill, which she did, while Naruto waited for an answer, not that anyone was going to reply. Everyone there wanted to live a little longer.

After a moment, Naruto nodded and continued on "At that point, all of our forces will assault the Tsuchikage's tower. I will confront and neutralize the Tsuchikage, and after that the rest of the village should fall easily."

Naruto paused to take a drink before speaking again "There is something to be mindful of, and that's the civilians. They are only to be harmed if they get too rowdy, otherwise they are to be ignored or captured, preferably captured. We will go with several hundred cages fit to contain a dozen or so people comfortably, we will use those to hold them. After all, we need people to work the mines. There is still a lot of wealth in these mountains."

Naruto then took another drink and said "The only people not participating in this attack will be Hogback and Kimimaro along with twenty Soldiers and the Maids. Maids aren't meant for fighting and neither are you Hogback, and I'm not willing to risk losing Kimimaro no matter how unlikely it is. I want you to take those Soldiers and continue work on the Special Zombie. With any luck, we'll have destroyed a last stand of resistance in addition to gathering more laborers to work the tunnels and perhaps even a new General or two depending on whether or not powerful Jounin are captured and whether or not I can capture the Tsuchikage alive. Now then, any questions?"

He waited a moment, but no one said a thing. The orders were clear enough.

Naruto smiled and said "Then gather your battalions together and prepared for attack. We move on my order!"

With that, the illusion vanished and everyone left the room. Naruto settled back into his chair and smiled a bit, this would be a very good day.

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With Team 7

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It had taken two hours, but at last the deadly storm left the area. Sakura had healed everyone's wounds, and they were preparing to leave the cave. Kakashi only hoped that he wasn't making a mistake and he wasn't about to take a knife to the back of the head the moment he left the relative safety of the cave.

When everyone was ready, Kakashi burst out into the open, turning around in the air as soon as he was out of the cave and scanned the Cliffside. Seeing no danger there, he immediately checked the nearby landscape for any signs of someone being hidden. He performed several methods of dispelling Genjutsu, finding nothing. Then he signaled the others that it was safe enough to leave the cave, which they immediately did, taking up defensive positions near Kakashi

Kakashi was pretty unnerved. He KNEW that there was an enemy nearby, there was no way that the storm was that strong on its own and he felt definite evidence that someone tampered with it. The only thing was that he couldn't spot that enemy anymore, which was a very dangerous thing.

After a minute or so of silently searching the nearby landscape, he said "Right, let's start moving toward Suna. I don't think that whoever was here is still around, but just in case stay ready, don't let your guard down."

The other three just nodded and followed Kakashi's lead, heading North towards Sunagakure.

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With Naruto, outside Iwagakure, two hours later

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Naruto breathed in the fresh mountain air, savoring it before he looked down at the village below him, everything old and familiar. It had been a long time since he had been to Iwagakure. He had not been there since he brought Haruka and Yukino to his side, though it later came back to bite him. 'Still' he thought 'those traitors got what they had coming.'

He looked on as his watched his army approach the village from three directions, the Soldier Zombies blackening the twilit streets. Near the front of each unit, but not on the front line of any of them, he could see the appointed commanders of the three battalions. Perona, Absalom, and Anko. Normally the position of leading an entire battalion would go to Hogback, but he was not much of a fighter. In that case it should go to Ryuuma, but he was needed more elsewhere. So he went with the most experienced among his other human supporters. Near the backs of the three divisions were several dozen large steel cages each, every one of them moved and maintained by four Soldiers.

Behind Naruto stood the remaining members of the Sound Four, Kidomaru, Sakon, and Tayuya. Sakon had a piece of equipment that was not exactly standard issue with him. A large drum that was specially enhanced to be heard for miles.

Naruto watched Iwa ninja scramble as they prepared for the unexpected assault upon them. He couldn't blame them however, after all his forces appeared out of nowhere and immediately began to march to the gates. He saw some last minute attempts to bar the gates and help defend them, but there was little point to it.

At one gate, a gigantic ghost soared up to the wood and suddenly exploded, sending fragments of the wood flying, as well as large chunks of stone. At another gate, the hinges were blown off suddenly by fast moving, explosive projectiles, and at the third gate ice formed upon the hinges, freezing them and making them brittle for a gigantic summoned snake to bash the doors down. After the gates were quickly broken, the Soldiers swarmed inside the city walls and did battle with the Iwa ninja. He watched from his perch as various jutsu shook the earth as the Iwa Chuunin used their various specialties to try and stem the tide.

It was funny when their attempts to attack were pierced by lightning Ninjutsu from the Soldiers. Naruto may not have been able to utilize fire or lightning any longer, but his creations still could, and they used them to great effect, piercing defenses and attacks and goring through the stomachs or chests of the enemy. Those who were lucky and only got hit in a limb, or escaped all harm, tried to run only to be hunted down by the rapidly approaching undead.

As the Chuunin gate defense fell, the houses nearest to the wall were broken into and entered. With houses this close to the gate, they weren't likely to get anything good, the rich houses were in the market district and near the Tower. Still, he noticed a few bags being looted, and a few times a civilian family was dragged from one of the houses and passed to the back where they were slammed into one of the cages. Once inside, if they tried to escape they would be shocked into unconsciousness so escaping slaves-to-be wasn't going to be a problem.

He was surprised that so many civilians were still in their homes, though it was probably a pretty short notice evacuation. There were several shelters underground to protect civilians, though Naruto would be able to access them once the day was won.

Before long, fires were started in the buildings as the Soldiers fought past. So far, no Jounin or ANBU had shown up, though Naruto knew it was only a matter of time. They were most likely preparing a defense near the Tower, making the enemy come to them.

He watched as the various battalions started to break apart to cover more ground, all the while covering more territory to find and kill enemy ninja as well as to break into and steal from the houses and businesses. The looting was different this time, not a single Soldier came out of a building empty handed, this was where the smaller businesses and lower middle class houses were located, and there was always a bit of money in places like those.

He watched from his vantage point as the various ninja attempted to fight back against the unstoppable tide of undead flesh which did his bidding, breaking into and robbing buildings, burning them after they were past, as well as kidnapping civilians of all ages who were unlucky enough to get seen and caught. Men, women, children as long as they were old enough. If they were too young, infants or toddlers, the Soldiers cut their throats in front of the mothers before tossing them in a cage, after which they usually got quite unruly. Naruto could hear the wails of anguish from where he was watching everything play out.

After a short time, he noticed that a number of barriers were being formed around the Tower, and the Iwa Shinobi were beginning to push his forces back as a few Jounin started to join the battle. A small group of Jounin assaulted the battalion led by Anko, which surprised Naruto by working very well together. One raised a wall of earth behind the front lines of the battalion, while the others knocked the Soldiers out of the air with explosives when they tried to jump over it to join their comrades. At the same time, the other two Jounin bathed the separated portion in fire and wind, creating a sizable blaze that would cook any human.

Unfortunately for them, Naruto had long since made sure that fire wasn't a problem for the Zombies, and so the segregated portion jumped out of the flames and caught the Jounin by surprise, attacking with poisoned knives coated with a potent sedative. Three of them had impressive reflexes and escaped using a Kawarimi, but the fourth got stabbed in the leg by a second Zombie when he was blocking the strike of one going for his throat. He reeled back, staggering a bit as the rapid acting sedative flowed through his system.

A Soldier Zombie ran up and hit him in a pressure point under the jaw, knocking him out effectively. It was at this moment that the wall of rock behind them was broken apart by Soldier Zombies armed with maces for breaking through walls and such. The Jounin was tossed into the group without preamble and they began to carry him hand over hand to the cages near the back, where he would be restrained for the rest of the battle.

The other three Jounin jumped out of nearby buildings, breaking through the windows, in an attempt to save their comrade, but when they were in mid-air the three were hit by quick moving white blurs which propelled them into nearby walls. Once they were still, it was obvious that the white blurs were shots of webbing that trapped the Jounin against the wall.

Naruto looked in the direction that the shots came from and briefly saw the movement of a six armed figure between two buildings before it entered one soundlessly and escaped his field of view. 'Well, Gomorrah is doing his job well.' He thought.

Jounin also attacked the other two battalions but they were quickly dealt with, one of them was beaten down by the Soldiers, though several were injured fatally by the standards of humans with their throats slashed. Still, such injuries didn't even slow Naruto's creations down and they defeated the Jounin who were shocked at the sight. Three more Jounin were carried over to the cages as one of them was accidentally killed, in which case the body was thrown into a nearby building which was set on fire as they passed it.

As for the third group, they didn't even engage the Soldiers. They had scarcely appeared before a blur sped out of an alley way and through the middle of the Jounin group, before stopping on the other side of the street revealing itself to be Ryuuma. The Jounin twitched once or twice and fell bonelessly to the ground. None of them were dead, but all were unconscious since Ryuuma struck with the flat of his blade. He quickly saluted Perona who was directing the attack before vanishing again.

Naruto then turned to the Sound Four who were waiting behind him and said "Come" before jumping down and running down the mountainside, followed closely by the ex-Oto ninja.

He led them through one of the broken gates, through the burning parts of the city, heading toward the Kage tower before changing direction and heading west, toward the large graveyard that filled in a small section of the city in the parts closer to the Kage Tower than the Soldiers had gotten to yet. It was mainly a civilian graveyard, so no one protected it as they might a graveyard filled with ninja corpses.

They encountered a few fleeing Chuunin on their way to the graveyard, which Naruto dealt with in a way that none of the Sound Four had seen before.

He knocked them back with a swift strike, not hurting them but staggering them at which point he grabbed their heads and forced them to the ground. The Sound Four felt some kind of energy in the air as Naruto muttered under his breath, never taking his eyes from the Chuunin under his hand before abruptly letting him up.

The Chuunin stood, his appearance bland and dazed before Naruto merely said "Kill anyone wearing an Iwa headband." At which point the Chuunin howled in an almost animal fury and bounded in the direction of the Kage Tower.

Kidomaru looked at the whole scene unnerved for a moment before asking "Naruto-sama, what did you do to him?"

Naruto looked back and said "I tested something that I found in Kemmler's books. It was the art of breaking into and controlling a person's mind. There is a thing called enthrallment, basically turning a person into a mindless, obedient slave. There are two types of it, Rough and Fine enthrallment. Rough Thralls are basically sheep who are aware that they are slaves but are prisoners in their own heads, unable to control their own actions. This takes some time to do."

Naruto looked after the Chuunin and said "Then there is Fine Enthrallment. A Fine thrall is so well controlled that he doesn't even know that he's a slave, and it lasts long term. However, that takes time and a certain amount of empathy to do, as well as a certain talent for it, none of which I really have. Then, there's what I did to that poor bastard. I turned him into what's known as a Renfield."

Tayuya looked in the direction the Chuunin ran, from which screams could be heard and asked "And what are those?"

Naruto turned around and said "It's a quick, dirty way for someone to pick up some cheap muscle. It's done by crushing the person into total thralldom through sheer psychic force, doing tremendous mental damage to the person in question destroying their sanity in the process. It makes them no good for anything but gibbering violence, but since that's what I have in mind, it works out. They can't feel pain, and are strong enough to rip through a brick wall. And it can't be undone, the moment a Renfield's mind breaks it has an expiration date. They grow more and more unstable until they eventually self-destruct about a year and a half to two years after their created. Luckily, it's not difficult to do and it doesn't take much time."

Sakon was quiet for a moment and said "So, basically you just threw a small, human looking version of the Incredible Hulk at them?"

Naruto smiled a bit and said "More or less, now let's get going." Then without another word, he led the way through another few side-streets before eventually stopping before a large fence. Without a word, the shadows cast by the iron bars rose up in tendrils and tore out a large section of the fence, the metal screeching with resistance. The shadows threw the section of fence in one direction and Naruto stepped through the resulting hole, the Sound Four behind him.

The graveyard was plain and ordinary, green turf, disturbed every few feet by a chunk of quarried stone inscribed with names and dates.

The only noticeable thing was that there were about four thousand graves.

Naruto led them to the back of the graveyard, where the oldest graves were located before he suddenly stopped and said "Here"

He turned around and said to Sakon "Start playing, just as I told you."

Sakon nodded and took the drum from his back, setting on the ground and kneeling in front of it. Then started to play out a quick, primal beat. The only problem was that it barely carried two feet.

Naruto looked at him in irritation and said "You'll need to strike it with greater strength, transform."

Sakon looked a bit surprised at the command, but obeyed nonetheless. The black shapes of the Curse Mark flowed around his head and neck before they covered his body and he changed into a red skinned, ogre-like creature with a single horn. Then, with his incredible physical strength, he started playing the drum again, and this time everyone across the village could hear it. Everyone from the civilians hiding under the Kage Tower, to the soon to be slaves in the cages, to the commanders of the attack.

The Soldier Zombies heard the beat and knew what it meant, and reacted with joy, throwing themselves into the fray and attacking the enemy without restraint, confident in the knowledge that their Master was soon to join the battle.

Likewise, several every ninja in Iwagakure knew what it meant, everyone had heard the reports of the Chuunin who escaped from Naruto that day three years ago. They knew that the enemy just gained a large amount of reinforcements.

Naruto closed his eyes and focused upon the music, channeling his power into the beat, connecting it with his will and intent, then channeled that into the ground, to the ancient bodies below them. One thing about Necromancy, the older the body, the more difficult it is to summon it, but once they were summoned they were stronger, faster, easier to control, and more resistant to damage. And the bodies in that section of the graveyard of the oldest Hidden Village were several _hundred_ years old.

Naruto felt that power, and poured it into the ancient bodies, using his own power to call forth the matter known as ectoplasm, matter from the realm of spirit. He used his power to make that matter into what he wanted, flesh to clothe the bones of the ancient dead, to give them form when they had lost it, and to give them strength that they had lost.

Then he shouted into the air "Geister alt, hören Sie meinen Befehl, Schatten der vorigen Gewinn-Macht, und Gefühl-Heiterkeit in dieser Macht. Hervorgekommen von der großen Leere, um einem neuen Master zu dienen, seien Sie einer Taufe des Bluts und Todes erfreut, kommen Sie darüber hinaus zur Erde her Sie gingen einmal spazieren und das Leben lehren, fürchten, was gegangen ist!"**(1)**

The Sound Four watched in wonder and surprise as the ground over forty graves began to crack and move before hands shot out from the depths of the earth, these hands clutched at the ground and hurled themselves up, and the Sound Four got their first look at high level zombies.

Unlike the ones he had used before, these corpses looked like they could have been saved by a quick doctor. There was no indication that they weren't dead except for the fact that their clothes were several hundred years out of date, and the lack of intelligence in their eyes. They walked in perfect unison and stood before Naruto, perfectly willing to obey his commands without question, even if they could think of such an act. The Sound Four couldn't help but shiver as they walked past, the air around them was almost frozen. Their skin almost seemed to glow with a pale glimmer of power and they could tell that if Naruto told them to, those blank faces would stay just the same emotionless and unthinking as they ripped a person limb from limb, or punched through a brick wall.

Naruto smiled as he saw the result of his work, though he was visibly tired from the effort of summoning up even this many high level undead. Summoning merely forty of these took as much energy as several hundred lesser undead.

Naruto merely said "Come" and led the forty off toward the Tower, toward the home of the Tsuchikage.

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**(1) Minds of old, hear my order. Shades of generations past take this power and take joy in it. Come forth from the endless abyss and serve a new Master. Be delighted in this baptism of blood and death, walk the earth once more and teach the living to fear what once was!**

Okay, that's the end of the chapter. Naruto briefs and then leads an attack upon Iwagakure, using all of his forces to their best extent. Team Seven escapes death and continues on toward Suna in hopes of rescuing Gaara, and dozens of civilians are enslaves during the attack. The undead are summoned, and Naruto shows new techniques learned from the books of the ancient Necromancer Kemmler. What will happen next chapter? Find out then!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	53. Chapter 53

Greetings and Salutations all, and welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter fifty three! I left you on quite the cliffhanger last chapter, which I took immense satisfaction in by the way. Anyway, you can take the knife from your wrist, and the noose from your neck, because the next chapter is finally here! Enjoy it.

Author's Note: Kage no Naruto, according to Wikipedia, we don't exist!

Note: Just like to mention that this story now has over one hundred C2's, I just wanted to mention that little statistic.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Not a whole lot happened this chapter. Konohamaru faced down the Hell Realm Pein, Ebisu told him to run because he could become Hokage someday and he couldn't waste his life here. Then Konohamaru makes a handseal and goes on a bit about a promise with Naruto to fight for the Hokage title one day before the scene changes.

After that, there's a scene with Chouji reporting to Tsunade about the God Realm Pein's capabilities, and Tsunade mentions that Chouza is still alive, barely, and can be saved if Chouji gets him to a medic in time. She doesn't tell him that Kakashi is dead though.

After that, there's a bit with the Hungry Ghost Realm Pein in the morgue with the dead Pein that Jiraiya captured, he takes the various piercings from the room and prepares to leave before Tsume and Kiba bash into the room toward him. The Hungry Ghost Realm Pein Kawarimi's with the dead Pein body and escapes damage, and Tsume mentions that he doesn't like close range attacks before the scene switches again.

After that, we see a bit with Naruto's training, and Fukasaku says that the entire thing is impossible, it's like trying to look left and right at the same time. Naruto smiles after that and then the scene changes. Who wants to bet that Naruto just had a brilliant idea involving Kage Bunshins again? Seriously, when is he going to learn something DIFFERENT! Jesus Christ.

Right, there are two short scenes here, the first is Team Gai heading back to Konoha from some mission, so that explains where they've been all this time. As for the other scene, it's a short scene with Shino, Shibi, and two other Aburame clan members confronting Konan. That one could be interesting since the bugs were eating the paper cocooning one of the Chuunin.

After that there's a short scene with the God Realm Pein appearing before Tsunade and her little group of defenders. Tsunade recognizes him as the Pein that Chouji informed her about, and Pein says that she's the last of the Sannin before the chapter ends.

Right, all in all, this chapter had a lot of talking but no doing. Naruto is bound to come up with a way to use Kage Bunshins even more than he already has, and we have at least two decent fights promised in the next few chapters. Hungry Ghost Realm Pein vs. Tsume and Kiba, not to mention their dogs, as well as a battle between Tsunade and God Realm Pein. I would mention the imminent fight between Konohamaru and Hell Realm Pein, but I doubt that fight will last very long. Kishimoto should do what we've wanted him to do for a long time now and take the micky out of that little prick. It's time he learned his lesson good and proper. I will laugh dangerously hard if Hell Realm Pein just obliterates him, which SHOULD happen. If Konohamaru somehow beats Hell Realm Pein, then Naruto truly has lost any hope of redemption in my eyes. If KONOHAMARU can defeat one of Pein's bodies, then something is seriously wrong, I don't care what the circumstances are, Konohamaru had better lose and lost hard. It's about time he learned what a real ninja can do.

Oh, by the by, feel free to watch the Hidan and Kakuzu fight with Team 10 or Team 10 with Kakashi. They are both pretty cool, though in my opinion Hidan should have beaten Shikamaru, and Kakuzu should have at LEAST killed Chouji or Ino, the latter of which did almost nothing in either the anime or manga version of the fight.

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NARUTO SPOILERS END

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Summary of last chapter

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Okay, Naruto led the attack upon Iwagakure itself, enslaving and killing civilians, taking Jounin prisoner if possible, and killing Chuunin and Genin at will as well as setting many buildings on fire and looting the place.

The assault pressed upon the Tsuchikage tower, and Naruto infiltrated the village with the remaining members of the Sound Four, shattering the mind of a Chuunin and forcing him to attack his former colleagues before entering the graveyard where Sakon played the part of Naruto's drum while Kidomaru and Tayuya guarded him.

Naruto called forty high level undead and began to move toward the Tsuchikage Tower.

Also, Team 7 escaped Temari's trap and are heading toward Sunagakure with a certain amount of distrust toward the desert dwellers.

And with that, let the chapter begin.

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With the Tsuchikage, Iwagakure

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An old man was looking out upon his burning home. He knew what he had known for a long time, that iwagakure was dying. Ever since Konoha defeated them in the war years ago Iwa was losing more and more business, only surviving by exploiting the market more and more. They had large numbers of ninja, but they weren't powerful enough to stand a real chance on the most difficult missions, and those that DID usually went rogue, like Deidara did, the last of his clan which was a stiff kick in the balls for Iwa. Especially when the maniac blew apart a third of the Tower as a diversion.

The man knew that his village only had one chance of revival, and that had been lost years ago. They had lost the Rokubi Jinchuuriki after that idiot killed her friend Haruka. Needless to say that the man responsible was killed after the results of his actions became evident.

Then, only a few years ago, this new terror began to attack his country, he tried to stop him at first, but slowly but surely his forces were diminished, his once large numbers of ninja dwindling down to just a few. Everyone believed that Iwa had hordes of ninja at their command, but that was only a belief spread by their numbers in the war, after they lost a good many civilian families stopped allowing their children to join the ranks of the Shinobi, and the number of ninja steadily dwindled off. The Godaime Tsuchikage, Barragan Luisenbarn, was of a dying breed, a truly powerful Shinobi born from Iwa, and he knew it. Iwa Gennin just lacked the talent that they had when he was a boy, hence standards had gone down until they were little more than a dying remnant of what once was.

They had tried to fight this terror, this Capiorcorpus, but Barragan knew that it was little use. A great many of his soldiers died in the initial fighting, and ever since then he had withdrawn his forces into Iwagakure, refusing to let them throw their lives away for Tsuchi no Kuni when it wouldn't make a difference. Some believed that he was hoping to pull off a great coup de tat, but that was false. He merely wanted to bring Naruto HERE, to Iwa, where he might stand a fair chance against the man who brought a country to its knees.

Barragan looked out at the flaming city and knew what he was doing was the best he could have hoped to do. The civilians were currently escaping in secret tunnels that he had made long ago in case HE ever needed to make an escape. As for the ninja, there were only about a hundred left one week ago. Twenty Jounin, thirty Chuunin, and fifty Gennin. Barragan had gathered them all one week before Naruto's attack on Iwa and gave them a choice.

He told them that he was going to stay, he was going to fight Naruto, here where he was born. He told each of them that they could leave his service, leave Iwagakure without reprisal, without malice, without ramification of any kind. He would take their headband and they would be free to do as they please. If they wanted to join a different village, fine, if they wanted to move to another country and give up on the ninja life entirely, fine, if they wanted to go after some dream of their own, that was okay as well. But he told them, that if they stayed then they were going to stay there and defend their home against the man who destroyed their nation.

Not a single ninja left that day, they all stayed and prepared to fight.

Barragan knew that his meager forces could not hope to defeat Naruto's army, that was why he had turned to cunning. He had set a single trap that would, with any luck, cripple the man's army for decades.

He had taken mineral powders and chakra, and with them forged powerful explosives, bombs that would rival those of Deidara himself. These explosives were planted all throughout Iwagakure, ready to explode when the Tsuchikage commanded it.

The Tsuchikage would wait there at his tower and fight the menace of his country, and when he lost, he would activate them. The old Kage thought to himself 'I may not be able to defeat him, but if I can't then at least I can try to take him with me.'

Barragan felt a loud rumble throughout the building and sighed mournfully, looking out at the barren remains of a once great city before wearily getting up and went to a nearby dresser. When he arrived there, he opened the drawers and prepared for the final fight of his long life.

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Outside the Tower

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The Tsuchikage tower was under complete siege. The gates around the building had been forcefully opened by Absalom and Perona, and the zombies were now battering the main door as others attempted to scale the walls, with little effect. The tower had been surrounded by barriers meant to stop forceful entry. Some had been erected recently, others had been there ever since Iwa was built and the Tsuchikage tower established.

The wood was strong, and the metal fittings tough as various Soldiers pounded upon the door, others attempted to burn it down with fire or pierce it with lightning to little effect. The wood was singed and burned, but little else.

That was until Perona herself became irritated with the lack of progress.

"Move! Out of the way!" she commanded as she moved forth, the Zombie known as Bearsy behind her, moving awkwardly, but with no lack of courage or confidence.

Perona waited as the various undead hurriedly moved out of the way, knowing full well what their commander was going to do.

Once everyone was out of the way, the crowned girl held one hand in front of her as a small white sphere popped out of her hand, a moment later dozens of others joined the first, until there was a small swarm of them around her. Before long, they grew slight arms and legs and were fully formed ghosts that she could form using the Horo Horo no Mi that she ate thousands of years ago.

She swept her hand toward the door and the apparitions moved forward through the air, hugging against the gate that blocked their way. Perona snapped her fingers once, and the small things exploded simultaneously, each one strong as a grenade, blowing the door off of its hinges. Perona let out a 'humph', pleased with herself and shouted "Forward MARCH!"

"Yes Milady!" The surrounding creatures shouted before they poured into the tower, seeking the enemies that their Master wished them to kill.

As the lower ranked zombies poured into the building, Absalom approached Perona, shoving aside the underlings as he made his way to his peer.

As he reached her, he looked to the ground and saw the gate, which had remained completely whole. The hinges that held it to the wall however were blown apart by the explosion. He just looked at her questioningly.

Perona looked at the beast man and said "What? I may not have that much chakra or anything more than a small familiarity with the ninja arts, but I know a powerful defense when I see one Absalom. I can't believe they overlooked the hinges though. That gate would have lasted all day otherwise. Or at least it would have lasted until Naruto-kun arrived."

Before Absalom could speak however their conversation was interrupted by a small rockslide coming from the door of the tower, carrying off many zombies, though most were unharmed it still completely flushed the tower of the soldiery.

The two commanders looked to the door and saw none other than four Jounin, all of which were heavily armed and obviously prepared for a fight.

One of the Jounin spoke "We are sworn to the Tsuchikage not to allow you scum to enter the tower, and we will fulfill our mission. Though even if we die, we will have the honor of destroying two of the commanders of this unholy force. Prepare to die, invading scum!"

Before the squad could move forward, four black tendrils erupted from their chests, throwing them all into shock.

As the bodies rose into the air and were thrown aside, Absalom and Perona saw that the tendrils had originated from the shadows of the walls near the door, where the wall met the floor.

They looked around and quickly saw what they were looking for. On the top of the wall stood the man who created an army that on his command killed and enslaved an entire country. Uzumaki Naruto stood tall, his own shadow falling upon the battlefield like a crack in the earth. Beside him stood forty undead forms, kept under control by the deep drum beat they could all hear in the air as well as feel in the ground, it was so deep.

The forty zombies leapt straight down in perfect unison, standing up the same way and marched forward in perfect step. Naruto moved behind them, seeming entirely relaxed.

The surrounding Zombies immediately bowed extremely low in the presence of their Master, their noses and foreheads almost touching the ground until he waved them back up again.

"I see that you have things here relatively under control Absalom, Perona-chan." He said. It was a statement, not a question.

The two nodded and Absalom said "All enemies outside of the tower are dead or captured, though a few gave us trouble. We estimate the enemies inside the tower to number below twenty, most of them likely Chuunin, however the Tsuchikage himself is likely to be there as well. We were just about to begin the assault when you arrived sir."

Naruto nodded and looked at the tower for a moment before saying "Very good. Now then, pull back your forces and move to the village perimeter. If all other enemies are taken care of, a few Chuunin and Jounin won't make a difference with these forty to aid me. I will take care of the Tsuchikage myself and that will be that. Take everybody, Generals included."

Abalom stepped forward "But sir-"

He was immediately cut off, Naruto's voice cold "I did not ask for questions Absalom. Now get moving immediately. I will give you five minutes to get everyone out of the village before I begin my assault upon the tower. I suggest you move quickly. Leave the Sound Four alone however."

With that, Naruto pulled a familiar cup from his jacket that filled with tea at a word. He looked up at the tower, clear dismissal in his every bearing. Perona and Absalom merely nodded and began to order their subordinates, conveying similar orders to Anko to move out. Naruto had given orders, and those that wished to live had better obey them.

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With Team 7

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Team 7 was making its way to the Akatsuki hideout. They had stopped for maybe two hours of rest in Sunagakure before moving on, trusting Pakkun to lead them to the Akatsuki base following Gaara's scent trail. It was almost a week old, so it was pretty difficult, but so far the Nin-dog was pulling through and getting them hopefully to the right destination.

They were joined by a woman by the name of Chiyo, who was apparently a retired Jounin from Suna, and very powerful. She had apparently decided to come because Suna needed a representative, but Kakashi wasn't so sure. He didn't trust Sunagakure so much after that whole mess in the desert. He hadn't told anyone in Suna about it, but he was almost sure that there was a traitor in Suna, either that or the entire village is hostile and the entire thing is one big trap.

Either way, Kakashi knew that Chiyo wasn't telling them something, and he treated her curtly as best, and avoided conversation at most times. 'If I talk to the wrong person, it may trigger war, even if I got the information to the right people, it wouldn't do much. It would be best to stay quiet about the issue until I can report to Tsunade, the thing will be her problem then.'

Aside from the slight tension between Kakashi and Chiyo, things went normally as they followed Pakkun through the countryside and hopefully toward the imprisoned Kazekage.

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Iwagakure

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Naruto stood before the blown away entrance to the Tsuchikage Tower, the forty undead beside him, and completely under his control. Without so much as a muttered word from him, the forty zombies marched forward, through the door in two columns, exactly in step with one another.

Naruto followed his dead servants, looking around the inside of the tower as he did so. The thing wasn't that impressive really, in fact it was almost a carbon copy of the Hokage Tower in Konoha, the only difference being that there were a lot of browns and blacks rather than reds and the symbols for 'Fire' were replaced with 'Earth' Aside from that though, things were mostly the same.

He commanded the zombies to spread out, which they did, each one searching a nearby door for possible enemies or traps. Before long, the entire first floor was checked with no sign of the enemy. So, he and the forty zombies moved upstairs.

They had scarcely moved onto the landing when the first few zombies were savagely attacked, one of them getting several cuts before Naruto ordered them to fight back, which they did with great force.

It was a squad of ten Chuunin meant to defend the stairway against the enemy should they arrive, Naruto knew that much, and he didn't care much for any of them. The zombies rushed forward at his command, taking blows that would kill a normal human before reaching a target and savagely ripping them apart by main strength. He saw one Chuunin have his throat pulled out, and a second he saw a zombie rip the Chuunin's arm off at the shoulder and then proceed to crack open the ninja's head with his own severed limb. The others met similar fates, all of them finished off brutally and swiftly before they could use any Ninjutsu. Leaving the mangled corpses behind, the group moved on.

They had just gotten to the stairs to the third floor when the entire stairwell was covered in fire, scorching several of the zombies badly. The last four Jounin were stationed at the top of the stairs.

Naruto took action immediately, commanding the undead from behind them all, directing them to do his bidding. They raced up the stairs, reaching speeds of ninja at times, and quickly entered quick, hand to hand combat. The zombies had neither form nor class, they were little better than drunken street brawlers when it came to fighting, but when a punch from a drunken brawler can put a hole in a wall, it evens out a bit.

The Jounin focused on the top of the stairwell to stop the advantage of numbers. Two grappled directly with the zombies, careful not to take the full power of the undead as they attempted to rip and strangle. Another darted in and slit the throats of the undead, shivering as he did so when he brushed against the cold energy that kept the creatures from the void.

Despite the fact that their throats were cut, it didn't stop them at all. Each of them knew that most Ninjutsu would probably kill them all, so they refrained from doing any and did their best to keep the undead masses from getting hold of them. They saw what had happened to the Chuunin, they weren't eager to experience it for themselves.

Before long, one zombie jumped OVER the Jounin on the stairs and turned around immediately, a hard backhand snapping the neck of one opponent. After that, the other two were quickly overwhelmed and killed.

Naruto smiled to himself at the victory, for about half a second. Then he remembered something that disturbed him rather deeply.

There were FOUR Jounin at the top of the stairs.

Naruto quickly smelled the air, hoping his advanced senses would tell him where the man was as he also searched for the chakra signature of the man around the nearby halls. He didn't have to look far.

He heard a single shout that made his eyes widen and make him jump to the ceiling, sticking upon it. The shout was only four words. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

Water filled the hallway and cascaded down the stairs, taking the forty zombies head on and sending them down the passageway. Naruto cursed as he saw each zombie fall. Water was a serious weakness of Necromancy, enough of it moving swiftly enough would wash away the tenuous energy that kept them alive, and all the water from the Daibakufu no Jutsu was more than enough to destroy them all when it took them all head on like that. The flesh dissolved into clear, translucent slime, and bones falling to the ground before breaking into fragments and powder, incredibly brittle once more.

Naruto seethed in rage at the defeat of the forty creatures he brought with him, and moved across the ceiling as quickly as a striking snake up the stairwell and down the hall where the Jounin were positioned.

He quickly found the Jounin standing near an open bathroom, explaining where the water came from. He was open mouthed in shock of the success of his technique. He was hoping to destroy maybe one or two, most likely none at all, but to wipe out ALL of them was well beyond what he could have realistically hoped for.

Unfortunately for the nameless Jounin, his own shock and awe in his success left him open. Naruto willed the shadows into action and several spikes, long, thin, and sharp, formed from the darkness of the unlit bathroom behind him, piercing his head, heart, and several places along his spine, killing him almost instantly.

Naruto dropped to the ground, looked at the Jounin upon the ground, bleeding and dead, muttered "Lucky fool." before moving on towards the location of the Tsuchikage's office.

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Around Iwagakure

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Around Iwagakure, outside the main wall, stood the entirety of the Zombie Army. Upon orders from Naruto himself, they were pulling back to the Castle, their assault complete. Several groups may return later to clean up any survivors but for the most part, they were done in Iwagakure.

Three large portals of darkness were formed by Perona, Absalom, and Anko using the necklaces given to them by Naruto, and the army was moving into it at a steady pace, though given the large amounts of undead, it was taking a while, especially for those near the back.

Near the back, far away from the superiors who would most likely notice anything, were four masked figures bearing no headband. Though they bore no identification, it was noticeable by the style of the mask who they were: An ANBU squad from Konoha on a mission of stealth and recon.

They were breaking many laws and stepping in extremely dangerous territory by being there, they all knew it. If anyone discovered them and reported their presence, it would mean war for Konoha. Regardless of this, their mission needed to be completed, a job had to be done no matter how dangerous it was. Or in this case, near suicidal.

They had been waiting for months for the chance that they had right now, though only one would be able to exploit the opportunity. As for this opportunity, it took the form of a grubbily clothed, grey skinned form with a decent amount of well defined muscle knocked out upon the ground. Upon the right arm of the figure was the identification 'SZ-986'

It was a Soldier class Zombie knocked out by the ANBU squad as stealthily as possible once they had lured him away from the main body of the enemy.

Right now, one of the ANBU had discarded his clothing, and was applying a makeup that colored his skin the exact same grey as the unconscious Zombie, another was slicing open cuts in the first and sewing them up in the pattern precisely like that of the prisoner. The third was restraining the unconscious creature after taking away its clothing and putting it near the ANBU who was looking more and more rapidly like one of the undead. The fourth was keeping watch from formation of rocks that they were hiding in.

Before long, the ANBU in question looked almost exactly like the zombie before them. With the use of a lot of cosmetics, medical gear, and a permanent marker, he had impersonated the Zombie almost perfectly. The only difference was that his stitches did not cover as much of his body as they did the original, but aside from that, he looked exactly like the undead.

After a quick once over, the disguised ANBU nodded once to his comrades before grabbing the bag the Zombie had carried and leaving the cover of the rock to join the marching undead once more, doing as much as he could to look like another one of them.

The leader of the squad looked upon the marching forces, wishing his colleague luck. Their mission was to capture and impersonate one of the 'Zombies' that the Corpsetaker used to do his dirty work in the hopes of becoming a spy to locate and infiltrate the enemy's main base of operations as well as gain much needed intelligence about the enemy. A simple Henge couldn't be used, they had brought special supplies to impersonate one's looks to fool anyone who might look too closely. The only problem was the part of acting as a Zombie, but nobody could do anything about that except hope that the ANBU could act.

Before long, every last Zombie had moved through the black portals and they were closed behind the retreating dead forms.

One of the ANBU sighed in relief that their job was done and picked up the Zombie, slinging him over one shoulder. The three looked at each other, nodded once and then dashed off to the South-West.

Towards Konoha with their new prisoner and Ibiki's new Interrogation subject.

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With Naruto

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Naruto headed down the hallway on the top floor of the Kage Tower, the entire building eerily quiet, empty of life, empty of inhabitants. Naruto was surprised at how abandoned the place was. He couldn't be sure, but he was fairly positive that only he and the Tsuchikage were in the entire tower.

Naruto eventually strode to a pair of large double doors with the Kanji for 'Earth' upon it and flanked by four statues of the previous Tsuchikages. Naruto kicked open the door and strode in as though he owned the place, supremely confident.

Inside the room was a desk and bookshelves lined the walls. In front of the desk sat a large chair and in it sat an old man, his hair long, white, and somewhat wild, a thick white mustache hiding his upper lip, a scar went from his forehead to the corner of his right eye, almost blinding it. Another scar went from his lower lip to his chin. He was clad in a white shirt with a similar white jacket with black fur around the neck. Around his belt was a rope held in place with a bracer emblazoned with a sun. Upon his head sat a helmet similar to the one the Niidaime Hokage wore, only it had five points coming from the top instead of a flat top, and the thing was engraved with the symbol of Iwagakure.

The old man looked at the intruder and said "The door was unlocked you know."

Naruto nodded and said "I am aware of that, but I had a little pent up frustration, I hope you understand."

The old man nodded and said nothing. Naruto waited a moment before tilting his head and saying "You know of course, why I am here?"

The man grunted and said "How can I not? You've only burned my city, killed my subordinates and either killed or enslaves almost everyone else in the country."

Naruto nodded slowly, it was true that his intent was obvious. The man looked him over and said "So then, shall we just get down to it? There's no point to continue jabbering on any longer if neither of us is going to back down."

Naruto nodded but asked "Before we begin however, may I hear your name?"

The man stood up and said "Do you take me for a fool oh mighty 'Corpsetaker'? I read my intelligence reports you know. You have confronted several of my more powerful ANBU Captains over the years, and each time after they lasted long enough, you asked their name. Once they gave it to you, they died soon afterwards by your hand. I don't know how, but you killed them just by learning their names, I won't make the same mistake."

Naruto smiled genuinely for the first time in a while, the old man had wisdom. "Very astute of you Barragan-san. You are more cautious then your former subjects. Indeed, a name given from one's own lips is all I need to form a link to finish a battle quickly, though you are the first to realize it. You have my compliments, not that they will matter much before long." As he spoke, Naruto's shadow took human shape and stood beside him.

Barragan Luisenbarn, the Godaime Tsuchikage, drew his sword and said "If you're done talking, then let's get started boy." and then dashed forward, sword in hand.

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Right, that's the end of this chapter. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I wanted to get this chapter out before the next manga update and I didn't have the time to do an entire fight scene in that time.

By the way, Barragan Luisenbarn is based on who I believe to be the first Espada, the old guy. I may be wrong, but my money is on him. I figured, 'If I made Kiri mostly Shinigami, why not make Iwa mostly Arrancar?' Help even things out a bit. For those who don't follow bleach for some reason, look up 'Barragan Luisenbarn' on Google or Wikipedia for an accurate image.

This chapter was originally going to be longer, I was planning to create an OC among the Houfu army, and do a bit from his perspective here and there for the next few chapters, involving a small subplot involving military politics and a desperate government hoping to negotiate with the embargo force that Naruto stationed there, but I decided against it. A recent review told me that I was making a mistake by being TOO creative and that it was leaving a lot of holes in the story that lowered its quality overall. After that, I decided to bring in the reigns a little bit, not to add anything more to an already powerful mix, focus more on the canon Naruto storyline and try to simplify things a bit, smooth things out rather than add more and more. Anyway, whether I made the right decision by not adding the temporary OC is up to you all, I just hope that I delivered an enjoyable chapter.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	54. Chapter 54

Greetings to all, and to all a good morning, or at least it will be when I post this. I hope you enjoy the fight scene in this chapter. Or maybe I'll just do a filler chapter and wait until next chapter for the fight scene. Am I that cruel? Hell yes, but I won't do it because I would really like to do this well. With that, let's get started.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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BULLSHITBULLSHITBULLSHITBULLSHITBULLSHITBULLSHITBULLSHITBULLSHIT! THIS CHAPTER WAS COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT!

I'll save the worst part for last. Okay, basically Pein tells Tsunade not to be so arrogant, and they basically get into a pissing match over who's right and who's wrong morally and all that. She recognized that one body as Yahiko, and then the scene changes.

The Human Realm Pein ambushes Shizune, Ino, Inoichi, and that ANBU captain after they come to the conclusion that there is one REAL Pein sending chakra signals to control the six bodies, which are actually dead. Now then, the Human Realm Pein has Shizune in the same position as he had the other ninja whose soul he ripped out, holding her hostage.

Then, just before the chapter ends, Pein acquires the information of Naruto's location. Then the chapter ends.

All of that wasn't so bad.

The BAD part is in the beginning.

KONOHAMARU BEAT THE HELL REALM PEIN! WHAT THE FUUUCK!

Okay, apparently before the timeskip, Naruto taught Konohamaru two techniques. You guessed them, KAGE BUNSHIN AND THE FUCKING RASENGAN!

WHAT THE FUUUCK! KONOHAMARU DISTRACTED THE HELL REALM PEIN WITH A KAGE BUNSHIN AND THEN AFTER THE CLONE IS KILLED HE NAILS HIM WITH A RASENGAN LIKE NARUTO DID TO KABUTO IN THE FIGHT OUTSIDE TANZAKU-GAI! HELL REALM PEIN IS DOWN FOR THE COUNT! Konohamaru, a mother fucking GENNIN mastered TWO A-rank techniques and defeated one sixth of an S-ranked criminal! THIS IS BULLSHIT! Naruto could only use those techniques back then because of the massive chakra amount that he has thanks to the Kyuubi. Konohamaru is fully human. WHAT THE HELL! HE MASTERED TWO A-RANK TECHNIQUES AND BEAT HELL REALM PEIN! THIS IS BULLSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-! (Goes into seizures)

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SPOILERS END

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Summary of last chapter

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A Konoha ANBU managed to impersonate a Soldier Zombie and infiltrate Naruto's base, who wants to bet on whether or not this guy will live long?

Team 7 moved on to find the Akatsuki base, following Pakkun's lead.

And last but not least, Naruto faced off against the Tsuchikage, Barragan Luisenbarn, and little does Naruto know that the Tsuchikage rigged powerful explosives near the tower, if he can't defeat Naruto, he'll detonate them and hope to take Naruto with him. Then I left you on a cliffhanger as Barragan charged.

With that, let the chapter begin!

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Dark Heaven Castle

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The great host of Zombies emerged in the courtyard before Dark Heaven Castle. The mist blocked the sky, the air was cold and damp, the place was desolate and without true life, the castle was large and imposing. There was nothing except ruin except for the castle. This was the world that the ANBU walked into once he stepped out of the chilling darkness.

The Zombies were moving in perfect formation, three blocks twelve men wide and twenty ranks deep. Behind them came the cages that held the captives. Several dozen human families, men and women and children of five years or older. Anyone younger than that was deemed useless and killed.

The ANBU worked hard to move the same way as the other zombies, to act as they did, not saying a word for fear of revealing himself. There was the occasional conversation in the ranks, but it was quickly quashed by one of a dozen or two zombies that were clearly different from the others. Occasionally it was an imposing figure, one had four arms, and another had six and stood eight feet tall. Another looked exactly like the Shodiaime Hokage, but others were not so physically imposing.

There were perhaps a dozen or so Zombies that didn't march in formation, and they were dressed almost exactly alike. Dove grey tailcoats, glossy top hats, somber red waistcoats and ties a slightly brighter red. White gloves, patent leather shoes, and some of them even had silver topped canes in their hands with which they directed the others. It was very strange since the ANBU spy had heard nothing of these types of Zombies before, and he was curious.

So, he quelled his fear and took a slight risk. He spoke to the Zombie next to him. He was rather large, about five feet, ten inches tall, his clothes were second hand, but they covered his body well enough, though an occasional tear showed a bit of exposed mottled flesh. He asked the Zombie "Hey, what's so special about them, that they can order us around?"

The Zombie looked at him like he had a screw loose. "What, you don't know a General when you see one? Are you new or something? What's your number?"

The ANBU remembered immediately that the zombie that they had knocked unconscious before had a number on his left upper arm, one that his comrade inscribed onto his own limb, but he couldn't remember what it was!

Before he could reply, the Soldier Zombie reached over and pulled up the shirt on his left arm, exposing the number. "'SZ-986' huh? Well, than explains it, the late nine hundreds have only been made in the last month or so, and we spend so long asleep that you probably haven't gotten used to everything here. Well, I suppose I might as well tell you what's what. Do you have a name yet?"

"A name?" the ANBU spy was pretty uncertain at this point. He had apparently struck gold and found a source of willingly surrendered information. 'It would probably be wise to keep up this 'new guy' charade for now.' He thought to himself.

"Haven't got one?" the Soldier inquired. "I'm not surprised. The Master and his higher servants don't know us by anything other than our number. But that never seemed quite right with us, so we made up our own names while we have the time. The Master didn't say that we COULDN'T do it, so it's allowed. If you're new, then we'll have to find one for you."

The Zombie stayed silent for a moment as another one of the superior Zombies moved past, one of the ones with the fancy clothing. After the superior zombie passed the friendly zombie said "How about Helve? That's a decent name. It's not that special, but it's better than nothing."

The ANBU quickly considered it and then nodded "It is a decent name, I suppose. What's yours by the way?"

The Zombie pushed out his chest a bit and said "I'm Jarrow, nice to meet you Helve."

The ANBU newly named 'Helve' nodded and said "Likewise."

Then, after a moment had passed, he asked "So, what's the deal with those guys telling us what to do and stuff?"

Jarrow smiled a bit, liking the feeling of knowing more than someone else and said "Right, those lot that are more distinctive, with extra arms, special weapons and the like, those are the General Zombies. Those guys are the absolute Elite of the Master's forces, way stronger than us Soldiers. They have a measure of authority over us, and are the only Zombies actually given names when they're created. Lucky bastards."

Helve nodded at that and asked "So, those guys with the top hats and gloves are Generals too?"

Jarrow snorted and said "No way, they WISH that they were General Zombies. No, those lot are known as 'Near Creations' or Colonel Zombies. They are a rather recent addition to the Master's servants. Truth be told, sometimes the Doctor or the Master intends to make a Soldier, but makes him too strong, yet not strong enough to be a General, or tries making a General, but they aren't strong enough to be one, and are still stronger than any Soldier. In the end, they ended up with a measure of authority once there were enough of them, and they act all mighty because of it. They wear those fancy clothes to make themselves appear more than they are, and are as holier-than-thou in attitude as any noble and kiss more ass than a trained bureaucrat. They command us when one of the Three, a Higher Servant with the proper authority, or a General isn't around to do the job right."

The ANBU spy snorted. He knew a few like that back home. Then he said "So, they're nothing but talk then?"

Jarrow let out a quiet laugh at that before saying "No, just because they are envious, faux-high class acting bastards beneath contempt that avoid battle whenever possible, it doesn't mean that they're weak. They are still far stronger than the average Soldier, don't underestimate them and if any of them gives you an order in the field, if there aren't any other orders from higher powers, obey them. I know, it's tough to bow your head to those fuckers, but grin and bear it. They love nothing more than to report a disobedient Soldier to the Master. Could get killed by disobeying them, or tortured if you're lucky. If your unlucky and the Master is in a bad mood then you could even be… Encysted." Jarrow's face turned slightly green at the last few words.

Helve looked over thoughtfully at that. "Encysted? What's that mean exactly?"

Jarrow shook his head quickly "I don't want to talk about it, nobody does. Suffice to say that it's really bad, the worst punishment that the Master bestows, and you don't want it to happen to you. Enough about the subject, I really don't want to talk about it."

Before the spy could ask another question, there was a shout nearby, from one of the coat wearing Colonels. "Oy, you there, stop that conversation at once! Who gave you permission to speak? All Soldiers are to remain silent unless spoken to by a Superior and I don't remember speaking to any of you!"

Then, with an air of almost achievement about himself, he moved on to another group of Soldiers in near silent mutterings.

The spy turned to Jarrow to ask another question, but the Zombie shook his head silently, not saying a word.

Following the obvious lead, the ANBU remained silent, and concentrated upon moving in step with all of the undead. Several other conversations were silenced by the Colonels during this time, though none of the Generals did anything about the talking.

Eventually, the entire force stood before the entrance to the Castle. The hidden ANBU felt his heart pound when he looked upon it. He could only think 'I am about to enter the base of operations of one of Konoha's worst enemies.'

Before anyone could enter the building though, everyone came to a sudden halt. The ANBU looked over the shoulder of the zombie in front of him, and saw that someone was standing in front of the door. He was rather tall, and had the features of both a man and a beast, stitched up in places like one of the Zombies. He almost immediately recognized the 'Beast Man' from his description in the Bingo Book. According to the description of the man, he was one of Naruto's chief officers.

The man pulled a scroll from an inside pocket of his jacket and then unrolled and read it before he proclaimed. "These are orders from Naruto-sama given to me before the battle to be read upon our victory! According to this, there shall be a reward for the successful destruction of Iwagakure, in celebration of our great victory. Every zombie is to report to the main hall for a feast in our Master's name!"

At this all the Zombies let out a great cheer, they were overjoyed at the news.

Jarrow leaned over and said to the ANBU spy "A new guy like you probably doesn't know, but although we don't need to eat or drink to live, it doesn't mean that we can't enjoy food, hell we don't even need to use the bathroom after eating. Getting a meal is a great reward from the Master. In fact, this is the first time many of us have eaten in years, and for some of us this will be their first meal ever. You should savor the food tonight new guy, odds are you won't be getting another meal in years.

At that sentence, the ANBU spy realized something. One, that he was incognito in a large group of inhuman servants and that he would have to imitate them near perfectly to survive. Two, he realized that Zombies don't need much to live, and that included food and water.

The ANBU knew then, that regardless of success or failure, this mission would be a short one. One way or the other.

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Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's office

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Barragan rushed at Naruto, sword in hand. Naruto moved back and avoided it, pointed a clenched fist at Barragan and released the energy in three of the rings, blowing the Tsuchikage through the wall behind him and down to the burning city below, losing his grip on his sword causing it to fall away from him.

Barragan landed upon a tall building on his feet, cracking the stone beneath him, and jumped away as a large blade erupted from the nearest shadow that, if it hit, would have taken off his head.

He quickly looked up at the hole in the tower and saw Naruto looking down at him from the building. He saw a dark shape slither down from the hole and into the buildings below, where it couldn't be seen. Naruto's Shadow, given independent movement and could assume any form at Naruto's mental command.

Before Barragan could think about what to do, he saw the man point his left hand at him and a blast of strange green energy soared through the air toward him. The distance between the two was great, so Barragan easily dodged it and watched as the energy splashed against the stone roof that he had been standing on moments before shattered into dust so fine that you could almost pick out the individual particles. He knew that if one of those blasts hit him, he would be similarly disintegrated.

Barragan looked up at the tower, and saw that Naruto had disappeared. 'Shit!' he thought before he was assaulted by the shadows cast by the fires. Swords, axes, arrows, and other such weapons emerged from the shadows determined to slash, hack, and cut into Barragan's flesh. He blocked one and put it in the path of one of the arrows, deflecting it into a third shadow weapons, which when moved provided him a way out off the rooftop, letting him jump into the alley below him.

There were fires in the windows overlooking the alley, so he had a lot of light to stay in, while he desperately searched for his opponent. He knew what Naruto was trying to do, stay out of the way and hidden while assaulting Barragan with assaults of shadow weapons. Was it cheap? Yes, was it effective? Given enough time to work, it would be. Barragan knew a stalling tactic when he saw one. Naruto wouldn't put himself in any danger unless he had no other choice.

Barragan was keeping his back to the wall, keeping his eyes on the darkness at either end of the alleyway, waiting for Naruto to make his next move. Several minutes past and something very disturbing happened. Nothing at all.

There were no weapons popping out of the walls and floor, no predatory animals emerging from the shadows. 'Is there something about this alley that won't let him use the shadows? No, that's unlikely, what would be the cause? No, odds are that he is planning something.' And Barragan at that moment followed a necessary rule of Shinobi life that every Gennin memorized young: 'When the enemy is planning something, get out of dodge'.

And so, Barragan threw a flash bomb at the ground near the exit of the alley closest to him and closed his eyes before the flash blinded him, dashing through the moment of light to get out of what was almost certainly a trap.

He just got into the street when the building he was hiding behind collapsed, sealing the alleyway and littering the ground with gigantic stones.

The Tsuchikage remained wary, looking everywhere for his opponent and doing his best to search out Naruto's chakra signature. The only way he could win was to find Naruto, he couldn't allow the battle to continue at range he had to close on him.

Barragan detected a flicker of movement behind one of the rocks, and the old man immediately threw a kunai at it. The kunai struck the area almost directly behind the rock, impaling whatever it was.

He heard a loud squeal from behind the stone which he immediately rushed to, pulling another kunai and stabbing the thing before he could get a look at it. The thing immediately stopped moving, having a knife in its head.

Barragan pulled out the knives and finally got a look at the thing. It was a rat, a common, everyday black rat.

The old man sighed in a combination of anxiety and fear. 'I'm getting too old for this, if I'm getting scared by vermin.'

The Godaime Tsuchikage moved to go in the other direction, turning his back on the rat.

The moment that Barragan turned his back, the rat moved, dashing out from the moderate of the broken piece of rock and dashing toward Barragan at insane speeds. As it moved, it changed. It went from a black rat to an eight foot tall human shaped figure with no discernable features. The only difference was that instead of arms, the thing had hundreds of ribbon like tentacles no thicker than a shoelace that moved through the air.

Barragan saw the thing out of the corner of his eye and jumped, moving away as fast as he could as the tendrils moved towards him swiftly. If he hadn't, they would have wrapped around him completely even though he was almost fifteen feet away from the thing when it revealed itself.

As the Tsuchikage jumped back, one of the tentacles, longer than the others, reached out and lightly brushed against the back of his hand.

His eyes widened, but nothing particular happened. He wasn't paralyzed, nor did he feel any pain. He immediately pulled out a kunai with an attached exploding note, activated it with chakra and threw it right at the creature's midsection.

The tendrils didn't move to intercept it, and so it hit its mark, blowing the creature apart. The various pieces splattered on the walls like blobs of tar, but before long they moved of their own accord and started to come together. Barragan took this time to quickly get out of there, realizing what the thing was. He could fight Naruto's shadow for a hundred years and not get anywhere, avoidance was the best policy for it.

Once he was a safe distance away, Barragan looked at his hand and was shocked at what he saw. Where the tendril had just barely brushed the back of his hand, there was a deep cut flowing blood freely. His entire right hand was covered in the red liquid. Barragan frowned and pulled out a roll of medical bandages, wrapping them around the wound. He knew that what just happened was very dangerous. It caused a deep cut and prevented him from feeling it. If he hadn't looked at his hand then odds were he would have bled out within five minutes, maybe less judging by the flow. 'It probably did something to keep a scab from forming as well. Very dangerous' the old ninja thought as he cut the end of the bandage from the roll, his hand properly dressed.

Barragan kept moving, from building to building, thinking of any possible strategy Naruto would try next. He knew that time wasn't on his side, Naruto could hide in safety and attack him at range until he finally wore him out. He had to find Naruto to have a hope of victory.

Barragan continued to move, and eventually he felt a small pulse of energy. It was close, but very faint, and it only lasted a second before the shadows around him erupted into life, trying to strangle, stab, or chop him to pieces. A quick Katon Jutsu burned a quick path free and he practically flew down the street and barged into the house where he sensed the chakra signature, the only nearby house that wasn't on fire.

The house was old, and decrepit and looked like it hadn't seen an owner in years. Regardless, the place gave the Tsuchikage a slight feel of nostalgia for some reason. He shook his head and quickly moved up the nearby stairs, emerging in a bedroom.

Naruto sat in a chair in front of a desk, his feet propped up casually as he examined something in his hand. He looked up and over at the Tsuchikage and said "Finally found me did you? I was wondering how long it would take. It's been a while since I came to Iwa and I decided to come to this old house of memories, really takes me back."

Barragan put his hand to his belt pouch, preparing to draw another kunai as Naruto said "I was surprised that no one had entered this place since I last came here, all of these things were still lying around." Then he showed Barragan the thing in his hand.

It was an everyday picture frame. The only interesting thing was what it showed. It was a picture of two women, one with short brown hair, glasses, and freckles, and the other with long blonde curls. It was a picture of Suzushiro Haruka and Kikukawa Yukino. Then Barragan realized exactly where he was. The home that he had given to the deceased Rokubi Jinchuuriki.

Naruto looked at the picture and sighed, he seemed genuinely saddened. "Such a shame, she was a useful subordinate for such a long time."

Then he looked at Barragan and in his eyes lingered a vicious wrath "Unfortunately for her, I do not tolerate traitors." He said as he crushed the picture frame with one hand, with the other he waved toward Barragan before the darkness of the room surged forward to engulf him.

Barragan drew a kunai and moved as quickly as possible toward Naruto, who was unfazed by the sudden attack. Barragan stabbed the kunai toward Naruto's face, but he was forced to withdraw as a massive pair of pincers emerged from the floor and snapped closed in the space where his wrist had been a second earlier. He then jumped as the darkness attempted to strike him from behind. He stuck to the ceiling and threw the kunai, his fire chakra channeled into it, at Naruto, who watched calmly as the knife cut through the shadow that rose to protect him before it struck a barrier of some kind an inch from his face, bouncing off of it to the floor.

Barragan looked quickly and saw a small glimmer from the bracelet on his right hand, the one of silver with the medieval shields. Naruto raised his left hand the bracelet of black metal shimmered for a moment before a green blast shot forward, which Barragan dodged, and destroyed part of the ceiling.

From his position on the ceiling, Barragan quickly drew a brace of explosive notes attached to kunai, and threw them at each corner of the room before diving out of the window as they exploded behind him. Barragan thought to himself as he fell 'The bracelet on his left hand is the cause of those green blasts, the bracelet on his right hand creates a defensive shield upon command, the rings generate a powerful blast of pure force.'

Then Barragan realized something terrible 'He's hardly fought at all, only using prepared weapons instead of Ninjutsu. He's hardly used any chakra at all.'

Barragan landed on the ground, and immediately got some distance from the now burning building as Naruto calmly walked out the front door, not a mark on him. He saw Barragan and his hands flew through hand seals before he said "Fuuton: Daitoppa" and blew a column of blasting wind toward the Tsuchikage.

Said Kage went through handseals just as quickly, yelling "Doton: Doryuu Heki!" and forming a massive wall of earth and mud that took the blast of wind without falling.

The Tsuchikage moved out of the ground behind Naruto, swinging a chakra infused knife at the back of this neck, aiming to cut his spine through the tall collar of his coat.

The knife cut through the defending shadow like a hot knife through butter, but when it reached the collar, the knife simply didn't penetrate the material. Barragan's eyes widened as he realized that the coat must have been reinforced with defensive seals, making a powerful armor.

Naruto turned on his heel and slugged the old Kage across the jaw, the rings on his fingers cutting into the man's cheek.

Barragan recovered from the blow and moved forward, chakra channeling knife in hand, and dashed forward, cutting and slashing at Naruto, aiming for areas not covered by his coat.

Naruto dodged and ducked, moving slowly backward as the Tsuchikage drove him toward a wall. He drew his sword and attempted to parry some of the blows, but the man was quick, deflecting his sword with his kunai and stabbing at his throat and heart, continuing to drive him back.

Naruto's back pressed against the wall, and Barragan knocked Zanmato aside as he stabbed at Naruto's exposed throat.

Then, Naruto smiled and Barragan's eyes widened as he jumped back, barely avoiding the numerous black tendrils which tore through the ground, swinging and writhing where he stood moments ago. Naruto let himself get driven back to lure Barragan into a trap.

The tendrils sped through the air toward Barragan and attempted to wrap around him, and they almost succeeded, even though he was several yards away, but they couldn't reach.

Then main body of Naruto's shadow pulled itself from the ground directly behind Barragan, wrapping numerous tendrils around the man, and with a sudden pull slicing the man into pieces.

Then the pieces of Barragan turned into mud. It was a Tsuchi Bunshin.

Naruto saw that and immediately jumped into the air, avoiding the cut that Barragan made as he rose the ground directly beneath him. If it had connected, it would have cut Naruto down, or rather UP, the middle.

Naruto propelled himself further into the air with a Geppou, another Rokushiki technique, and yelled "Rankyaku!" as he swung his leg down at Barragan, sending a blade of light at the man, which he dodged, creating several handseals and yelled "Katon: Karyuu Endan!" and blew a massive stream of white hot flames, not at Naruto, but at his shadow.

The shadow moved aside, but he swath of flames was too large to be avoided, and so the creature was engulfed.

The shadow let out a piercing, high pitched shriek as it was embraced by the burning flames. It flailed around without direction, desperate to stop the fire from consuming it.

Naruto quickly gestured and nearby shadows surrounded the burning shadow, suffocating the flames and putting them out.

The shadow, freed of fire, dashed out of the black cocoon in the shape of a tiger, closing the distance between itself and the Tsuchikage and then changed into the humanoid tendril figure again, attempting to slice Barragan into pieces or bleed him dry.

Barragan took an explosive note and ran forward, inside the tentacles' immediate range and rammed the thing directly into the shadow's chest, the shadow easily being pierced by his bare hand.

As the shadow exploded, splattering upon the nearby walls, Barragan ran up the wall of a nearby building to approach Naruto who had landed upon the rooftop.

The moment Barragan cleared the edge of the building, he walked right into Naruto's Ninjutsu. "Fuuton: Kami Oroshi!" He yelled and blew a swirling vortex of wind at Barragan. A Kage Bunshin threw an explosive note into the vortex, and upon detonating it, it set the vortex on fire, creating a powerful Wind/Fire combination toward the Tsuchikage.

Barragan avoided the brunt of the blast, leaping to the right, but he was still once or twice by the slicing wind, and burned by the outskirts of the fire.

Barragan quickly got up and just managed to avoid Naruto chopping him in two with Zanmato, the great blade cutting into the roof. Before long Naruto was herding the Tsuchikage toward the edge of the building, each strike with the sword forcing him back another step.

Barragan almost reached the edge of the building but threw himself to the right as he avoided the trap he knew was coming. And he was right, there was a trap, but it wasn't at the edge of the building.

Where Barragan landed away from Naruto, a Kage Bunshin lunged out of the ground and stabbed a knife into Barragan's shoulder, piercing the muscle. Barragan ignored the pain and immediately slammed his elbow into the clone's face, dispersing it. He then faced the advancing Naruto and went through a number of handseals before yelling "Doton: Iwa Yado Kuzushi!"

The moment that he said that, the stone building began to collapse. The roof was immediately unstable and Naruto had to stick to the roof with chakra to avoid losing his balance.

Barragan had no such troubles however. He was used to moving rock and shattering earth and moved as nimbly as a mountain goat across the dangerous collapsing surface.

He got close to Naruto and after doing handseals at an immense speed he yelled "Katon: Karyuu Endan!" and blew a stream of white hot flames at Naruto, point blank.

Naruto was taken off guard at the sudden attack. The shadows couldn't protect him from that, a sudden powerful fire attack at that range. It that was allowed to hit him, he would be badly hurt.

So he did what he did when things got bad, get out of dodge.

It took only a thought, though he still muttered it under his breath, just loud enough for Barragan to hear it as he engulfed Naruto in fire. "Kagemusha"

At that moment, Naruto switched places with his shadow. The shadow was now in the way of Barragan's enormous blaze, and Naruto was safe in the street below. Or at least he THOUGHT he was.

As Naruto took the place of his shadow, another Barragan emerged from the ground behind him. He made the sound of feathers falling on snow as he emerged from the ground.

Naruto's inhuman hearing caught the noise and he turned in shock and surprise as Barragan finished a stream of handseals and yelled "Katon: Karyuu Endan!" and bathed the real Naruto in fire, now unable to escape.

Naruto was caught in the flames, his coat protected him a bit, but it was open in the front and from there the searing heat entered its protection. He screamed in pain, true pain, as his body was roasted in the white hot flames. His hat burned, the storage shadows on the inside of his coat were burned away, allowing hundred of weapons to drop to the ground, only to be caught in the flames and melted, forming white hot liquid metal that swirled around him, adding to the pain and the damage, cocooning him completely in heat and pain.

Barragan Luisenbarn collapsed to his knees in exhaustion. That technique had taken everything he had. But he had done it, he had defeated Capiorcorpus no Naruto.

He beheld the results of the jutsu that he had poured every ounce of his chakra into. The swathe of white hot stone that melted as the flames passed them, the blackened ground that was turned to charcoal in moments. Finally he beheld the gigantic iron mass that cocooned Naruto, the liquid metal molding to his flesh and roasting him alive, putting him at temperatures that no human could have survived.

Barragan breathed heavily and then turned to walk away, letting the clone at the top of the building disperse. He did not know what he would do now, he was the Kage of a destroyed village.

'I suppose' he thought 'That I will seek refuge with my friends in Kumo. I daresay that my old friend the Raikage could use some company up in the mountains.'

Then, Barragan stopped suddenly as he felt an enormous pressure upon his entire being, as he felt inhuman, insane malice and wrath flood the air with its very existence.

He turned his head and looked to the shining metal cocoon, and saw red chakra emerge from it, swirl around it, and cover it completely, melting it once more. The metal sloughed away from the man inside, running through the street like runoff rain.

What remained was a figure cloaked in red chakra. It looked like a fox, vaguely at least. Before there was a metal mass containing the charred body of Naruto, but now there was a seven foot tall fox like apparition, with five flowing tails behind it. Naruto had tapped into Kyuubi's chakra, more than he could handle, he had lost all reason using too much of the demonic energy.

Barragan's eyes widened and felt true, immense fear, as the five tailed creature gained a sixth tail and let out a roar that leveled the buildings around him before lunging straight at the elderly Tsuchikage.

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And that's the chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it. A brief show of goings on at the Castle with the ANBU spy realizing that his assignment was almost guaranteed to be a suicide mission, and then a massive fight between Barragan and Naruto that will be continued next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, review and tell me what I did right and what I did wrong so that I can continue the good things and eliminate the bad.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger.


	55. Chapter 55

Greetings all, sorry it took so long to get this updated, life can be a bitch sometimes. Anyway, regardless of the time it took, the chapter is finally done, enjoy it and don't forget to review at the end!

Note: Apparently I was incorrect in my previous assumption as to the Espada's ranks. Apparently Barragan is the SECOND Espada, not the First. Stark is the Primera Espada, oh well I was only one spot off. Either way, it means that my prediction that Halibel was the Third Espada is right on the mark so I am content.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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I believe that the most effective way to convey what happened in this chapter is this: A bitch got owned.

Basically, Pein knows that Naruto is at the Toad's Homeland, and starts to pull out of Konoha after telling Tsunade to stop being so arrogant, it's basically a continuation of the moral pissing match that we saw last chapter.

After that, Naruto and Fukusaku realize that something is wrong since the messenger is dead. They know this because every toad summon is on some registry and the messenger's name vanished, indicating death. Fukusaku sends a messenger to Shimi, the Ma Toad, telling her to come back, apparently Fukusaku, Naruto, and Shimi together can 'summon something powerful' I'm guessing that it's probably going to be some toad even bigger than Gamabunta, but I've been wrong before so don't quote me on that.

After that, all of Pein's bodies except the God Realm are in the forest outside Konoha, and he tells Konan that he's going to use 'THAT Technique'

Konan vehemently tells him not to, since the technique shortens his life, but she is ignored. It might be worth mentioning that this is the first time that Konan refers to him as 'Nagato' his real name.

As for the God Realm, he's somehow flying over Konoha, Tsunade is rushing toward him with a squad of ANBU, and then Pein uses the most badass technique thus far seen in the series, the 'Shinra Tensei' which annihilates roughly a quarter of the entire village! Pein fucking NUKED the bastards, complete and total devastation! We thought the Rasenshuriken was destructive, it has NOTHING on this. You guys seriously need to read this chapter, JUST to see that move.

The chapter ends with Sakura observing the devastation, which I think included the hospital, and then yelling to the skies for Naruto to come back.

This is the best chapter is a LONG, LONG TIME. READ IT YOURSELVES!

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Summary of last chapter

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Roughly, the ANBU spy managed to integrate himself into the Zombies successfully, and made a friend among the Soldiers as well as learned that Zombies don't need to eat to survive, and are lucky to get a meal every few years as a reward for an extreme well done. He realizes that his mission is doomed to be a short one regardless of how it ends.

Then, in Iwagakure, the battle between Barragan and Naruto began and ended with Barragan bathing Naruto in white hot flames and cocooning him in liquid iron. Then, just before the chapter ended, I gave you guys an immense cliffhanger by having Naruto go six tailed Kyuubi on him just before the chapter ended. With that, enjoy the chapter!

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Iwagakure

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Barragan reacted instantly to the lunge, jumping out of the way as the swift form ran its claws through the air that his neck occupied moments before. He landed and jumped again immediately in order to avoid the chakra tail that slammed down upon the area that he landed upon.

The beast didn't stop there, not for a moment. It reared back its head and roared as massive tendrils of chakra emerged from the ground and attempted to ensnare the Tsuchikage.

This time thought, Barragan was ready for an attack. His hands flew through the handseals, forming a Doryuuheki between him and the incoming attacks and moving back as he did, fleeing through the ruined village. The wall didn't last long against the tendrils, being smashed to pieces within moments, allowing the Kyuubi-Naruto to jump through the area and pursue Barragan on all fours.

Barragan was thinking quickly as he ran 'Damn it, I was hoping to kill him before this happened, I know that we were both going light on eachother back there, but I didn't expect my sudden increase in the tempo to result In this. I can't be sure that I'm going to win at this point, maybe retreat would be the best option.'

Then, as the Tsuchikage thought this, images came to his mind. Images of a great forest, the flowers, the wood, the plants around him surging forward to entangle him, to poison him with spines and thorns, to crush him underfoot at the will of a creature that stood high above the tallest trees that had six tails waving behind it. The beast was formed off plant life, bones of wood harder than iron, teeth formed by massive thorns, each tail formed of thick vines and tipped by a gigantic rosebud, each one harder than diamond at the tip, and when opened would unleash countless poisonous spores. The beast was the Rokubi no Koubayajuu.

Then a second image came to his mind, of the great beast lying on the ground, defeated, and of himself performing numerous handseals as a young baby girl lay at his feet. Then, then, the Beast's soul sealed into the girl, the body dissolving into a clear gelatin like substance that quickly evaporated.

Then a third image came to mind, of himself and a tall blonde man wearing a Konoha Hitai-ate lying on the ground, both exhausted by battle, the blonde man unconscious, and then Barragan rising to his feet, fighting massive pains throughout his body, especially the new cuts on his face that later formed scars, and drew a kunai, staggering over to the man and putting it to the man's throat before passing into unconsciousness before he could slit his throat.

'No' He thought' 'I cannot run from this horror. I have fought worse before, I defeated the Rokubi, I can defeat this thing. It has no more power than the Rokubi did, at least it doesn't in its current form, and it doesn't have all the advantages that the Rokubi had either. I CAN WIN THIS. But I will need my sword to stand a chance. Without my sword I can't hope to win, most of my power is inside that blade, stored in case of emergency. Without it I can neither get close to the beast nor perform any of my most powerful Jutsu.'

Barragan felt like slapping himself as he avoided another lunge from the mindless Naruto. 'I am such an idiot. I go into battle with perhaps the most deadly foe I have ever faced and what do I do? I drop my sword after he blasts me through a wall a few stories high, I really am getting old.'

Barragan quickly came up with a plan, a plan to hold off Naruto while he recovered his blade. He didn't dare do so before because Naruto would have prevented him from getting close to it, but now any such traps would be gone. 'I may not be able to use my most powerful techniques easily, or numerously' Barragan thought 'But I can at least use one without my sword, using two would be too much.'

Barragan moved quickly past a few buildings, and threw liberal amounts of explosives at their bases, when the smoke from the bombs cleared, the buildings started to collapse inward on the street, blocking the way forward for Naruto.

Barragan knew that it wouldn't hold long, but it would hold long enough to complete the handseals of the real defense. He continued to move away from Naruto, his hands moving through handseals at an astonishing rate, almost a dozen per second, going through the well practiced motions.

He jumped past a pile of rubble and turned around as Naruto crashed through the rubble of the buildings and rushed towards him, eating up the distance between them. Barragan simply finished the handseals and slammed his hands on the ground as he yelled "Doton: Tsuchikami no Kabe!" **(1)**

The moment he did so, the earth below him shifted and moved before surging up in front of him, forming a gigantic wall, several dozen feet thick, several dozen yards and chakra reinforced so that it could withstand almost any attack indefinitely. The major thing was however, that it stretched from one side of Iwagakure to the other, covering _miles_ of ground in the shadow of the gigantic wall. Chakra also spread from the wall, covering miles of the sky from the top of the wall and to either side in an impenetrable barrier that made going over it impossible and going around it to be extremely time consuming.

Barragan looked at the wall he had created and cursed. It was smaller than he had intended, he really was getting old.

'Still' he thought as he heard a number of loud impacts from the other side of the wall 'It will hold long enough for me to find my sword, then I'll take the fight to this bastard.'

Then, without further thought or preempt, he turned around and leapt toward the Tsuchikage Tower, where he dropped his sword.

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With the Sound Four

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The Sound Four were still in the graveyard, Sakon still beating the drum, and the others guarding him when the wall went up. It was kind of hard to miss since it cut their section of the graveyard off from most of it. After that, they finally felt the chakra of the Kyuubi in the air, and heard the roars of anger as Naruto smashed into the wall in mindless rage.

Without a word, Sakon stopped drumming, and with the others moved to a nearby spot where Tayuya formed a gate back to Dark Heaven Castle. They were doing exactly as they were supposed to. The only thing going through their minds at that moment was a passage from a book that every one of them was forced to memorize when they first signed on with Naruto, since the book was not allowed out of the Castle.

The passage went 'In the event that Naruto calls upon the chakra of the Kyuubi and loses control, immediately drop all work, regardless of importance unless this order is previously recinded and report the occurrence immediately to one of the Three Enigmas.'

So, they followed the standing order and returned to Dark Heaven Castle, where all three of the Enigmas were currently located.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Things were going rather well thus far for the ANBU spy. He was seated in the massive dining hall of his enemies' headquarters and getting the best meal he had had in over ten years, so far a marked success.

He was looking around the place in wonder, the entire place was overly extravagant, crystal chandeliers, fine wooden chairs, every table laden with food containing every dish and ingredient he had ever heard of and numerous ones that he couldn't even recognize. The wine and other drinks were superb in both quantity and quality. All in all, everything was fit for a King. 'I suppose it makes sense' he thought to himself 'everything is fit for a King because Naruto and his human followers are usually the only ones that eat, and Naruto eats the most. It's all fit for a King because that's what they see him as.'

He noticed that all of the Soldiers were seated at most of the tables, while the Colonels and Generals were seated at tables of their own that had markedly better food, which was saying something.

The human followers were all at their own table at the far end of the room. They were eating from plates made from beaten silver, doubtless their utensils were of silver as well. He also noticed that three chairs in particular were taller than others, and they were occupied by a pink haired girl that he recognized as the 'Ghost Woman' from the Bingo Book, a large man that he recognized as the 'Beast Man' also from the Bingo Book, and a third figure that he didn't recognize. He was of moderate size and rather thick around the middle. He had a pointed, slightly hooked nose, fangs like a vampire, lank, oily hair that reached his shoulders although he had a highly receded hairline, and wore a fishnet shirt along with what looked line ox hide that he wore upon his back. Overall, a rather repulsive figure, but judging by the seating, he was someone fairly senior. The ANBU made a point to find out more about this mystery man. At the table were also Temari of Sunagakure, who had been missing for several years, as well as the traitor Mitarashi Anko, but that was no surprise Konoha knew that she was working for Naruto already.

He noticed that there were four empty seats at the table. The first three were the same type as the ones occupied by Temari and Anko, and were therefore probably occupied by the Sound Four, who Konoha knew was working with Naruto thanks to spy reports.

The fourth chair was at the head of the table, and was higher than the others. It was heavily cushioned and was made of gold, or at least gilded metal of some kind. The plate and utensils in front of that chair were also beaten gold, and the three higher chairs were positioned at the three closest spots to this chair. Obviously, that was Naruto's personal chair.

The spy turned his mind back to the task at hand, i.e. the working out of how to survive given that he would be lucky to eat at all in the next half decade while eating as much as he could now so that he could last a while.

He noticed that one of the finely dressed Colonels got up from his table and walked over to a young looking maid with bright blue hair held in two tails. He said something to the maid. She said something back and the Colonel replied once more before the maid bowed and left through a door that the spy knew led to the kitchen.

He put it out of his mind and returned to eating, hoping that nobody noticed him watching. Unfortunatly, he was a bit TOO eager to resume his meal, as he heard a voice behind him, smooth and cultured.

"Honestly, if you are going to waste so much food, you might as well not eat at all. A pig has better etiquette and manners than you, and you call yourself a Soldier in the Master's Army."

The spy looked back slowly and found that his fears were realized. The Colonel from before was standing directly behind him, towering over him. The spy was a bit stunned at how much the man towered over him, he first saw him at a distance so he didn't realize, but the Colonel was easily eight feet tall! Even taller when considering his tall, glossy top hat that added another six inches to his already formidable height.

He wasn't really sure WHAT to say in this particular situation. If he got into a fight, his cover could be blown, if he didn't do something that someone else might have, then he would be blowing his cover. It was a lose-lose situation.

Luckily for him, he was saved by the Zombie to his immediate right, Jarrow.

Said Zombie got up and got right up in the Colonel's face and said "Go strangle yourself with your own tie you prissy paper-pushing puppet! We'll eat however we like and nothing YOU say could make us do it differently, so save yourself the trouble, go hunt down the master, and maybe if you suck his dick hard enough he'll give you the promotion to General that you think about while you touch yourself at night you-."

Jarrow didn't get any farther than that as the Colonel backhanded him across the face, hard enough that the sound of impact resounded around the room, and Jarrow's head snapped to one side. Nobody did anything though, he noticed. A few of the Soldiers were watching, but everyone else was ignoring the two.

Jarrow just turned his head and faced the Colonel again, and spat out a tooth. The spy only got a second to look, but all the teeth in the right side of his mouth were cracked in several places. Jarrow didn't say a word as he eyed the piece of enamel, he just flipped the Colonel the bird.

The Colonel didn't miss a beat, he grabbed the offending digit and pushed downward, once. There was a snap of bone as the finger was pushed down until the fingernail met Jarrow's wrist. The Colonel then punched him hard in the stomach, causing Jarrow to double over and then he quickly kneed the Soldier in the face, smashing his nose.

Then the Colonel grabbed Jarrow by the neck, and raised him to eye level, easily lifting the man although he was heavy with muscle. He looked Jarrow right in the eyes and said "Listen closely Jarrow, you might not have to obey me in this place, but one day you will be put under my command in the field, and then you will finally learn some respect for your superiors. So I suggest you get a good meal. Odds are you won't be getting another one. Ever."

Jarrow said something then, but he could not hear it, nor could the Colonel. The Colonel brought him a bit a closer and inquired "What was that?"

Then Jarrow spoke audibly and said "I said, regardless of whether you are in here, on the field, commanding me or not, it won't change the fact that you are nothing but a failed experiment too pathetic to be what you were meant to be so you have to watch from the sidelines like a dog hoping for a bone."

The Colonel looked at Jarrow for a moment. Then he dropped him to the ground and stomped upon him. Several times. Hard.

Every time the Colonel's foot descended, cracks could heard throughout the hall, which everyone ignored. The Colonel then kicked Jarrow's head hard enough to send him sliding across the floor, revealing cracks in the floor that Jarrow was lying on, before the Colonel moved over to the kitchen door, where the maid from before was standing with a bottle of wine.

After a minute or so, Jarrow stood up and staggered back to the table, taking a spot beside the spy.

Jarrow looked horrible, several of his teeth were broken, and one of his eyes was swollen shut, there was also bruising across one side of his face and his nose was obviously broken and streaming blood.

The spy wasn't sure what to say, but just asked "W-who was that?"

Jarrow looked over and said "Helve, that was Colonel Terzok. All of the Colonels are pretty bad, but that guy is the absolute worst, the one with the most holier-than-thou attitude, the one with the most snobiness, and the most irritating person I know. He's the strongest of the Colonels, almost strong enough to be a General, but not quite there, and is the person I detest most in the world. I do my best to make his life a living hell and give him the occasional reminder of exactly what he is, like now. It usually results in stuff like this but it's worth it."

The spy looked over at Terzok, who was pouring himself a glass of the wine he got from the maid and said "I thought you said that we have to obey the Colonel's at all times."

Jarrow shook his head and said "No, that's only in the field, and you don't have orders from anybody more senior. Here, on the home front, you can tell any one of them to go fuck themselves when they give you an order. The only ones that you have to obey at all times are the Enigmas, and the Master himself. Mind you, although you won't get into any official trouble, disobeying a Colonel or General will probably result in you getting your ass kicked."

Helve nodded but before he could ask another question, the door to the Main Hall opened and the three remaining members of the Sound Four walked in, swiftly going to the head of the table where the Three Enigmas were eating and spoke quietly to them.

There was a short discussion before the pink haired girl got up and led the three out into the hall.

"Huh" Jarrow said "I wonder what they needed that they required Perona-sama to do something about it."

Helve didn't speak, but the same question was on his mind.

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Iwagakure

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Barragan moved swiftly, jumping from building to building as he neared the hole blown in his wall. He could still hear the relentless pounding against the wall, the sounds of anger as the beast failed to penetrate the rock. Barragan smiled as the pounding continued. 'There's no way he'll even scratch the wall with that level of attack, I might have more time than I thought.'

Just as he thought that however, there was silence on the other side of the wall. A few moments later there was a gigantic explosion. Barragan looked over and saw the massive amount of chakra as it reached into the sky from the epicenter. He bared his teeth in anger and irritation as he realized what must have happened. 'A massive blast of concentrated chakra. If that wall wasn't there, half the village would have been destroyed. I'm not sure how many of those the wall can take, I had better get moving.'

Then he almost doubled his pace until he landed on the ground underneath the hole in the Tower wall.

Barragan quickly looked around, moving off in the direction that he thought that his sword had fallen in. During this time the ground shook from another one of those blasts, and Barragan could only imagine the devastation that was on the other side of the wall, the sheer backlash from those blasts most likely decimated buildings.

Barragan quickly navigated the buildings, familiar with the layout of everything there. Eventually, he turned a corner and suddenly stopped. He stopped for two reasons.

The first was the massive crashing sound from the direction of the wall and the roar of triumph that accompanied it.

The second was the glittering blade in the middle of the street.

Barragan looked up at the sky and saw what he expected. A large amount of rock and earth was between the two buildings over the sword. It provided a massive amount of darkness around the blade and the areas adjacent to it. If he had gone here while Naruto was thinking straight, it would have been suicide, just as Naruto planned it to be.

Now though, Naruto was a ravening beast, so there was nothing to fear. He moved forward and grabbed the sword, and immediately felt the massive energies that were trapped within the blade.

Barragan had long anticipated some crisis or other, and had been prepared. He had stored as much chakra in his sword as he could without dying every day for over sixty years. In addition to that, after he bested the Rokubi, he also had his most chakra laden Jounin and ANBU empty their reserves into the sword when they weren't on missions, adding more and more chakra to the reservoir that Barragan could draw upon at any time as long as he had the sword on his person. Without it, he was nowhere near as strong. Right now, there was almost as much chakra in the sword as the Six tailed Kyuubi that was coming to kill him.

Barragan drew out a small portion of that chakra and used it to surround his body, forming a shimmering aura around himself. This aura would counteract the corrosive effects of the Kyuubi chakra, allowing him to get close without being burned to cinders as well as letting him go hand to hand without getting hurt. It would also prevent him from taking as much damage from both physical and chakra attacks, making it a powerful armor.

Any ninja could do the same, but it took a lot of chakra to keep it up over any length of time, and was taxing to the extreme. With his sword to help him however, Barragan was unhindered by the usual taxing effects of the aura. He took a breath and jumped to the top of a nearby building, moving quickly toward the position of Naruto.

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A few minutes later

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Barragan stood upon the roof of a tall building, overlooking Naruto, overcome with the power of the Kyuubi.

The Tsuchikage didn't miss a beat. He formed handseals in record time, forming five Tsuchi Bunshin, three of which jumped down toward the beast. Barragan himself pulled a scroll from his belt and unrolled it on the ground. Then the original and the two Tsuchi Bunshin beside him began doing three different sets of handseals.

Naruto reacted immediately to the attackers. One was batted aside out of the air by a chakra tail. The other two landed safely and one started to perform handseals, the other closed on Naruto intent on close combat.

The Bunshin didn't last long, it got in two good punches before Naruto crushed him with the swipe of a tail. At this time the second Tsuchi Bunshin finished his handseals and yelled "Raiton: Tenrai Higyou!"**(2) **and pointed forward with two fingers.

Concentrated lightning formed at the Bunshin's fingertips, and a concentrated bolt shot forward.

The Six tailed figure dodged aside, narrowly avoiding it. The bolt continued on and pierced the building behind him, and continued on, and on, piercing building after building, until it eventually hit the wall of Iwagakure and stopped, leaving a series of burnt holes over a mile long, formed in an instant.

Naruto lunged forward and took off the Bunshin's head. Then, as the clone reverted to mud, the three Barragans above finished their handseals.

The central Barragan, the real one, stomped upon a large symbol upon the unfurled scroll before him as he finished his handseal chain. The symbol glowed green and water erupted from the scroll in a flood. At Barragan's will, it rose up through the air, forming a sphere above his head.

The two Tsuchi Bunshin finished their handseals, in one's hands, lightning coursed between his fingers and the energy coursed up and into the sphere of water in an arc, charging in with electricity.

In the second clone's hands, there was wind, forming a sphere as large as his cupped hands, but that sphere contained an extreme amount of Wind Chakra, condensed.

That sphere snaked into the sphere of water, joining the two elements, though thanks to the lightning, it did not form ice.

Then, with the electrified, wind enhanced sphere of water overhead, the original Barragan went through a quick series of five handseals, then clapped his hands together as the sphere shifted, elongated, and then a tendril surged forward, spinning viciously as a tornado of three elements that ate up the distance between himself and the Kyuubi empowered Naruto below.

Only five words were heard as the surge of combined water, wind, and lightning smashed into the ground and then moved forward, devastating numerous buildings and leaving nothing but devastation in its wake.

Those five words were spoken by Barragan and they were "Ougi Ninjutsu: Susanoo no Yari!" **(3)**

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Doton: Tsuchikami no Kabe. 'Earth Release: Wall of the Earth God' S-rank technique. Created by Barragan Luisenbarn during the Great War to be an impenetrable defense against anything, and he came extremely close to succeeding. Forms a massive wall of steel hard rock miles long and yards thick, and almost a quarter of a mile high that is further empowered by a field of chakra extending to either side and above to make going over near impossible and around difficult. Cannot be climbed due to all the chakra flowing through the wall disrupting any attempted chakra flow of the climber.

Raiton: Tenrai Higyou. 'Lightning Release: Divine Strike' A-rank technique. Forms a single, thin, bolt of lightning that would pierce through almost anything for over a mile in exactly one second. Only real hope of dodging is to move before the bolt is fired.

Ougi Ninjutsu: Susanoo no Yari. 'Secret Ninjutsu: Spear of Susanoo' S-rank technique. Extremely powerful technique that combines three elements using copious amounts of chakra into a swiftly moving typhoon of destruction that would annihilate any that stand before it. Invented by Barragan Luisenbarn during the Great War to destroy any attacker.

Okay, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, the fight scenes, and the information granted on another specific Zombie. Sorry this took so long, but somehow this chapter got deleted about half way through so I had to rewrite it ALL OVER AGAIN! Either way, hope you all enjoyed it.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	56. Chapter 56

Welcome one and all to Kage no Naruto chapter fifty six. Dear God this thing is long, and it has no end in sight. Anyway, a lot of interesting things will occur this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it and review at the end. Until the ending note.

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Summary of last chapter

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We got more information on the inner workings of Naruto's forces, along with the introduction of one Colonel Terzok, who kicked the shit out of the ANBU spy's 'friend' Jarrow.

There was also a scene depicting the Sound Four leaving Iwagakure to inform Perona of the fact that Naruto has gone berserk with the Kyuubi, and she is taking action.

Finally, Barragan held off Naruto with an extremely powerful defensive jutsu, and reclaimed his sword. Inside the sword was a massive amount of stored chakra, enough to rival the Rokubi, so about as much chakra as the Six Tailed Naruto. Bolstered confidence provided by his memories of defeating the Rokubi no Koubayajuu and sealing it into the late Yukino, and memories of fighting the Yondaime Hokage to a draw gave him the inner strength to face the Six tailed Naruto and unleash a devastating attack utilizing three elements. And that's where I left you guys hanging. Enjoy the chapter.

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Iwagakure

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Barragan watched as the massive attack devastated the ground beneath the building, annihilating everything in a flood of freezing electrified water that would blow aside anything that it hit. He watched carefully, he knew that the battle would not end so swiftly, it was only beginning.

His eyes were drawn to a geyser of steam that was rising near the base of the building that he stood upon, and his eyes narrowed as the water drained from the streets, leaving crushed buildings and darkened ground, and the Six tailed Naruto standing where he did before, the ground beneath him charred but he was not harmed.

The Tsuchikage looked quickly and seeing the steam, could immediately piece together what happened. 'Damn it, the heat from the Demon Chakra evaporated the water before it could hurt him, that entire technique was for nothing!'

Aggravated, the two Tsuchi Bunshin jumped down, only to get swiped from the air by one of the tails, slam into the nearby ground, and return to mud.

Barragan took his sword in hand, and with its chakra surrounding him and protecting him, he lunged at the beast before him.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Perona stalked down the halls of the upper floors of the Castle, the Sound Four behind her. She asked "You are absolutely sure that Naruto-kun has lost control? There's no doubt?"

Tayuya nodded and said "Yeah, there's no mistaking the feeling that we got back there. He's definitely using the Kyuubi to a level that he never has before. He's lost control and is fighting the Tsuchikage on instinct alone. There's a good chance that he might actually lose if he doesn't regain control soon."

Perona nodded and continued down the hall, the others following her. The Tsuchikage was extremely powerful, it would take a lot more than brute strength to defeat him; it would also take cunning. That had been proved when the Yondaime Hokage faced him during the war. Namikaze Minato had defeated the Sandaime Tsuchikage easily and assumed that Barragan would be just as easy, if not easier to kill. He was proven dead wrong. Barragan fought him to a draw. He actually defeated the Yondaime Hokage during the war, but lost consciousness from his own wounds before he could kill him and they had both been rescued by their own Shinobi. It was this event that led to the eventual peace treaty that ended the war, if Minato had won then Konoha would have continued the war until Iwagakure was completely destroyed but seeing their supposedly invincible Yondaime matched in battle if not surpassed cowed them into settling for peace. That happened about fifteen years ago, so Barragan had no doubt dulled during that time, but he was still extremely dangerous.

Perona sighed at the situation and pulled a small bottle from a pocket. In front of the Sound Four, she opened the bottle and drew back the long sleeve from her right wrist, exposing a black seal. She poured a drop of the liquid from the bottle onto the mark and the seal vanished in a puff of smoke, revealing a decent sized volume in her right hand. She resealed the bottle and put it back before looking at the book itself.

The Sound Four looked at the volume and were surprised what they saw. It was thick and bound in black leather and was titled in embossed gold, or more likely brass since Naruto would never use gold on a book. The title of it was 'Standing Orders and Procedures' the book in which all Standing Orders for certain situations were listed and indexed. Every human member of Naruto's group, along with the Generals was to memorize the book front to back as it was not allowed outside the Castle. The only major difference was that beneath the main title, there was an annotation in smaller letters. 'Enigma Version'

Perona continued walking as she flipped through the pages of the book, looking carefully, until she finally found the order she was looking for. She put her finger to the lines and whispered the order to herself.

'In the event that I should go berserk due to overuse of the Kyuubi's powers, whether you see It happen yourself or have it reported to you by a third party, you are to immediately go to my study and press the hidden switch, the panel for the button can be located as per Standing Orders page 249 paragraph seven, line 8.

Pressing this switch will cause one wall of the office to slide open, revealing a large number of numbered safes. You are to open safe number 54 with the following combination: 88-45-193-524-764-813-477-3. You are to use the object contained inside as per the printed orders that shall also be located in the safe beside the object in question.'

Perona snapped the book shut and resealed it as she went to a door right beside Naruto's bedroom, the Sound Four following her and stunned upon hearing the orders. They didn't have anything like that in their versions of the book, then again that would explain why Perona's book was the 'Enigma Version', held only by the Three Enigmas.

Perona felt around on the door, and eventually shifted a seamless panel aside from the rest, revealing a large plate that Perona put her hand upon and pushed, depressing it, and then pushed the door open, an audible 'click' being heard as the door opened.

Sakon looked as Perona replaced the panel as it was before and said "Uh, Perona-sama, the door has a knob you know."

Perona looked at him like he was an idiot and said "I know that, it's a trap moron. Naruto-kun knows that any ninja could pick a door lock in seconds with nothing but a paper clip if the ninja in question was short on materials. As a result all of the most important rooms have a normal door lock and knob that would keep the door shut but could also be opened by a hidden mechanism that is different for each room in question, and in the event that the lock was unlocked by abnormal means or the knob was used, the person would be incapacitated or killed. This was all done in anticipation that a spy might one day infiltrate the castle or that it might be taken one day and the things in these rooms would need to be kept safe until Naruto-kun could take the castle back. Naruto-kun plans for everything, every possibility, as you might have noticed when you read and memorized the Standard Version of 'Standing Orders and Procedures.'"

With Sakon suitably chastised and Tayuya laughing slightly slightly at his expense, they all entered Naruto's personal study.

They all looked around, for it was the first time that many of them had entered the room. It was large and rectangular, and there was a bear pelt rug on the rosewood floor. There was a fireplace, currently unlit, and a number of candleholders on the walls. There were two bookshelves which held a number of rare books that included the Kemmler series which Naruto had moved from the library. There was also a large glass case that held a number of very oddly shaped knives, though it had space for several hundred more.

There was a desk near the fireplace and several globes of the world along one wall, though it looked as though they depicted the earth in various different times. There was one with seven distinct continents, a second with a large ridge of rock going completely around the world and a distinct line that ran perpendicular to it that was labeled 'Grand Line', and there was a third that showed the Elemental Countries, but they noticed that on the third globe, there were a number of islands and a continent that were far across the sea.

The desk itself was nondescript, though it had a number of drawers and a large map of the Elemental Countries atop it, and it was highly detailed, showing mountains, swamps, rivers, and every city large or small. It was also adorned by several dozen lines that were in several different colors of ink and were a variety of thicknesses. They quickly managed to locate Dark Heaven Castle on the map, in the center of Lake Tokiha, and noted that there was a thick, dark purple line over it. After that they quickly pieced it together and realized that the lines were all the Leylines in the Elemental Countries, showing what type of energy and how potent they were.

Perona meanwhile was walking upon the floor, muttering numbers to herself as she did. Eventually, she stood in a particular spot upon two floorboards spread rather far apart. To make things worse, she was also leaning towards the wall to press a specific point upon it and down toward the floor, pressing a spot just above the floor upon the wall. This ended up with her bending over in her skirt, giving the two males and one female a perfect look at her panty-clad ass. Light blue lace.

While the two males were borderline drooling and Tayuya coughed and looked away, hiding a pink hint that had come to her cheeks, Perona looked over and said "Hey, quick ogling me and press down on the three floorboards right beneath the globes. Why do you think I brought you here?"

The three of them, quickly chastised, looked over and put their hands on the thin floorboards directly beneath the globes and pressed down upon them. There was no indication that they did anything, the boards did not depress, but Perona cried "Hah!" and shifted aside a part of the floor with her right foot, revealing a dusty bronze button which she quickly pressed down with the toes of said appendage while still touching the other floorboard and both spots on the wall.

A moment after she did, the wall to the left of the Sound Four slid in and aside, revealing a wall of medium sized metal boxes with clear numbers and combination dials.

Tayuya watched as Perona got out of her, ahem, compromising position and walked over to them. Before anyone could say anything, Perona bitch-slapped both male members of the Sound Four with resounding 'SMACKS' of impact. She glared at the two as they rubbed their faces and said "THAT was for staring at my ass, you perverts!"

Then she looked over at Tayuya who cringed for a moment before Perona said "As for you Tayuya-chan, if you want another look, all you have to do is ask."

Tayuya looked shocked at this, the opposite of what she was expecting as Perona winked at her and then moved over to one of the safes.

After everyone had recovered, they moved over to Perona and looked over Perona's shoulders at the safe. They noticed that every one of them had large dials each covered in small white lines only a millimeter or two apart, with only one thick line marked zero. A quick look put the rough estimate as to the number of different numbers on the dial to be almost a thousand!

They looked over and saw as Perona quickly shifted the dial of the appropriate safe through the first seven numbers, hardly stopping, but then instead of going to the eighth number of the combination, three, she started over again at eighty eight!

Tayuya quickly said "WHOA! You missed the last number, why did you start all over again?"

Perona didn't look away from the dial as she went through the entire sequence again. She just said "That's another trick, in case an enemy somehow got a hand on the Enigma Version. Every dial combination in it has one number more than necessary at the end. This number looks like it's supposed to be another number in the combination but it's actually an indication of how many times the first however many digits have to be put it. In this case, it's seven digits entered three times. Like I said, Naruto-kun thinks of any possibility and has plans and tricks in place to counteract those possibilities."

True to her word, she put in the first seven number in the dial three different times, without touching the number three. After the third time, she turned the handle on the safe, and the little door opened, smooth as silk.

Perona reached in and drew out a rectangular box, with an envelope taped to it. She took this to the desk and sat down after she placed it upon the surface. She took the letter and broke it open, and then read the contents of it out loud.

'To whoever may read this. If you are reading this than I have gone berserk due to the overuse of the Kyuubi. Take note that this has most likely happened due to fighting an extremely powerful enemy, which I may still be fighting in my enraged state. However, there is a chance that I might need my mind more than immense power to win said battle and will need to be brought back to my senses immediately, in which case use the object in the box and follow the printed instructions. In the case that I have already defeated this enemy, follow said instructions inside the box. However, if I have gone into the Kyuubi State, there is a possibility that I may have been forced to use this power because I needed to, it is possible that I have other reasons to force myself into the Kyuubi State. The option of whether or not to use the object until after the fight is your choice, up to your judgment. Regardless of the situation that I am in during this time, know that my fate could literally be in your hands. Choose whether or not to use it wisely.'

Perona put down the letter and thought for a moment as she looked at the box.

Kidomaru asked "So, what do we do Perona-sama?", being careful to stay out of her immediate reach.

Perona thought about it for a moment more and said "Well, the best way I can decide what to do is to first find out what exactly is in the box, as well as how it works. Then I can make my decision as to when to use and if to use it."

Without further talking, she opened the box and pulled out two things, the first was a sheet of paper that was quickly unfolded, the second was a blackened, withered forearm that Perona quickly dropped on the desk with a look of distaste on her features.

She quickly read the paper 'The object that was enclosed with these instructions is of my own making. It is keyed specifically to nullify Kyuubi's chakra, similar to how I would nullify someone's chakra simply by touching them and holding on. Using this objet is guaranteed to bring me out of the berserk state. To activate, simply point it at my Kyuubi-enraged form and put a small amount of chakra into it. Thank you in advance for giving me back my mind.' That was it.

Sakon asked Perona "So, what do we do?"

Perona thought about it for a moment and said "We go to Iwagakure and watch what is happening. Naruto has three plans for everything, plan, backup plan, and an ace in the hole. The original invasion was the plan, the Kyuubi is the backup plan. I am assuming that us killing a weakened Barragan in the event of his defeat is the ace in the hole. In any case, we go to Iwa first and then I will make my decision. Come on."

Perona got up and closed the safe door, replacing the panel of wall so that nobody would realize that there were a number of boxes behind it, and then walked toward the door. As she did, she looked back and said "Kidomaru, bring the arm."

Kidomaru looked and said "Why don't you do it, it's meant for you to use!"

Perona glared at him and said "Because the thing is disgusting that's why! Now hurry up and carry it before I tear apart any semblance of happiness you may have!"

Chastised and scared, Kidomaru quickly picked up the decayed, blackened appendage and followed Perona outside of the office. Perona didn't wait any longer than necessary. As soon as the door was closed behind them, Perona used her necklace to open up a gate that Naruto had prepared right outside Iwagakure and walked into it, the Sound Four behind her.

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Iwagakure

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Barragan was attacking Naruto fiercely, cutting, stabbing, dodging, and rarely blocking an attack. It was extremely dangerous and if he didn't have an aura of chakra surrounding him, he would be long dead, but what was aggravating was that every time he struck and hurt him, the chakra simply closed over the cut like it was never there! But despite the danger, it was still far easier than he thought it would be.

Barragan drew back quickly, and was still thinking. 'Why is this so easy? Is he setting a trap? No, he couldn't, he doesn't have the presence of mind for something so complicated right now. There has to be something that I'm missing.'

Barragan thought back to the start of his fight with Naruto. In all honesty it didn't go anything like how he predicted that it would. From what he had heard, Naruto was viciously practical, not one to draw things out any longer than necessary, strictly professional and absolutely merciless. He had also heard of many techniques that he could use that would swiftly end the battle, but he didn't use them. What it for his own ego? To enjoy the fight more? But again that didn't make sense, Naruto reportedly did not take any great joy in battle, he was extremely materialistic and would have more enjoyment eating a fine meal and basking in the wealth of his treasures than any challenging fight. He had heard that he could take control of others my merging his shadow with that of others, completely immobilize someone by standing on their shadow, completely and totally seal off the chakra of an enemy simply by making bodily contact. But he did none of these things when he could have, it didn't make sense.

Then a thought came to him. He remembered when Naruto had punched him after he first surprised him. It wasn't chakra enhanced or anything special, he simply got slugged nothing more. The thing was that Naruto made contact, skin of his hand to the skin of his face, if only for an instant. If he wasn't wearing those rings, then the contact would have been greater, but it still wasn't needed, he made contact. During that moment, Barragan felt the unearthly cold inside Naruto, the inhuman power inside him to take things in, the cause of his urge to possess things, to negate the powers of others with his own, to stop and freeze the chakra of his opponent, but his chakra wasn't nulled like it should have been. He made contact with Naruto, but he didn't lose his chakra, even if it was for a moment, Barragan would have noticed that. It wasn't something that Naruto could stop, it happened involuntarily, if he made contact, all chakra was negated, he didn't have a choice, so in this case it wasn't that he DIDN'T use that power, it's that, for some reason, he COULDN'T.

'But now, why couldn't he use his abilities?' Barragan thought to himself as he got more distance from the Kyuubi-Naruto, which he noticed was a lot slower than it probably should be. 'Why was he weakened, and why is he weakened even now. If his actions in this state were faster and more fluid, then I might have been killed by now. He also doesn't use many long range attacks. Something is keeping him weaker than he should be, it's the only explanation. The only question is, what is causing it?'

Before Barragan's eyes, the Kyuubi-Naruto's movements slowed even more, like it was forcing itself to move with each step. Then, before long, it stopped completely. Immobilized.

Barragan's eyes widened at the phenomenon, but he did not wait to contemplate the cause of his good fortune. Regardless of what was stopping Naruto from attacking, if it gave him this battle he didn't care. Without a second thought, Barragan Luisenbarn, the Yondaime Tsuchikage, attacked without mercy.

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Naruto's Mindscape

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Naruto opened his eyes, and found himself in a place that he had not been in for a long, long time. A large, waterlogged sewer that was blocked on one end by a large grate of bars, sealed with a piece of paper and nothing more. The only major difference to how it was when he first saw the place, years and years ago, was upon the pipes upon the ceiling. The pipes represented his chakra flow, his energies.

In the center, where all the pipes connected, there was a thick glass sphere and inside of it was endless darkness. He knew what that was, it was the link to darkness itself as an element, allowing him to draw upon however much of it he wished. The power of darkness was infinite, more so than anything else, but he could only hope to control so much. Drawing upon too much of that power while he was unprepared would completely annihilate him and Naruto knew it. The power of darkness came from everywhere, the shadows under the feet of people, the dark shadows in people's hearts, the endless void of space, it was all connected and that little bit of true darkness connected him to the greater mass. Kyuubi put that sphere there when he was very young, and he learned to use that power instinctively at first, and then manually, using it as he saw fit. For every technique that involved darkness, manifesting his shadow, bending darkness to his will, pulling shadows from their owners and using them to bring a zombie to life, all of those he relied upon drawing the power of darkness from that sphere. That little piece of darkness that acted as a conduit to draw in so much more.

Two things troubled him however. The first was that upon the pipes that connected directly to the sphere, there was something blocking it. It was like looking at arteries in someone that had eaten too much cholesterol, some were blocked on the outskirts, some only had small openings left for the darkness to run through, but many of them were blocked completely. What disturbed his was that all of these pipes were blocked by red chakra, Kyuubi's chakra.

The second thing that bothered him was around his body. They were chains of red chakra that bound him to the walls, preventing him from moving that much. These chains were hooked to the wall and traveled up to the ceiling, touching the pipes which were stained with red. Similar chains emerged from a different section of the pipes. The section that was on the other side of the bars of Kyuubi's cage.

Naruto grew aggravated at this and yelled into the darkness of the cage "KYUUBI! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

He didn't have to wait long for a figure to appear on the other side of the bars along with a whispery alto voice going through the air saying "I am right here my host, no need to shout."

The figure stepped into the light caused by the energy flowing through the pipes above and Naruto saw the Kyuubi in his Mindscape for the first time in a long time. She appeared about six feet tall, pale milky skin, with moderately sized breasts, straight black hair cascaded down her back to her hips, and her smile was picture perfect. She was clad in a Greek style tunic of white cloth that reached her knees and nothing more, her bare feet silent upon the floor, making only the occasional splash as she moved through the ankle deep water. The other end of the chain was in her hand.

Naruto knew not to be fooled by her appearance. She looked nothing like person would expect a demon in human form to look like. Most would expect her, if she took a human female form, to have red eyes with slits for pupils, long red hair, fangs, a sadistic personality, things like that, but when he asked her that when they first met she simply replied "My host, why would I take on a form such as that? A demon in the mortal realm would take human form to remain camouflaged and hidden, not to tell others of its presence, otherwise we would simply go as something large and intimidating, and such stereotypical forms can get so boring after a while.'

Naruto quickly learned not to necessarily refer to the Kyuubi as 'she', or 'he', since it could take on any form it wanted, any demon could. Male, female, large, small, intimidating, meek, it did not matter. He generally referred to her as a 'she' though since it preferred a female form, though it often changed radically, clothes, hair, eye color, height, clothing, age, skin color, it changed every time. There was a time when she appeared as a dark skinned woman clad in a leopard pelt, another time as a blind old crone wearing many shawls, another time as a young girl no more than five with blonde hair and blue eyes, B-cup breasts, wearing nothing at all, another time when it merely appeared as a knee high spider with the heads of a man, a toad, and a cat. Kyuubi was a being of thousands of years, and quickly got bored of a single form. But one thing remained constant in all of her forms, and that was the simple inhumanity. All you had to do was look in its eyes to see it, or rather not see it. Joy, happiness, love, caring, sadness, hope, despair, all of the things that made a human, human, simply wasn't there. Her eyes were always as flat as a reptile's, devoid of anything human. There was emotion, but it was limited to boredom, curiosity, things like that. They were completely void of compassion or pity, or anything remotely identifiable as 'mortal'.

"Kyuubi" Naruto said, slightly irritated by it all, "What is the meaning of this? The chain, the chakra blockages, and everything else. What are you doing and why?"

Kyuubi didn't show a bit of emotion as she said "I am doing what I feel that I should be doing, my host."

Naruto looked at her coldly and asked "And that is what?"

She looked over at him, nothing but vague boredom in her eyes, as well as a bit of a surrender to inevitability. "I am taking back what life I gave you, in what ways I can. I cannot harm you, but while my chakra is flooding your system, I can cut off access to the gifts I gave you, while making you easy prey for Barragan to kill you. I am aware that I will be killed as well, but that is a price that I must accept. Regardless of cost, promises must be kept after all."

Naruto grew angry at that "WHAT! Why are you doing this, what have I done to anger you into taking such idiotic action!?"

Kyuubi merely asked "My host, do you remember why I attacked Konoha fifteen years ago and was sealed into you as a result of the Yondaime having abilities that I did not know of?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment, searched his memories, and was shocked as he remember a crucial detail that he had overlooked. The reason why Kyuubi attacked Konoha was because of her outrage at the immense damage done to Iwagakure and its people at the hands of Konoha during the Third Great War! Kyuubi no Kitsune was a sworn Guardian Spirit of iwa!

Kyuubi smirked when she saw the expression cross his face, a cold gesture. "Yes, you remember. In my eyes you have committed worse crimes than those of Konohagakure no Sato. You are my enemy more than they are, and now you shall be destroyed, if not directly then indirectly by my hand. I have cut off your abilities of darkness almost completely, and with my chakra overflowing in your body, I have control of your physical form, and although I don't have complete control I have enough to stop your movement and allow Barragan enough time to strike a fatal blow. Give up my host, you have lost."

Naruto struggled pointlessly against the chains, snarling "Are you crazy!? If I die, you die, you know that! So why?!"

Kyuubi held the chain firmly in one hand and merely said "I am aware of that. I gave my word that I would defend Iwagakure and protect it from attackers and I have done the best that I could. If I die as a result of that then it is my own fault for making the promise. If I must die to fulfill it, then so be it, I regret that the price to keep my word is so high, but nothing more."

Naruto stopped struggling against the chains, realizing that defeating her that way was pointless. But Naruto knew that he would win, the only thing that was required was a change of tactics.

Before long, the red energy in the pipes stopped flowing, and started flowing toward him before it stopped, swirling in the air. Naruto frowned at that and Kyuubi smiled "Come now, let me guess my host, something like 'This is my mind, so it's my rules'? Don't be so childish, this is indeed your mind, but it is mine now that you are subdued. Give up and enter the void."

Naruto frowned and said a single word. The moment he did, Kyuubi snarled, no fangs showed, but it was clear that she was exerting herself.

Naruto had taken Kyuubi's words to heart, and given up on his physical body. But if you can't control something by imposing your will upon it directly, then gain control of it by imposing your will upon the thing that controls the thing you want to control. He gave up on controlling his body and breaking Kyuubi's chains, and focused instead on taking over Kyuubi's mind. It was a taxing activity to take over the mind of even the weakest minded mortal, far more difficult than merely shattering it like he had done to the Chuunin in the invasion. It was a simple matter of breaking down her mental defenses, though unfortunately, Kyuubi's were difficult to wear down."

Kyuubi meanwhile was in trouble. It didn't expect this kind of assault. The moment she realized what he was trying to do, she immediately went back to her lessons on defending her mind against outsiders, imaging a wall and putting as much power as she could into it. The thing was, Naruto's counterattack wasn't what she expected. It wasn't a sudden strike from a mental battering ram like she had been taught to expect, but more of a sudden tide from a black sea of his will, seeking to wear down her defenses over time.

Under normal circumstances, she would be able to flood the wall with so much power that he couldn't hope to prevail, but most of her strength was dedicated to keeping Naruto's body in the 'Kyuubi-state' so that she could control him, and upon the chains that kept his mindscape body immobilized. If she retracted either one he would break free.

Naruto smiled at her pathetic defense. "Amateur." He said "Whoever taught you to defend your mind was a complete and utter amateur, teaching you the same tripe that I would expect from some pathetic mortal like a Yamanaka. Give in Kyuubi, it will save you some misery. Even if the thought of retracting energy from elsewhere to reinforce your pathetic wall has crossed your mind, the concentration it would take to draw upon that power would weaken your defense more than enough for me to break through and instantly take control. You have lost and you were doomed to lose a mental battle, because unlike you, my teacher in the ways of the mind was anything but an amateur."

Kyuubi's mental defense cracked and a bit of that dark sea of raw will leaked in. Kyuubi was given a mental image of an old man, beating upon a bass drum while corpses danced to the tune. Then she realized where he learned something like this. The books of Heinrich Kemmler.

That was all that Kyuubi could remember, for that was her last true thought. After that, the wall shattered, and that dark sea of will poured in and took control.

All of a sudden, it was like her mind wasn't working properly, like taking an organized drawer and yanking out something from the bottom and then closing it, leaving everything jumbled up. 'What am I trying to do?' she asked herself 'I can't seem to remember what I was trying to do, though I know it was important. Oh look, there's Naruto, hmm, I wonder what he's doing, he looks like he's really concentrated on something.'

Then a little, soothing voice said in her ear 'Drop the chain.'

Kyuubi didn't know what she was doing, she didn't even know what a chain WAS, much less how to drop it, but she relaxed her grip on the thing in her hand and put that hand to her chin, trying to think of what a chain was, and why that little voice wanted her to drop it. Why couldn't the voice do it itself?

Kyuubi tried to think of that, but again she couldn't really seem to think right. She noticed the things around Naruto's body vanished and he moved freely. 'That's nice' Kyuubi thought to herself 'it's never a good thing to be trapped, now what is a chain, and what was that little voice? What is a voice anyway?'

While she was thinking that, she noticed something else. 'Oh, look at all the pretty red light on the ceiling, oh and it's all getting eaten by Naruto, isn't that strange. How do you eat light? Maybe I should ask him.'

Indeed, Naruto's jaw was opened and all of the Kyuubi chakra in the pipes above, including the blocks around the sphere, flowed down his throat, drawing into a spiral as it passed his lips. Before long, all of the energy was consumed.

Kyuubi realized that she was suddenly floating. 'Wow, this is kind of neat.' She thought 'Hey, I'm flying toward Naruto, I wonder why that is? Hey, some of that pretty red light is coming from ME! Isn't that something?'

That little voice from before whispered into her ear 'I do not tolerate traitors. Especially from beings whose only purpose is to be devoured. Goodbye Kyuubi.'

Kyuubi thought to herself 'What did the voice say?' It didn't even make sense to her, like the voice spoke a different language or something, or she couldn't hear right for some reason. Then, as Kyuubi noticed how large Naruto's mouth was up close, her head suddenly cleared, like a fog lifted, only it happened as fast as hitting a light switch.

In that moment, she managed to decipher what that 'Little voice' said and the great demon screamed and struggled in vain as the darkness before her engulfed her completely.

And then, peace, silence, and eternity was all that Kyuubi knew.

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Iwagakure

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Perona, Tayuya, Sakon, and Kidomaru holding the forearm, walked out of a portal of darkness upon a small building near the center of Iwa. As soon as they left the passageway vanished and all that remained of it was a tiny black gem embedded in the rock face of the house.

They could all see Barragan drawing near the six tailed Naruto, his sword held high. Their eyes widened as the sword came down, but before it struck, chakra exploded from the immobile beast, reaching into the sky, and across the ground, blowing Barragan back before it all condensed upon a single figure upon the ground.

Naruto groaned and his joints 'CRACKED' suddenly and he could feel the limbs lengthen, and he could not help but scream in pain as his teeth wriggled inside of his own jaw, moving and shifting into a more perfect alignment. Then his jaw itself moved, and he groaned as he felt the plates of bone that made up his skull shift and move.

His shadow went completely berserk, spazzing out upon the ground, moving into every shape and size. Every shadow and patch of darkness around him boiled and shivered like heated tar. It was so bad that they didn't even defend him as his convulsions cut the palm of his hand upon a sharp rock. He noticed then that his blood wasn't red anymore. It was golden, like a rich honey.

Perona and the Sound Four watched as these convulsions came to an end, and Naruto staggered to his feet, the shadows now calm, and Barragan wide eyed.

Naruto spoke and Perona saw something glitter and shine in his mouth. After a moment she realized that it was his tongue! It was a bright metallic silver that glittered in his mouth. It was only a moment or so later that she managed to decipher his words.

"So Barragan, let us continue."

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Okay, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and be sure to let me know what you think in a review, otherwise I can't improve.

Oh, and before I forget. Ahem.

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

And a happy new, aw fuck it, the world's going to hell what's the point.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	57. Chapter 57

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it the death of Sasuke? No but it's the next best thing, it's the next chapter of Kage no Naruto, chapter fifty seven! (Cue cheering crowd. DO IT!)

Enjoy the chapter, I don't really have anything else to say at this point. Sorry.

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Summary of last chapter

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Right, Perona, and the Sound Four follow standing orders and find a way to take Naruto out of the Kyuubi State, they haul ass over to Iwagakure to use it, and that's about the last bit that they have a part in during this chapter. Oh, and there was a bit where Perona had to bend over in her skirt, causing Sakon, Tayuya, and Kidomaru to ogle her panty-clad ass. Sakon and Kidomaru got slapped, and Tayuya got an invitation for another look. Story of my life.

In the meantime, Barragan thinks that Naruto is weaker than he should be, and it turns out that Kyuubi was holding him back, limiting his shadow powers and not immobilizing him for Barragan to kill him regardless of her own death. This goes back to the information I gave in the first five or ten chapters that Kyuubi attacked Konoha because she was a guardian spirit sworn to defend Iwagakure and destroy its enemies. Naruto all but destroyed Iwagakure and so she sees him as her worst enemy.

Naruto tried for freedom but failed, and so used a mental technique he learned from the books of Kemmler and broke into and took control of Kyuubi's mind, forcing her to free him. He then devoured all of Kyuubi's power as well as her soul, killing Kyuubi and devouring her power for his own.

After that, in the real world, Perona and the Sound Four show up in Iwa just in time to see the Six tailed Kyuubi Naruto explode and then implode into a single form. Following a large scale physical transformation, the new version of Naruto continues the fight with Barragan. And now, enjoy the chapter and REVIEW AT THE END!

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Iwagakure

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Naruto stood in a small blackened patch of ground. His jacket was completely gone, his pants were dark and burnt, and his shirt was missing patches from the material. His hat was gone as well and his rings were red hot upon his fingers, though they soon cooled to their usual shining gold, the diamonds glittering.

Naruto turned to Perona and the Sound Four and said "Leave."

The four of them didn't ask questions, nor did they object. Perona immediately opened a gate back to Dark Heaven Castle and left through it. Complete obedience to superiors was a trained instinct in Naruto's forces, no matter how highly ranked they were. In battle and dangerous situations, even Perona, Naruto's lover, obeyed without question.

Naruto watched as the oval of shadows closed and vanished before turning back to the Tsuchikage. He said to the man, silver tongue flickering "You could have attacked me you know, while I was dealing with other matters and distracted. Why didn't you do so?"

Barragan merely said "It isn't honorable to attack an opponent while their back is turned. Not in one on one combat like this. It is only common courtesy that I allow you to ensure the evacuation of non-combatants before we resume our fight."

Naruto smirked at that, a cold gesture that showed derision and disrespect. "That was rather foolish of you. If our positions were reversed I would have struck you down immediately and without hesitation. You say 'honor', but there is no honor among thieves or Shinobi, or at least there shouldn't be. We are people who kill, steal, and destroy if the price is right, what honor is there among such mercenaries? Honor is for samurai and idealistic children, nothing more. I did not expect such nonsense from an experienced Shinobi, much less a Kage. Your predecessors are rolling in their graves."

Barragan narrowed his eyes as he readied his sword and said "What would you know of our profession brat, much less of honor? You fled your home and now seek to kill and enslave anyone who stands in your way, You are a criminal and a tyrant and you must be destroyed for this world to achieve any semblance of peace." Then without another word, Barragan rushed forward with his sword held at the ready.

Naruto shook his head slightly, never taking his eyes off of Barragan as he said "All of that merely depends on your point of view." Before he stepped to his right and the shadow of a building fell upon him. Then Naruto vanished into thin air before Barragan's sword could impale him."

Barragan instantly went into a defensive stance, eyeing his surroundings as he thought 'Kage Hokou, a technique that allows him to instantly move to any location through the shadows, entering into a shadow and exiting from a shadow at the destination. He can go anywhere with the technique as long as he's been there before by other means. Damn it, he could be anywhere!'

Barragan stepped away from the shadows of the nearby buildings, watching all around him for any sign of Naruto.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and all of his chakra was suddenly gone.

Barragan looked over his shoulders and saw Naruto standing behind him, towering over the elderly Kage as he laid his right hand upon his shoulder and nullified his chakra.

Barragan was beyond surprised, he had simply appeared there without a sound! "H-how?" he asked.

Naruto looked down at Barragan dispassionately and merely said "Kage Hokou, I have been to this spot before so it was an available destination. As for the shadow that I used, look down."

Barragan looked down and saw that slanting to the right of him was his own shadow! Then he saw Naruto move his left foot and deliberately stepped on the patch of darkness, and all of a sudden Barragan could no longer move, not even an eyeblink, though he could still breathe.

Naruto smiled though Barragan could not see it. "My techniques for the most part aren't as flashy as yours, or the techniques of most other ninja. They don't focus on destruction, so much as nullification. What is the point of an extremely powerful technique that does a lot of damage when you can have a simple technique that takes that powerful opponent down to the strength of a civilian? Honestly, if Kyuubi hadn't interfered and I was thinking as I usually was at the beginning of this battle, it wouldn't have taken nearly as long as it did to reach this point. Goodbye, Yondaime Tsuchikage-san."

Then Naruto clenched his left hand into a fist and put it to the small of the Tsuchikage's back. Then he released the power he held in the rings upon his left hand. All of them.

Usually, when Naruto used the power inside of his rings, they hit with in a solid, even burst that blew things back. At that close range, all of that force and kinetic energy hit him in a small concentrated area. Barragan's kidneys, intestines, a chunk of his spine, as well as pounds of meat and blood burst from the point of impact, leaving a gaping hole a foot wide through the Tsuchikage's belly! All the while, Barragan couldn't even twitch, nor could he scream as the immense pain of the massive injury spread throughout what remained of his body

Naruto simply stepped off of Barragan's shadow, and let the body drop to the ground. Naruto looked down and merely said "Pathetic." And then turned to leave.

Before Naruto could leave, he heard a shuffling sound behind him. He looked back and saw Barragan struggling to move his arm!

He heard a 'click' from the region of Barragan's right hand and then the arm dropped to the ground, the hand flopping open to reveal a small, cylindrical metal device with a little red button upon the top. A clear plastic cap lay on the ground nearby. Naruto immediately thought 'A Detonator!'

Before he could do anything besides think that thought, the bombs that Barragan had placed all over Iwagakure under the ground and on the surface, detonated and destroyed everything inside, living or dead, wood or stone, or flesh.

Barragan's last thought as he pressed and released the button for the detonation was 'If I can't kill you then the very least I can do is take you with me.'

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Konohagakure, Hokage's Office

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Tsunade was currently hearing the report for the mission to Sunagakure, led by Kakashi.

"…After that Hokage-sama, we returned with the Kazekage to Sunagakure, and after a short stay there for recuperation purposes, we returned to Konoha, our mission completed."

Tsunade looked at Kakashi. Sakura, Sai, and Tenten were also standing at attention there, but she looked mainly at him. "Right, so let me get this straight. You arrived at Sunagakure with incident. You were attacked by a mysterious wind user and were delayed badly, but you still managed to get to Sunagakure. Afterwards, you managed to find the Akatsuki's base where they were draining Gaara of his Bijuu and then planned an attack upon them with the aid of a Suna Medical Ninja Elder Chiyo, and proceeded upon a rescue mission immediately. Along the way, you encountered Hoshigaki Kisame whom together you managed to defeat only it turned out not to be him, but some impostor, and then continued along with the mission."

She took a breath and then continued "Upon reaching the base, you all split up and removed five tags that sealed the cave, four of you being forced to defeat clones of yourselves that formed upon the seals being removed. Then you reconvened, and assaulted the base, the member who defeated Gaara fleeing with the body, leaving the other member to deal with you alone. Sai and yourself left to pursue this Akatsuki while Tenten and Sakura were forced to face Akasuna no Sasori with Chiyo. You managed to ground the bird that the Akatsuki used to escape thanks to your Mangekyo Sharingan and Sai's ink abilities, though the Akatsuki was nowhere to be found at the crash site you still managed to locate the dead body of the Kazekage. Sakura and Tenten held off the Akatsuki member Sasori with Chiyo's help but they were eventually poisoned and out for the count. Chiyo managed to hold off Sasori on her own before he eventually left for his own reasons which are currently unknown, it is also known that he has a puppet of the Sandaime Kazekage, with which he managed to hold off even Chiyo's best puppets."

She took another breath "After that, Chiyo met the rest of you, bringing Sakura and Tenten with you, and she gave her life to restore the life of Gaara. After that, a large number of Suna nin arrived and got you all to Sunagakure where Sakura and Tenten were treated for their poison, after which you returned here. Am I correct?"

Kakashi nodded.

Tsunade looked at him for a moment before saying to the Chuunin "Leave, I need to speak to Kakashi in private."

After a moment of bowing, Tenten, Sakura, and Sai, left the Jounin alone with the Hokage, and went about their business.

Tsunade looked at Kakashi over folded hands and said after a moment "After being attacked by an unknown Wind-user of considerable skill, you not only went WITH an extremely powerful Sunagakure ninja who is known to have malicious feelings toward Konoha, but you left two talented Chuunin ALONE with her against an Akatsuki member!? Kakashi, I'm surprised with how idiotic you can be sometimes! This changes so many things about the relationship between Suna and Konoha it's not even funny. Gaara is indifferent towards us right now, hell he's a lot calmer because of his sudden increase in the value of human life, and the thought that he killed his own brother and sister have mellowed him a bit, but he's still dangerous because he doesn't have much in the way of opinion. He could easily be manipulated into attacking us if enough top brass wanted him to. It's more than possible that Suna is hostile towards us right now while pretending to be our ally. You should have stayed with Chiyo and your subordinates and ensured this Sasori's death, while allowing the other one to escape with Deidara's corpse, sending Sai after him in hopes of getting him killed. You know who Sai works for. Thanks to your pigheaded thinking, you put two talented Chuunin in danger while allowing a dangerous Kazekage to be put back on the throne while putting yourself in danger while protecting a wolf in sheep's clothing. I expected better from you, a Jounin Elite."

Tsunade sighed and then said "Well, I suppose you couldn't have done better with what resources you had, though you should have told me what was happening immediately via messenger of some kind. Honestly, this changes a lot concerning our alliance with Suna, we can't rely on them anymore until we can be certain whether this mystery attacker of yours was from Suna or not, which may never become clear. It's all such a pain."

Tsunade sighed and then said "You're dismissed Kakashi. Get some rest, and get your squad paid for the A-rank mission. I already have another mission in mind for you and your squad."

She quickly wrote up a ticket that would allow Kakashi to receive payment for his mission and the payment of his squad which he would be required to give to them immediately. Kakashi immediately left the office, leaving Tsunade alone.

A few moments after Kakashi left, Jiraiya popped in through the window and said "Hey Tsunade, keeping the elite on their toes I see. How are things on the home front?"

Tsunade sighed as she got up and went over to a wall covered with books and scrolls as she said "Exhausting and irritating as usual. The Council are some gigantic pains in the ass, doing everything they can to grab more power while diminishing me, the Chuunin Exams are coming up soon, putting more pressure on Konoha to look decent and professional during the dignitary visits which will start happening far too soon for my liking, missions are picking up, which is a good thing I grant you, and the new Gennin are showing promise which is great. It looks like a few of the new squads might actually be able to participate in the upcoming exam, though we'll soon see if that's true. Did you know that Sensei's grandkid is a Gennin now?"

"Really? How good is he? Who's his sensei?"

Tsunade continued to look through the books as she said "He's actually not half bad for his age, his squad is one of the ones I was talking about when I said that some of them might be eligible for the exams. I'm thinking of giving them something exceptionally challenging for their next mission to make sure, I'm sure that Ebisu, their Sensei, will look after them if things get bad."

Jiraiya looked up at that. "EBISU is a Jounin? That kid? Jeez, standards are going to hell."

Tsunade looked over and said "Don't mock him Jiraiya, or you'll make me look bad for recommending him for the rank. He's actually improved a lot in the last three years."

Tsunade sighed for a moment at the following silence and then said "Okay, enough beating around the bush, tell me what you've learned lately. Have you found the book?"

Jiraiya looked out the window as he said "I've learned quite a bit recently. Did you know that Naruto has staged attacks upon Houfu AND Iwagakure?"

Tsunade nodded and said "Yeah, we've heard the news that forty of his Zombies were killed by that old wall, and we know that Iwagakure has fallen. More importantly, we've actually managed to capture one of those Zombies ALIVE, and we've managed to get an ANBU to infiltrate Naruto's fortress, wherever it is, disguised as one of those Zombies."

Jiraiya looked over at that information "Are you serious? I might have to have a talk with Ibiki soon to get a shot at him. Have you gotten any information from either of them?"

Tsunade shook her head and said "No such luck. Our inside man is currently incommunicado, so I'm not sure when we can expect a report from him, if ever. As for the prisoner, we've managed to get nothing from him so far, but give Ibiki enough time and he'll come through. If not, we'll let Inoichi go at him and see what we can get from the thing's mind. Anyway, what about the book?"

Jiraiya sighed and said "I have good news and bad news on that front. The bad news is that I have no idea who has it or where it is. Though I DO know where it will be within a few weeks, that's the good news. Unfortunately, though I know where it will be, I can't be certain that I will be able to obtain it, and I'm sure that Naruto will be there, also looking for it."

Tsunade sighed and said "OK, so where's it going to be?"

Jiraiya simply said "Nyuusatsu at the Southern Peace Auction. You remember the place?"

Tsunade looked at him shocked "Remember it? How could I FORGET it? Our first B-rank mission took us there with Sarutobi-sensei forty years ago. You made a stupid hand gesture during the auction, the auctioneer to it for a bid, and you nearly bankrupted the entire Sarutobi clan for a piece of fossilized dinosaur dung!

Jiraiya looked down as he mumbled pathetically "I didn't nearly bankrupt them, I-"

Tsunade cut him off "It cost them twenty four billion Ryo! If Sarutobi-sensei wasn't the clan head at the time, we would have been forbidden from attending the auction ever again, and thrown in jail for fraudulent bidding! Because of that, we lost the funds we needed to obtain the item we were hired to obtain for our client, and failed the mission! We were all put through the ringer for six months and we didn't see anything short of D-rank missions until we paid back Sarutobi-sensei for both the rock AND the wages he would have received if he completed the mission! It took almost a decade between the three of us to pay back a QUARTER of the debt, and then Sarutobi forgave us because Iwa declared war!"

Jiraiya stepped back from the increasingly angry Tsunade who was full of old rage at the man while he asked tentatively "Whatever happened to that fossil anyway?"

Tsunade looked at him and said "Last I heard, the head of the Sarutobi clan uses it for a paperweight."

"Ah" Said Jiraiya, ever the eloquent one, as he stepped back further away from Tsunade as she cooled down.

Tsunade 'huffed' and said "So, how did you figure out it was going to be at Southern Peace anyway? I thought that the items they sold were kept secret except for the ones who bought the catalogue?"

Jiraiya puffed out his chest and said "Luckily for all of us, I have a spy in the organization of the Southern Peace auction who was able to tell me what was going on."

Tsunade looked genuinely impressed and asked "Are you serious?" The Southern Peace Auction was run by a very strict group of elite antique dealers and merchants that took it upon themselves to bestow certificates of authenticity for their pieces, and were extremely stringent with the entering qualifications for their guild who were forbidden from attending the auction themselves to prevent any sort of conflicting interests. If Jiraiya had actually managed to get a spy into the guild then it was a feat to be proud of for both the spy, and Jiraiya himself for the excellent talent scouting ability it would have taken to hire him beforehand since the Guild Members, once inaugurated, were forbidden by honor to take bribes.

Jiriaya said "No, I'm kidding with you, I just bought a catalogue like anyone else."

Tsunade frowned and nailed him over the head, sending him to the ground and causing a dent in the hardwood floor. She looked at the downed Sannin and said "By the way, I'm sending you the bill for the repair to my floor, since you're so rich it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Jiraiya just let out a muffled "Yes ma'am." as he got off the floor.

As she watched him get up, Tsunade still couldn't help but be impressed. Sure, the Southern Peace Auction Catalogue was publicly sold, but each copy cost twelve million Ryo, just went to show how much smut sells since Jiraiya had that kind of money. Inside the Catalogue, every item that was up for auction was indexed, and it also came with the ticket that would allow the bearer to enter and exit the auction hall without limit with up to four guests for the five days that the auction was taking place. Each ticket bearer was registered with his face and name, and each ticket had a serial number. Each ticket's number would be checked to see if it matched its owner at the door by Genjutsu Specialist Jounin from Kumogakure to prevent the stealing of Catalogues and invalid entry to the Auction Hall. The entire Auction, event, item security, and security of the clientele was of the absolute highest quality.

It was to be expected though. The clients that attended the Southern Peace Auction, an event that took place only once a year, were the richest and most powerful men and women in the world. The items that were sold there were of the highest quality and value, and every item that was sold there was void of any legal ramification so you would easily find objects that would normally go on the Black Market. It wasn't rare to see objects go for billions of Ryo. The largest purchase that she had ever heard of was one hundred and ten BILLION Ryo for the mummy of the first king of Kaminari no Kuni. The auction itself took place during the annual Grand Auction in Nyuusatsu, Kaminari no Kuni, which was a mass of buying, selling, and the exchanging of goods. Methods and forms of auction existed that only occurred in Nyuusatsu. It was a grand event during which you could obtain priceless antiques for a pittance, or a popular plush doll for the price of a house. It was also a minefield of counterfeits, bluffs, and unscrupulous merchants that would love nothing more than slander a priceless piece down to the price of a drink, or sell a counterfeit for more than the real thing. Only the most skilled and practiced of merchants were advised to take part. Southern Peace was the most high class however, so you didn't have to worry about fakes or jacked up prices there. The only obstacle there was the absolutely MASSIVE price that the objects went for, and rightfully so.

The security was so stringent that thieves were unheard of, at least from the auction itself. Objects getting stolen from the new owners AFTER they were paid for, that wasn't unheard of, but stealing something from the Auction was impossible. It was proven when the Niidaime Raikage himself and four squads of ANBU attempted to steal a priceless object from the Auction and although they caused a lot of damage, they were all cut down in the end.

Tsunade sighed and said "Okay then, only one thing for it. We'll have you attend the auction with a squad of four under you, and you will do your absolute best to buy the book and deliver it here. I'll give you as much money as I can from Konoha's coffers to make sure that you can pay for it. You leave in three days. Dismissed."

Jiraiya merely smirked and moved to leave via the window, leaving Tsunade with her thoughts.

Before he could though, Tsunade grabbed Jiraiya's left arm, hoisting up the sleeve to reveal purpled, bruised flesh. "Jiraiya, what happened to your arm?" Tsunade asked as she looked at it closely.

"Eh, oh, nothing, just a broken arm, nothing serious, it was a month ago it's fine."

Tsunade looked up and poked the middle of the bruising, causing Jiraiya to 'YELP' in pain. "It's nothing huh? So, what happened to you? Who could break the arm of the 'Great and Mighty Jiraiya of the Sannin'?" Tsunade asked as she pulled up her chair and forced Jiraiya to sit down while she looked at it.

"It was one of Naruto's Zombie Spies. I cornered him, he got in a lucky hit and he ran off before I could attack."

"Uh-huh" Tsunade said as she jerked the arm into a better position.

"OWWW!" Jiraiya yelled as she moved her hands.

"Wimp"

A few moments later Jiraiya solemnly said "Tsunade, these things are becoming stronger. Naruto's making them stronger as he gets more experienced. If we don't stop him soon, then these things will start getting so strong that it will take a Jounin to take on a grunt, much less one of the stronger ones. I swear to god when that thing got me with that whip I heard a sonic boom."

Tsunade looked up from his arm and said "A whip?"

"Hey, the thing was fast, don't knock it."

Tsunade chuckled a bit as she took her hands off of the arm and let Jiraiya go. As he left she said in her most condescending voice "Would you like a lollipop to make it feel better?"

Jiraiya just gave her the bird with his left hand before jumping out the window to avoid a paperweight and left Tsunade with her thoughts.

Tsunade thought to herself as she looked out the window over Konoha in the sunset. It was almost guaranteed that Naruto would be there at the Auction as well with an entourage. The only question remained that then was _Who had the most money and who was willing to spend more? Who had more, the Icha Icha Paradise Series and the wealth of Konoha, or Naruto and all the spoils of war of Tsuchi no Kuni?_

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Iwagakure

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A portal of darkness opened, and a squad of Zombies with a stretcher led out of the portal, followed by Perona and Hogback. Hogback faced the setting sun and stretched a bit. It had been a long time since he left the Castle. The squad and Perona went and started searching among the rubble.

Eventually one shouted "I FOUND HIM!" and immediately everyone converged on this location.

Said Soldier pulled up a slab of stone and moved it aside as everyone got close, revealing a bloody torso, with a picture frame in one hand. The head of said torso was livid. "About time you guys showed up!" Naruto shouted, golden blood flowing from his mouth and his extensive wounds.

Perona and Hogback walked in shock as the four Soldiers picked up the torso and placed it extraordinarily gently upon the stretcher. Naruto snapped at the four of them "Now hurry up and find my arm and my legs damn it." The four saluted and immediately started searching among the rubble.

Perona went over and asked with utmost care in her voice "What happened Naruto-kun? I thought you would easily beat him, and how are you alive after such extensive injuries? Are you immortal now or something?"

Naruto sighed and said "The bastard had explosives planted throughout the entire god damned city in case he lost! Bastard couldn't lose gracefully. Oh well, I can't blame him. If I knew that an opponent was coming that was guaranteed to kill me, I would have done the same thing. Only difference is that I would have killed my opponent instead of leaving him dismembered and pissed off."

A Soldier came by at that point and put a disembodies leg upon the stretcher, which Naruto replied with an "Ahh, thanks, now hurry up with everything else."

Naruto turned back to Perona and said "Immortal? No such thing. Everything can die, it just requires different stuff and conditions sometimes to do it. I can definitely die, it just takes a hell of a lot to make it happen. THIS came pretty close. If you guys left me alone for another hour or so like this, I would kick the bucket. Enough damage with a chakra enhanced weapon would do it too, that sword of Barragan's would have done the job if he could do some damage with it. Thing is probably destroyed now. Fire, if it's hot enough, would kill me, but stabbing, dismemberment, that sort of thing wouldn't do it unless the weapon was special, nor would lack of food or water, or age for that matter. Hell, even cutting my head off wouldn't kill me, well as long as I could stick it back on again in a decade or so. If I couldn't then I would be in trouble, but otherwise I'm here for good."

After that, the Soldiers showed up with the rest of the missing limbs and set them on the stretcher. "Ah good, line those up to where they should be would you?"

After they did so, he sighed and said "Good, give me a day or so and I'll be right as rain. In the meantime, let's get out of here. I need to take a nap."

The Soldiers led the stretcher to an upright peace of debris, where Hogback made a portal of darkness using his necklace. Then the seven of them moved through the portal, back to their home, leaving nothing but devastation behind them.

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Right, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Mostly an ending/setup chapter this one. I hope you guys paid attention because I just introduced you to the next major arc of the story! Also, I know that I fucked with the timeline a bit and ended the Suna mission a tad early, but I thought to myself 'What's the point in going over something that everyone knows already?' I just compromised with myself and gave a summary of the events, which I hope that you all enjoyed. The major thing is SASORI LIVES! And there's also a lot of soon-to-be-tension between Konoha and Suna for all of you to look forward to, and some more information on Naruto, well a bit at least. Review, and tell me what you thought. Anyway, that's all I've got, see you later.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	58. Chapter 58

Greetings one, greetings all, and welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter fifty eight! With this chapter comes the interlude between arcs/beginning of the next arc in the story! And if you think that this beginning bit here was less than my usual quality, well I was splitting time between writing this and watching the finale of Gantz Abridged. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE AND SUBSCRIBE TO HBI2K! DO IT!

Oh, here's something odd. Chapter fifty six has about a thousand fewer hits and about ten to twenty fewer reviews that chapters fifty five and fifty seven. I just found that a bit odd, did I do something wrong? Also, in the last two chapters I was surprised that nobody commented on the extensive security Naruto has for his castle, laying traps in the instructions of his own followers, unique locks on certain doors, etc. I'm just surprised is all.

Note: By the way, this story now has over four hundred THOUSAND hits! Thank you all!

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, in the latest chapter, apparently the damage to Konoha was more than we thought. The entire VILLAGE is GONE! Every last building is completely demolished! When Naruto showed up, the only reason he could recognize the place is because the Monument was still standing!

Anyway, Naruto showed up with three gigantic toads. Gamabunta, that toad Jiraiya summoned when he was fighting Pein, and the toad that Jiraiya summoned to deal with the snakes during the leaf destruction arc, you remember the one with those two swords that crushed the snake when it was summoned? Anyway, he showed up with those two, Fukusaku, and Shimi, the elder toads.

They all marvel at the devastation, and then it goes to a few shots of Kiba, Hinata, Iruka, Chouji, and other people being okay after the blast. It turns out that Tsunade poured all of her chakra, including all the stored chakra for her Souzou Saisei move, she poured it all into Katsuyu and from there healed the injuries of everyone she could as they sustained them, keeping a decent number of people alive.

Anyway, Pein shows up before Naruto and says that he's glad that he doesn't have to look for him anymore.

Then you go to a shot of the forest, where the Hell Realm Pein heals the Demon Realm Pein that Kakashi and Chouza destroyed perfectly. Not a scratch on him anymore. Then Konan thinks about how the Shinra Tensei move worked and how it's power was dramatically amplified when he focused all of his chakra into the God Realm body, hence how he destroyed Konoha.

The Animal Realm Pein then uses a summoning jutsu to take all the bodies to the God Realm Pein, and a Paper Bunshin of Konan's will show up soon as well to help out.

Then Tsunade shows up at the soon to be battlefield and shouts how she won't forgive Pein. Then Pein looks at her, says that she understands pain a bit more and then says that he has no business with her, before sending the newly healed Demon Realm to kill her.

He comes pretty close to succeeding too, the blade was CENTIMETERS from her neck before Naruto comes out of nowhere and destroys the Demon Realm with one punch!

Then you go to a few panels of Tsunade, Gamabunta, Fukusaku and everyone else significant thinking how Naruto resembles both Jiraiya and the Yondaime and seeing triple of the three of them as is an anime staple.

Naruto basically tells Tsunade to piss off and go drink tea while he handles it, Fukusaku says that he has 'surpassed the previous generation', and that's about the end of the chapter.

Overall, this is looking up. I'm hoping on Naruto putting up a good fight before Pein kicks his ass and then drags him off somewhere. Not that I hate Naruto, but I don't think he can handle Pein on his own, even with the toads helping him. Odds are, Naruto puts up a good fight before getting beaten and then dragged off somewhere to be held while they look for Killer Bee to seal the Hachibi since the Kyuubi needs to be sealed last. Then we'll probably get a 'Naruto Retrieval Arc' where Hinata, Sakura, maybe Tsunade and a few other Jounin go hunt down Naruto in one of Akatsuki's bases. Then, knowing Kishimoto, it will probably be Sasuke that comes to 'save the day', or maybe Killer Bee, that would be pretty cool. Brotherhood between Containers and all that.

Overall, the only thing I DON'T like about this chapter is that Fukusaku says that Naruto has surpassed the previous generation. I know that he's the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and all that, and in addition to the Sage Training I understand that he's a badass. But I don't think that it's fair to say that he's surpassed either Jiraiya or the Yondaime. I mean, surpassing the most powerful of a trio of Legendary Ninja, any of which are strong enough to be Hokage?! Surpassing the Yondaime, who was the most powerful Hokage in history, and surpassed Jiraiya!? I'm sorry but that is just pissing me off saying that a fifteen year old managed to do that. I get that he's strong and has potential, keyword: POTENTIAL, meaning what he CAN become as opposed to what he IS NOW. But you can't become THAT strong THAT quickly, going from weakling that couldn't take a Jounin in a one-on-one fight, to fighting someone on Pein's level, or Jiraiya, or the Yondaime, and winning. Such things take TIME and EXPERIENCE, and while I agree that he could ONE DAY surpass his father and Jiraiya, I think that it's bullshit that he made such a huge jump in power in a few days, regardless of method. Personally, I just think that this is Kishimoto pulling his head out of his ass and doing something to help even out Naruto because he made Sasuke so overpowered. I'm not against it, don't get me wrong, but in my mind it's like making a mistake to correct a previous mistake. Making Naruto that strong that quickly is just insulting the characters that Kishimoto says that he surpassed.

Anyway, that's all I have to say on THAT manga chapter. On with the chapter that you came here to read!

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto defeated Barragan, and Barragan detonated numerous explosives under Iwagakure, destroying the entire city, to kill Naruto despite the fact that he was doomed to die anyway.

Then we go into a long scene with Kakashi giving a report on the Suna mission to Tsunade and then Tsunade and Jiraiya have a long chat regarding the location of the Word of Kemmler in a few weeks, a bit of rememberance about a Team Sannin's first failed B-rank mission, and then there's a lot of information giving and preparation for the next arc, and then Jiraiya agrees to go to the Auction where the book is to be sold and buy the book fair and square using all the money that Tsunade can lend.

Then there's a scene with Naruto getting out of the ruins of Iwa in a few pieces but still making it out alive, and then that's about the end of the chapter. Now, I give you the continuation of the last chapter. Enjoy!

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Perona walked out of Naruto's bedroom, meeting her fellow Enigmas outside the door. Absalom looked at her and asked "So, how is he?"

Perona closed the door behind her and sighed before saying "Believe it or not, extremely well. He's sleeping now, and we all know how long his little 'naps' can take. He might wake up tomorrow, or next week. Regardless, when he does wake up, he'll be in perfect health."

Absalom just looked at her and said "Perfect health? He had both of his legs, and a arm ripped from his body by an explosion that decimated a city, there's no way that he can be okay in that time, even if it IS him we're talking about."

Hogback looked to Absalom and said "Don't be so sure Absalom. I tended to him a bit before we put him to bed remember? I hardly had to do a thing, once his arms and legs were roughly back where they were, his flesh started knitting together of its own accord! I wouldn't be surprised if he woke up tomorrow or the day after, right as rain."

Perona nodded. "He's not exactly human anymore Absalom, we have to remember that. He can survive things that would make any mortal cringe. But in the mean time, while Naruto-kun is incapacitated, you will have take over the various projects that won't require his direct presence. We will have to let Houfu stew for a while since there isn't any way to cow those ignorant bastards without Naruto-kun, but there are a few other things that will need to be taken care of that cannot wait for Naruto-kun to heal."

The other two nodded in acknowledgement. Each of them had equal knowledge of things that nobody save Naruto himself knew about his projects and dealings. Things that they couldn't trust Anko, Temari, or anyone else with. Those four were closely knit, the Three Enigmas were the only people that Naruto semi-trusted and they were absolutely loyal to him.

It was because of this that in the event that Naruto was laid low, one of the Enigmas would take over as the supreme authority until Naruto was ready to take the helm again. Hogback was too busy with both the work on the various diseases that he and Naruto cooked up, the work on the Special Zombie, and creating new bodies for new Soldier Zombies and the occasional General Zombie. He was a busy man.

Perona simply didn't like the thought of ruling the group. She was closer to Naruto than anyone, even Haku didn't come as close as she did to him, but she was satisfied to stay at his side and she wouldn't take the reins unless absolutely necessary.

Absalom however was the best choice. Perona was strong, but she wasn't the long term calculating type, Hogback was extremely intelligent, but his abilities laid in medicinal fields, not battle. Absalom was the seasoned military General and was the best when it came to leadership, though his perversion could be exploited as a weakness sometimes.

Absalom said "Okay then, until Naruto-sama is well again, I shall make the decisions and see to the things that do not require his direct presence. I suggest that we keep this quiet, play it off as another one of his naps so as not to give anyone any ideas about maybe knocking him off. I know that none of them would succeed, but it's a pain in the ass not worth dealing with and we would most likely lose a good retainer if the information got out. Agreed?"

The other two nodded, finding the logic sound enough. Absalom then said "Okay then, act like everything is normal. The Zombies have finished their celebration lunch and most are sleeping. I will wake those that are needed to take care of a few jobs. Let's just hope Naruto-sama wakes up soon, we can't let Houfu simmer for too long."

The three nodded and split ways, each to do their own thing in their continued service.

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Konoha, Hokage's Office

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Tsunade was sitting at her desk, and in front of her were two squads. One was a squad of Gennin led by a man in dark glasses and a bandana. Of the three Gennin, one was tired looking and had a runny nose, the second was a rosy cheeked girl with her hair in two large tufts, and the third was a self-sure kid with a scarf that reached the floor.

The second squad was much more senior. They were Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Sarutobi Asuma, and they had Rock Lee fill in the fourth spot in their squad for this mission. They were both going on this mission because the client requested two squads. Tsunade was putting Konohamaru's squad on the mission with Asuma's team to give them some real experience. The mission was officially a C-rank, but it was actually borderline B-rank, and it could easily turn full on B-rank, or even A-rank depending on what happened. That was why she was sending one of her most powerful Jounin along to make sure things came out okay.

Tsunade nodded as the last person entered the room and she said "Okay, both of you are going to be working together on this mission so listen carefully. Your mission is to escort the client to a town in norther Hi no Kuni by the name of Itadaki. There, you will meet the rest of your clients and you will escort them as well as their cargo to the capital to be sold. As you might already know, Itadaki is a mining town, one of only three in all of Hi no Kuni, and it is a valuable resource since it is the only gold mine in the country and a large source of income for the country. The cargo, as you might have guessed, is freshly mined and purified gold, I don't know how much since the client isn't sure himself. It could be a mere cartful or it could be a full blown caravan. Regardless of the size of the train, you are to make sure that nobody aside from the clients see so much as an ounce of the cargo before it reaches the capital. Upon reaching the capital, you will act as the clients' bodyguards as the gold is appraised and sold. Then you are to escort the clients back to Itadaki with the money that they received from selling the gold, protecting them from the dangers of the road. After that, you will return here, your mission completed. Any questions?"

Moegi raised her hand and asked "Excuse me, Hokage-sama? This mission is really important isn't it?"

Tsunade looked down at the Gennin and said "Of course it's important, every mission is important. But for the town that these men come from, it's quite vital that this cargo is sold successfully."

Konohamaru just crossed his arms and said "Of course, it's understandable that you're giving ME such an important mission. My question is why I need THEM-" he pointed at Asuma's squad "-tagging along! They're only going to hold me back you know."

Ebisu immediately pounced and held the brat's mouth shut, muttering into his ear. "Shhhh! Konohamaru, control yourself! This is only your SECOND C-rank mission, and it is extremely important that we get along with the other team. I would think you would show your uncle more respect!"

Konhamaru got loose and said to Ebisu "I understand that my uncle is coming, I don't care about that, what I care about are those weaklings that think they can tag along and slow us down!"

While Konohamaru was bitching, Shikamaru asked the first significant question of the day. "What sort of threats can we expect on this mission Hokage-sama? The usual bandit rabble, or is it possible that we might go up against something more serious?"

Tsunade looked at Shikamaru and said "I can't be sure. Even if it's only one cart of gold that you end up escorting, there will be a lot of people after it. You're almost guaranteed to find bandits on this mission, but there is the chance of a Rogue Ninja hearing of the caravan and show up hoping to cash in. It's one of the reasons why I'm sending your more experienced squad, as a failsafe to make sure that regardless of who shows up, things will go smoothly."

Asuma nodded and asked "When and where do we meet the client?"

Tsunade just said "Immediately, and outside this office. If there are no other questions, you are dismissed. I have other appointments you know."

The two Jounin and three Chuunin bowed out of respect before opening the door and leaving the room. The Gennin just moved through the doorway as though they were still in the Academy.

Tsunade sighed after everyone had left. She hoped that the Gennin didn't get hurt on the mission. The mission itself was way too difficult for them, hence the second squad. She even made sure it was Asuma's squad to be triply sure of the protection of the Gennin. The entire ploy was developed to give Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon some much needed experience in a low risk environment. Asuma knew that and he knew to give the Gennin first shot at any enemies that wouldn't kill them outright, and in the likely even that they failed, Asuma would take charge and rescue the inexperienced ninja. 'That brat of Sarutobi's has some real potential, and so do his friends. Ebisu isn't all talk when he says that Konohamaru could be Hokage someday, in a few years that brat could be a real threat.'

Tsunade cleared her mind of the thoughts not related to work and called to the window "Come in Jiraiya." The window immediately opened and said Sannin entered.

Jiraiya looked at Tsunade while he was sitting on the windowsill and asked "So, have you decided who is to come with me?"

Tsunade nodded "I've decided that I'm going to send Asuma, Ino, Shikamaru, and Sakura with you to the auction. Each of them could be useful in the event of a fight, and they will undoubtedly be useful as information gatherers. What do you think?"

Jiraiya nodded and said "Good choices, I can't complain. The only thing I'm thinking about right now though is that three of the four people you mentioned just left on a mission, and the fourth isn't in top shape."

Tsunade nodded and said "I know, but odds are that Asuma and his team will be back in time to go with you, we have some time here Jiraiya. The auction doesn't even open for another two weeks and from your catalogue, we know that the book won't be sold until the fourth day. In the event that Asuma doesn't come back in time then I'll have a different team picked out just in case. In the mean time, stay in the village for now, you never know when tragedy may strike so I want you close by."

Jiraiya smirked and said "Ahh, at last you admit your feelings. I knew that you couldn't stand life without me Tsunade-chan, but hearing it in words makes me feel all fluttery inside."

Tsunade looked at him with an extremely pissed off look and said "Jiraiya, you have five seconds to get the hell off of my window, and out of my sight. If you don't leave by then, then I cannot be held responsible for my actions."

Jiraiya just thumbed his nose at her and leaped out the window before Tsunade could hurt him.

Tsunade just glared at where he was for a second or so before muttering "I swear, he gets more and more childish every day."

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Dark Heaven Castle, with Absalom

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Absalom was in the Entrance Hall, in front of him were two ranks of sixteen Soldiers, with a Colonel standing in front of them.

Absalom said to them "Right, you are to be one of the ten teams we have on survivor detail. A lot of people escaped from Iwagakure through some secret passage or other and are most likely hoping to flee the country. We have a border guard posted so they'll take care of the faster ones, but it's your job to hunt down the survivors from the battle of Iwa and put them to the Master's service. Get together the necessary gear for a slave detail and head out immediately to central Tsuchi no Kuni, and be sure to check caves and ghost towns. Dismissed."

The Zombies smartly saluted and immediately marched out of the castle, where a large number of cages, shackles, and other such things would be waiting for them.

Absalom looked at the paper in his hand and started to call out a series of numbers to a waiting Soldier, who immediately bowed and set off to waken said numbers and bring them down to where they would be given orders.

As the Soldiers began to pile in and a finely dressed Colonel arrived, Absalom suddenly felt something very cold in his jacket pocket. He pulled out the object, a gilt picture frame, and listened to the message from the sealed Zombie inside. He smiled at the end of the message and when the Zombies were in proper ranks, he rattled off another thirty two numbers to the Soldier as well as a request for a second Colonel. Then something that really surprised the Soldier, he was ordered to awaken and bring in General Sodom, who would be leading the mission that was to be carried out by the newly increased regiment. The Soldier, ever dutiful, bowed and left the room.

Absalom turned to the waiting regiment and ordered "You are to stand at ease until I return." And then climbed a nearby staircase to the second floor, not even glancing at the regiment as they saluted him. He expected complete obedience, so he wouldn't have to watch them.

Hidden in the second rank of Soldiers, the ANBU spy let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the Beast Man go.

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Dark Heaven Castle, Fifth Floor

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Absalom walked in through the dark wooden door and said "It's been a while since we've heard a report from you. What news do you bring, and it had better be good to justify being missing this long."

The man that Absalom was referring to was no man. He was six feet tall exactly, and dressed as though he was a Colonel. The difference was that he was wearing all black, black shirt, black tie, black shoes, black pants, black tailcoat, black top hat upon his head with a pitch black ribbon tied around it. He held a long handled black whip in his black gloved hands. His face was pale and thin, and his eyes were red, gaunt and sunken. A pair of raven black wings rose up behind him, attached at his shoulders.

The Zombie before Absalom was a very special one, built with the ability to change form at will, as well as the ability to fly. His gloves, known as Night Gloves, were specially prepared with experimental seals so that anyone held in them would be forced to tell the truth. They were extremely difficult and time consuming to create so there were only two dozen sets grand total. The whip was specially created to be fast and deliver a devastating blow upon impact. It was meant to deliver a single crippling blow to aid in escapes, not meant for drawn out combat. He held other specialized equipment meant only for him and those like him. The reason was simple. This Zombie was one of two dozen almost identical creatures made to be Naruto's elite spies and assassins each with the strength of a Colonel, quite aptly codenamed, the Midnight Visitors.

It was a rare sight to see a Midnight Visitor in the Castle, as they normally gave their garnered information through a Zombie Portrait that each of them carried. For one of them to show up and give the information verbally meant that it was quite important since they couldn't be sure that the communication might not be eavesdropped upon by some as of yet unknown method. The Midnight Visitors were notoriously paranoid.

The spy bowed deeply and said in a rasping voice that could only come from a throat that was perfectly and utterly dry, devoid of a single drop of moisture "I bring good news and grave news, Excellency, both of which are of the greatest import. Which perchance would you prefer to hear first?"

Absalom sighed and said "Let's hear the good news first then, and it had better be good."

The Midnight Visitor bowed yet further and said "An excellent choice. The good news is that I have located where the book the Master so desperately seeks, _The Word of Kemmler_, will be located in a fortnight's time."

Absalom's eyes widened at the news and he immediately inquired "What!? Where? Who's guarding it? Ahh, this is fantastic! Naruto-sama will have no CHOICE but to be pleased!"

The Visitor remained bowing and said "Yes, indeed he shall be most overjoyed. As for the location, the book shall be sold at public auction in the Southern Peace auction two weeks from now. I had not the money to buy a catalogue so this information was quite difficult to retrieve, hence one reason for my temporary disappearance, my deepest apologies Excellency."

Absalom rubbed his chin with one clawed hand as he said to himself "Southern Peace eh?" Then he smiled "That's excellent. The Master was already planning on attending, now he has all the more reason."

Indeed, the truth of the matter was that Naruto had been planning to attend the Southern Peace Auction for a bit over eight months. The reason was that there were a number of rare artifacts that Naruto was looking for that could be found at the auction itself as well as the other auctions that would be occurring at around the same time. A second reason was that Naruto had several objects up for sale at the Auction, things of high value that he wanted liquefied to cash, such as antique suits of armor worn by famous warriors, the mummies of ancient nobility, schematics for old inventions, and other such things that weren't shiny enough to warrant their stay in Naruto's Treasure Vault. The fact that the book was going to be sold at the Southern Peace Auction merely saved them a trip.

Absalom smiled more widely before he asked "So, what's the bad news?"

The Visitor bowed deeper still, his spine creaking as he said "Alas, upon retrieving this information, I was discovered for what I am by Jiraiya of the Sannin. I managed to retrieve the information from one of his spies, for whom I was working undercover as a servant, and he walked in as the spy finally told me what I wanted to know. He underestimated me and I managed to break his arm before escaping, and returning here."

Absalom sighed in relief. He thought that it was something serious. "Don't worry about that. I doubt you could have gotten anything more important from him than this anyway. And even if you could, once the Master has the book it will all be a moot point. Go forth and retrieve more information that the Master might find useful and do as you did before. Dismissed."

The Visitor raised from his bow, and then saluted with the whip before he made a handseal and vanished.

Absalom just left the room the way he came, grinning like a fool all the while.

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Entrance Hall

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Absalom walked down the stairs to the Entrance Hall, and saw that everyone that he had ordered for were there. Sixty four Soldiers in four ranks of sixteen, in front of them were two Colonels, finely dressed and seemingly pleased with themselves, and in front of the two Colonels was none other than a figure in a black outfit with dark purple designs, bracers on his arms, a scar on one cheek, and oddly cut green hair. General Sodom.

Absalom stood before the lot of them and said "I'll get straight to the point. You are going on a mission deep in enemy territory, Hi no Kuni to be specific. In a few days, there will be a caravan of freshly mined and refined gold moving from Itadaki to the Capital of Hi no Kuni, where it will be sold. Your mission is to capture that caravan and bring it back here. Any questions General?"

Sodom merely smiled a bit too maniacally for any sane man's liking as he asked "So, how many guards will there be and how strong will they be, how large is the caravan, how long will it be before the caravan starts to move, and finally, how are we allowed to _deal_ with them?"

Absalom smiled a fang filled smile as he said "As for the guards, I do not know, though there's going to be at least two squads of Konoha Shinobi, and likely at least two Jounin, if not more. I do not know how large the caravan will be, regardless of its size you will transport every ounce of that gold back here. There will be a few days before the caravan starts moving, plenty of time to prepare since a direct assault on the town would be ill-advised. Things are most vulnerable when they are being moved after all. And as for the guards themselves and the people driving and manning the caravans…."

Absalom's smile widened and Sodom mirrored him as Absalom spoke the rest of the sentence.

"Deal with them however you see fit."

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Okay, another chapter done. A bit more information given as to the coming auction, and now there is a small arc to go before that. Naruto is asleep for a while on one of his sloth fueled naps with his injuries adding to the time in bed, and Konohamaru appears for what I think may be the first time in the story. A bit more information is gained about the inner workings of Naruto's Army with the first introduction of Naruto's elite spies. Absalom takes over temporarily and starts to mop up the leftovers of Iwagakure, and sends out Sodom on a mission most foul.

In the next chapter, who shall claim victory and custodianship of the gold, the Konoha ninja led by Asuma, or the Zombies led by General Sodom? How shall Shikamaru react to finally meeting Chouji's killer? Find out on the next episode of DRAGON BALL, wait I mean next chapter of Kage no Naruto.

By the way, as for those wondering why this chapter took so long to publish, blame Persona 4 for being so addictive.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	59. Chapter 59

Welcome one and all to Kage no Naruto chapter fifty nine! Starting in this chapter things are going to be a little bit different. It will mostly be centered on Asuma and his team and Sodom and his forces while Naruto recovers for the rest of what I shall call 'The Caravan Arc'. I felt that I was getting a little far from the roots here, so I decided to go back to the old days with an actual mission given by a client as opposed to one ordered by Tsunade. There will be a bit of a timeskip here as it will begin as the caravan is moving out, just thought I would let you know beforehand.

Also, sorry this chapter came out so late by my standards. What can I say, sometimes inspiration takes time to bite.

Note: by the way, as of this chapter, this story is over three hundred thousand words and has over two THOUSAND reviews! Congratulations to LordOfPages1692 for being the two thousandth reviewer. Thanks to all who reviewed.

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Summary of last chapter

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Right, Naruto is recovering from his injuries from Iwa, and during that time Absalom is taking over until he's better. Absalom has sent out a number of teams to capture the civilians who escaped from Iwa, as well as one other mission. He has sent a force of sixty four Soldiers, led by two Colonel Zombies and General Sodom himself, to capture a gold caravan which will be making its way to the capital of Hi no Kuni.

Shortly after that, Absalom received an important piece of information from a spy that returned to the Castle. The information that the book that Naruto is seeking will be up for auction in two weeks. This was an excellent convenience since Naruto had already made plans to attend the Auction in the first place since several of his non-golden treasures were up for sale at the auction. It put Absalom in a good mood. Little did he know that the ANBU spy from Konoha was hidden in the sixty four Soldiers.

In Konoha, a platoon was being formed to act as a guard for the very caravan that Sodom is supposed to capture. This team is made up of Asuma, Shikamaru, Ino, Lee, and the Konohamaru Corp. led by Ebisu. The reason why the greenest greenhorn is on such a mission is to receive some real experience to assist with the upcoming Chuunin Exams which he hopes to be attending.

How shall the battle between Sodom and Asuma go? What shall the ANBU spy do upon a chance to return home? How shall Shikamaru react to finally meeting Chouji's murderer? Read the chapter and find out already!

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Itadaki, Hi no Kuni

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Asuma and Shikamaru were watching from the outskirts of town as a crew of workers were loading crates onto another cart, then the cart was covered in a waterproof tarp to prevent damage should it rain. Then the cart was linked up to a different cart which formed a train of four carts long, each one filled to the brim with large crates each containing gold ingots, said train was pulled by a team of oxen. There were four of these trains in all, making a shipment of sixteen carts grand total. Ebisu, Ino, and Lee were working with the Konohamaru Corp to make sure that they didn't screw anything up but aside from that, they let the Gennin conduct the mission as they saw fit, to learn what would and would not work. After all, the entire reason that they were on this mission to begin with was to let them gain experience on a real mission.

Asuma lit a cigarette and took a long drag before saying to Shikamaru "So, talk to me here, how do you think we should do this? Who guards what and for how long?"

Shikamaru sighed and mumbled to himself before saying "It's all a pain, regardless of how we do it. This is a gigantic gold shipment, way bigger than I thought it would be, and we don't have enough people to guard everything effectively. The ideal situation would be that we had as many carts as we had people, so that each of us could guard a single one, but that isn't the case. We'll have to assign two people to guard each cart from any sort of robbery, but that would mean that we lack either a vanguard or a rearguard, meaning that we could be ambushed or snuck up upon if we're not careful. It's further complicated because we can't be sure who is going to come after this big target. If it's just a few bandits we won't have any problems, but if there are experienced Chuunin or Jounin after us, whether from another village or simple rogues, it would be a problem."

Asuma smirked at his student's prowess and said "Go on, what's so bad about that?"

Shikamaru sighed and said "Because if we have two people guarding each train, we can't have two of the Gennin together, that would be way too easy of a target. So when I say two people guarding a cart, it's really more like one. In addition to that, Ino isn't that great in a fight, her job is more gathering information and staying out of the fight then direct combat. So, I think that we should have Lee and Ino together, while you, me, and Ebisu-san each pair up with a Gennin. Your cart would go first, followed by mine, then Ebisu's, then Ino's. That would be the best setup, since you could guard us from the front and Lee from behind, keeping the Gennin in the middle and protected, while I think of a plan for any encounter. The only weakness in this plan is that whatever Gennin you have with you could be vulnerable if you are drawn into combat, however it's a weakness that can't be helped. Either one of the Gennin is in the front or the back, and I would rather have him up front so that you could do two jobs at once."

Asuma smiled even more and said "Exactly what I was thinking, Shikamaru your brain comes through again."

Asuma finished off his cigarette and tossed the butt upon the ground before stepping on it. They were just in time to hear their client calling for them to get ready. They were ready to leave and didn't want to delay any more than necessary.

Asuma looked at Shikamaru and nodded before saying "Let's go."

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With Sodom

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Sodom watched the procession through a pair of binoculars from a treetop, a silent wind blowing through the clearing where the Soldiers were gathered in four ranks of sixteen. He was carefully looking at all eight of the guarding ninja, silently evaluating each one based on how they acted, how the others acted around them, any obvious weapons they were carrying, and most importantly, if he could recognize any of them. So far, he could bring names to four of the eight. Rock Lee, Nara Shikamaru, Sarutobi Asuma, and Sarutobi Konohamaru.

Sodom smirked as he spotted the Gennin. Naruto hated the Sarutobi clan with a passion and would doubtless give high reward to anyone who managed to bring him a Sarutobi, even more so if it was one of the Sandaime's direct family. Killing or capturing either of those two would probably please Naruto more than the gold. Naruto could really hold a grudge against those who had truly angered him, and so far Sarutobi Hiruzen is the only one to have done so. Naruto couldn't STAND being lied to, and ever since Naruto was little, Sarutobi had told him almost nothing but lies.

Sodom put down the binoculars as the carts stopped to check a possibly broken wheel on one of the carts. Then he jumped down where his assembled forces were waiting for him.

The two Colonels stepped and said "What are your orders General? Who is among the enemy? How may we deal with them? What is the plan regarding the capture of the shipment?"

Sodom smiled and said "As for how we will take the caravan, that is simple."

Sodom squatted upon the ground and one of the blades under his bracers slid out without a sound and he quickly sketched a quick diagram in the dirt. He pointed to the two parallel lines and said "This is the road, about a twenty mile stretch of it."

Then he quickly sketched four rectangle between the lines and said "These are the carts." Then he drew four lines between the first two, two of them were close together before the carts, and the other two were close together farther back. "These are the positions where the Soldiers will be waiting, in groups of four."

Then he drew a circle between the four lines and said "We will wait for the caravan to reach this point before we strike. We take the gold, maybe a prisoner or three and then we get out of here. Any questions regarding the ambush plan?"

Neither Colonel said anything so he moved on and said "As for the plan regarding the confrontation itself, there are eight guards, two for each group of carts. The rear cart is guarded by a blonde Chuunin girl and Rock Lee. The two middle carts are guarded by a Jounin as well as Nara Shikamaru, each accompanied by a Gennin, and the foremost cart is protected by Sarutobi Asuma, and the Gennin he has tagging along is none other than his little nephew Konohamaru."

Sodom looked at the two Colonels and said "Asuma is mine, you two handle the other Jounin and the Chuunin, and be sure to attempt capturing the Nara alive. The Master has an interest in him. Let the Soldiers deal with the Gennin and the drivers, to prepare for the departure. Any questions?"

The two Colonels shook their heads 'No' and Sodom smiled.

"Excellent, then hurry and get your men into their appropriate places and wait for the target to enter the trap. We attack as soon as they reach us. Dismissed."

The two Colonels bowed before going back to the sixty three Soldiers and one disguised ANBU to get them to take up the agreed upon positions.

Sodom jumped to the trees again and looked upon the now moving caravan and thought 'Soon, not one but both scions of Sarutobi Hiruzen shall be in my hands. The Master shall be pleased indeed.'

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With the Caravan

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Shikamaru was watching the sides of the road, looking for possible enemies. This was a massive cargo, he had no doubt that SOMEONE would show up sooner or later to take the stuff, or at least try. What was worrying him was that so far, nobody had tried. They had even faked a wheel getting damaged to lure someone out, but either nobody was there, or they hadn't taken the bait.

Which bothered him because he was SURE that there were people watching them, he just couldn't tell where they were.

Not long after Shikamaru thought that, there was a rustling in the bushes ahead and a number of people ran through them to the road and dashed for the first cart. Another small number dashed in from behind.

Shikamaru turned his attention to the ones attacking from behind, which Lee was now engaging. He entered the familiar handseal and his shadow stretched out across the ground in front of him, much to the surprise and awe of Moegi who was nearby and speechless at the sudden attack.

At the front of the caravan, Asuma was dealing with a similar problem, four men with swords came out of nowhere and attacked him head on, which worried him because Konohamaru was with him in the line of fire.

The thought that his nephew could be in danger was a bigger incentive to Asuma than anything else and he didn't think twice about what to do. He flipped his trench knives into his hands and quickly engaged the four before they could get close enough to do the young Gennin any harm.

One enemy slashed at his throat, but Asuma ducked aside with far superior speed and quickly struck with the blade of the knife, moving his fist sideways into the area beneath his arm where the human body was naturally weak, and also the place where most couldn't wear armor. The blade pierced muscle and caused extreme pain, causing the man to drop to the ground screaming as he clutched at his rapidly bleeding wound. Asuma thought that it was odd that the man was bleeding THAT quickly. 'Hmm, must have hit an artery by mistake.' He thought before attacking the other three.

A low slash going for his side caused Asuma to step back before grabbing the blade and yanking the man toward him, right into the blade in his right fist that cut into meat and artery and sent the man tumbling to the ground howling in pain.

Before the man could fall, Asuma caught him by the collar and threw him into one of the two men charging him. He fell directly onto the third man's blade, leaving the man trapped under his soon to be dead comrade.

The fourth man barely had time to glance at the third man trapped under the corpse of the second before he suddenly lost sight in one of his eyes.

The fourth man screamed in pain and clutched at his face, specifically the shuriken that had one of its blades sunk to the hilt in the man's left eye. Asuma didn't let the man suffer. He immediately closed the distance and severed his spine with another swing of his trench knives.

Asuma turned to see the third man and his condition but only saw another corpse and a quick investigation told him how. The second man had managed to draw a knife from somewhere. Combine that with all the flailing around did, and he accidentally slit the throat of the young man.

Asuma sighed and hoped that Konohamaru didn't see that, he wasn't ready for it.

A few seconds later, Asuma turned to where Lee and Shikamaru were fighting their enemies to see the surprising sight that they were already done! Shikamaru and Lee stood before three bodies that belonged to the men who attacked from behind. The fourth was tied up with ninja wire and unconscious.

"Good work!" Asuma called to them. After a moment he said "Take care of the bodies and then get Ino and Ebisu! We have to talk!"

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With Sodom

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Sodom watched the attack from a distant treetop through binoculars as one of the Colonels approached him.

The Colonel said "Tell me sir, why didn't we take our places? Surely the bandits that already took the spots we chose wouldn't have been difficult to get rid of."

Sodom didn't even look at the Colonel, he just continued to watch the Konoha Shinobi as they packed the captured man in a wagon and the caravan moved on, albeit with pale-faced drivers.

Sodom just said "Yes, we could have gotten rid of them. However we couldn't do it peacefully, we would have been forced to kill them. Of course, that wouldn't be a bother at all except that the scent of their blood would be hanging around in the air, even if we buried the bodies. The nose of a Jounin is better than that of a damn bloodhound, save the ones bred by the Inuzuka clan and a few other canine-partnered families from other villages and nations. Asuma would have smelled the blood of the dead bandits long before the caravan entered the point of attack and would have been prepared, rather defeating the purpose of an ambush to begin with. They don't know we're here, and I intend to keep it that way until it's too late."

The Colonel nodded with acceptance, as he would have even if he didn't like the answer. He just asked "So sir, what are we going to do now?"

Sodom gave the Colonel a sideways look and said "Terzok, use your head. The tactic is fine, we just picked a bad place for it. The caravan will be stopping at a number of small towns on their way to the Capital, we will attack them as they leave one such town tomorrow morning."

Sodom stood up and stretched a bit, even the muscles of a Zombie could get stiff. Then he said "Our more immediate concern is the bandits. Those maggots don't travel in anything less than a hoard, and the camp that those ones down their belong to wear the colors of one of the larger known bandit gangs in the area. They most likely number between one and two hundred, and I know that their leaders are Jounin with enough power to survive on their own, and enough sense not to. They will most likely have a main camp somewhere nearby, we will deal with them now so that they don't cause any additional trouble later. I'm also pretty sure that the heads of the bandit leaders have some decent bounties on them. We'll turn them in at the nearest exchange and the Master will be all the more pleased with us because of it."

Sodom squatted down again and resumed spying on the caravan as he said "Send out a few scouts to search for the bandit camp and get me when you find it. Dismissed."

Terzok bowed to the General and went to rejoin his troops. Terzok was no fool and he had seen who was guarding that caravan. He intended to kill Asuma and Konohamaru before Sodom could get to them. 'With this, the Master will realize his mistake and make me a General for sure. Sodom may be an obstacle, but I can probably take him. Even if I can't, as long as I'm the one who brings their heads to the Master, he will be pleased with me and not him. Sodom wouldn't do anything then. Thank you Absalom-sama for giving me this chance!'

Terzok had a small smile on his face as he neared the waiting Soldiers. Terzok intended to become a General, if that meant that he had to disobey or even fight Sodom, one of the more powerful Generals, then so be it.

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With Team 10, hotel room in a small town between Itadaki and the Capital, 9 PM

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Asuma, Shikamaru, Lee, and Ino were facing the incapacitated bandit who was tied to a chair in the center of the room as he stirred awake. Ebisu was looking over the Konhamaru Corp, and the clients were in a separate room, so the four of them had all night to interrogate their prisoner.

Lee stepped outside to guard the door as the man came to. The other three were the best at gathering information, he would simply impede the interrogation if he stayed.

The bandit looked at his situation, surprisingly calm, before finally looking at the three and said "Okay, where the hell am I and who are you?"

Asuma lit a cigarette and said "It doesn't matter where you are, or who we are. All you need to know is that depending on how satisfied we are with your answers in the next hour or so, you will leave this place in one piece, or several. It's your choice and I really do hope you choose the good one. It's horrible etiquette to leave a body lying around for the local authorities and it would be a really dreary day having to clean up all the blood. Just do us both a favor and answer truthfully, this doesn't have to a trip to the dentist."

The bandit just looked at him and said "Alright, what do you want to know?"

Asuma started off simple. "What's your name?"

The bandit sighed and said "Yamano Ryoutaro. There, are you done?"

Shikamaru walked forward and said "Not quite Ryoutaro-san. Second question, who sent you and where are the remaining members of your little band of misfit thieves?"

Ryoutaro smiled and said "Isn't it obvious? Look at what I'm wearing, that should be information enough on who sent me."

Asuma then took notice of the man's clothing. A red Chinese shirt with black pants, in addition to that he had a white sash wrapped around his waist. The shirt had a design of a black spider on the front. Now that Asuma thought about it, he remembered that the other seven were wearing almost the exact same thing. Then he remembered what group that uniform belonged to.

"Noticed it yet?" the bandit asked "I am a member of the Onigumo raiders, the fiercest bandit group in the world! Let me go, and the boss might be merciful. As for me telling you where the camp is, you can forget it, I won't tell you shit."

Asuma sighed and jabbed the man in the neck, knocking him out when he hit the nerve cluster there.

He then took a puff of his cigarette and said "Great, one of the three biggest and most dangerous groups of thieves in the world is after our cargo, just fucking great."

Ino looked over to her sensei and said "I've heard a few things about them, but not much. I thought that these guys mainly operated out of Tsuchi no Kuni and attacked the towns there."

Asuma nodded and said "Yes, but Tsuchi no Kuni is a bloody wreck right know, nobody wants to be there if they can avoid it with Naruto's minions enslaving everyone they can catch to do who knows what. Now that I think about it, I'm not surprised that they are here, we're in Northern Hi no Kuni, the Tsuchi no Kuni border is only a few days away, so if they migrated out of Tsuchi no Kuni, It makes sense that they would be around here."

Shikamaru looked over at the unconscious bandit and asked "So, who are these guys Asuma-sensei?"

Asuma pulled a long drag off of his cigarette before putting it out in a nearby ashtray and pulling out a second one and lighting it. Then he said "They're a bunch of scumbag bandits that are large and well led enough to be dangerous, but too weak to be considered a major threat given today's environment. Everyone is on edge because of Naruto's work in Tsuchi no Kuni, and the Akatsuki moving about so the Feudal Lords and Village Leaders mainly focused on defense in the last few years. They don't have the kind of resources they need to keep up a powerful guard and send a force large enough to wipe them out, so they remain a thorn in everyone's collective side. If a few nations banded together, enough soldiers could probably be spared to root them out, but nobody trusts anybody else so that isn't likely to happen. There are maybe one to two hundred members, though I hear that their leaders are a few Jounin from different villages, with a number of Chuunin subordinates. Like I said, large enough to be a threat, but not big enough for people to send out active forces against them directly hence they survive. If they did something too serious then they would get blown out of the water and the leaders of the group know it so they keep moderately under the radar. They've gotten pretty bold though to make a caravan like this a target. Even if they succeed all they would do is anger the Fire Lord enough to give a mission to Konoha to hunt them all down. Regardless, this makes our mission a lot more difficult, B-rank at least, but we have to go through with it anyway."

Shikamaru nodded but Ino paused for a moment "Hey, Asuma-sensei, since the mission difficulty changed, doesn't that mean that we have to abandon the mission and return home due to the clients lying about the difficulty? It's like when Kakashi-san went to Nami no Kuni, isn't it?"

Asuma looked over and said "That was different Ino. With Kakashi, the client actually lied, he knew that there were dangerous men after him but didn't tell the Sandaime at the time so that he could get a cheaper price. In this case, we were told from the beginning that the mission difficulty could change since any number of people could find this a tempting target. If we left, we'd be breaking our contract, not the other way around in which case our leaving would be justified. No, we're stuck with this can of worms whether we like it or not."

Ino nodded and said "So what do we do?"

Asuma sat down on the bed and let out a puff of smoke before saying "We do what we've done before, protect the caravan against attackers, no matter who they might be."

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Six hours later, Onigumo bandit camp

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Sixty four Soldier Zombies stood outside the ruin that was once the Onigumo camp. They were lined up in four ranks of sixteen, a Colonel at the front. In front of them stood what was once the temporary home for several hundred bandits, twelve Chuunin, and four Jounin from various villages.

The thing was, not one of the Soldiers had even stepped into the camp, nor had the Colonels. The entire camp was taken out by General Sodom himself. A quick explosion in the center of the camp had everyone out of their tents and standing around looking for what happened, then a single attack took them all out, Chuunin and Jounin included. Every tent was cut in two pieces, the tops lying near the lower portions from where they had been sliced. Every normal bandit was cut in half horizontally across the waist, chest, legs, or a REALLY painful place depending on how tall they were. A large number of trees had fallen around the camp, trunks sliced straight through and the edges set on fire from the friction that had been caused when they were cut through with a single attack.

In the center of the ruined camp, amidst spraying blood, organ strewn ground, and the cries of dying men, stood Sodom, both blades extended, a maniacal smile harsh upon his features. He raised both hands above his head and basked in the agony and terror that he had caused, drinking it in, the scent of the gore, the taste of blood upon the air, the sight of the ruined bodies and the dying men desperately trying to crawl away despite missing body parts, or simply lying their accepting their deaths, the feel of warm blood upon his shirt, causing it to wetly cling to his frame, the blood on his face, warming the skin and still steaming from being so recently at a high temperature in the center of a human body, the sound of the death and destruction he had caused ringing through the trees in the screams and moans of pain and despair, the flocks of birds desperately flying away from this unknown danger, the forest rustling from the wind caused by the fallen trees, the crackling of burning wood from the friction caused as his attack sliced through the trunk in one go and setting the edges alight.

He let out a sigh not unlike that of a man satisfied after a long night with a feisty young woman, and slowly walked toward the nearest group of dying men, a small satisfied smile on his face and a spring in his step as he moved to cause yet more pain and more death to the ones whom he had already harmed so badly. As he reached them he could only sigh and bask in the screams of tormented humans as he ripped organs from mangled bodies, sliced open bellies and chests, the gurgles of men drowning on their own blood, and delighting in the bounce they made as he threw the mangled corpses in the way of others trying to crawl to freedom, even though they were doomed. He made sure to collect the heads of the Jounin leaders when he found their bodies, they would be worth at least something.

A few minutes later the last man was finally dead, held by the neck until gravity took its toll and the man's organs fell from the bottom of his torso. Sodom let out a sigh of simultaneous satisfaction and disappointment, and wiped the blood off of his cheek as it went cold. Then he slowly, sinuously made his way back to the group of Soldiers that waited for their Commander's return.

Sodom was about half way there when a cry rang out into the night "You BASTARD!"

A man with a katana appeared out of nowhere just behind and to the right of Sodom, wearing the same uniform as the slaughtered bandits. Apparently one of the Jounin commanders avoided Sodom's attack and waiting until now to make his move.

The Jounin would have done better not to speak. The General had no idea that he was there until he shouted, but even a second's notice was more than enough for Sodom to defend himself. The blade under his right bracer slid into view and blurred as it sliced through the man's sword near the base of the blade quick as thinking. The Sodom brought his arm back from the strike, grabbing the man's arm as he did and brought his throat straight into the blade that slid out from under his left bracer. All of this in the time it would take for that katana to move the two feet to move through the air and slice through Sodom's neck, and the General didn't even look.

Sodom sighed sadly and said to the man with sadness in his voice "Why did you have to kill the mood? Why could you not let me bask in the afterglow of this immense joy? So heartless and selfish, these mortals." Then he pulled the blade from the Jounin's throat and moved toward his waiting Soldiers.

Only then did he notice something wrong. He asked the Colonel there "Repton, where is Terzok?"

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Hotel, with Team 10

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Asuma had no sooner spoken those words than an object broke through the window and detonated, letting out a blinding flash of light.

"AAH!" shouted Asuma as his vision went white, the others let out similar cries as they too went temporarily blind.

Lee burst in the door and at the sight of his comrades clutching their faces he went to Asuma and asked "What's wrong Asuma-sensei?"

Asuma had just gotten his vision back, albeit blurry, when he heard a window smash in the next room, and a sudden explosion. 'But the one's in the next room are… KONOHAMARU!'

Asuma didn't even wait for his vision to clear, nor did he go for the door. He just plowed straight through the thin wooden wall that separated the two rooms.

The scene that Asuma showed up to was a bad one. Ebisu was out cold against the wall, while Moegi and Udon were in similar positions. Konohamaru was nowhere to be found. What's worse was that there was a raging fire in the room, and it was spreading quickly.

By the light of the fire, he could instantly make out the words upon the wall despite his impaired eyesight. 'Asuma, Alone, One Mile North, One Hour'

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Okay, that's this chapter done, I hope you all enjoyed it. I will not answer any questions regarding Sodom or his un-shown technique before you even ask, though feel free to post theories. With that, I hope you all forgive me for being late on this chapter, like I said, sometimes inspiration takes a while.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	60. Chapter 60

From the depths of my mind, I bring you, Kage no Naruto chapter SIXTY! Ahh, it feels nice to be writing something that hundreds of people look forward to, it really does. Anyway, read the chapter, enjoy it, and do me a favor and review it, otherwise I won't know what I did right and what I did wrong so if you don't review, I can't get better at this, and while I know that a decent number of you think that I couldn't possibly get any better, I know that I still have a long ways to go before I reach any kind of pinnacle.

Note: This is the sixtieth chapter, so there WILL be an Omake at the end of the chapter. Hope it makes you laugh.

Reminder: I do not use ANYTHING I use in this story, even if I don't specifically mention what it is, I don't own it. I just mention it because I have taken a few things from the Keys of the Kingdom book series, and people have been calling me on it. Mind you, there will NOT be any characters from that series in this story, just a few elements taken from it.

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Summary of last chapter

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Right, Team 10 and the Konhamaru Corp escort the massive gold shipment part of the way through Hi no Kuni and get attacked by a number of bandits along the way. Asuma, Shikamaru, and Lee take them all out, taking one of them prisoner.

Then it switched to Sodom planning on attacking the caravan after they leave the first town on their way to the Capital, intending to capture Konohamaru and Asuma for a great reward from Naruto who hates the Sarutobi clan, especially the Sandaime's direct relatives. At the same time, Colonel Terzok plans on doing the same so that he might be promoted to General.

Asuma, Shikamaru, and Ino interrogate the captured bandit and find out that he's part of one of the largest bandit groups in the world. After they can't get any more information out of him, Asuma knocks him out and they plan to continue the mission and protect the caravan no matter who comes after them.

Then the scene switches to Sodom and it is apparent that he just slaughtered the entire camp, Chuunin, Jounin and all. After he collects the heads of the Jounin commanders, he heads back and is attacked by a Jounin who escaped the attack. Sodom kills him easily without even looking at him and as he returns to the waiting subordinates, he notices that Terzok is absent.

Then, a flash bomb soars into Asuma's room and detonates, blinding them all temporarily, and then they hear an explosion from the room next door, Konohamaru's room. Asuma doesn't even go for the door as apart to just rushing through the wall, and he discovers the fact that everyone is knocked out, Konohamaru is gone, there is a raging fire, and finally a number of words written upon the wall calling him to the north of town in one hour if he wants to see Konohamaru alive again.

What will Asuma do regarding the hostage situation? How will Sodom react to Terzok's disobedience? How will Shikamaru react to meeting Chouji's killer? Will Konohamaru survive? Read the chapter, review, and MAYBE you'll find out.

See you in the Omake

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One mile north of town

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The area to the North of the small town was nothing but wide sprawling plains, a few groups of trees, but for the most part it was nothing but long grass that would reach to your knees, though it varied in places. Some parts of it reached up to a normal man's chest while others had grass only an inch or so high.

It was in one of these short grass areas that Terzok brought Konohamaru. He had knocked the brat out and pulled him from the room after setting off a small incendiary in the room, leaving the others to burn, or Asuma might save them. Either way it mattered little to the Colonel. If he had to deal with all five of the capable ninja of the group he didn't care, he had no doubt in his mind that he would win.

He tied Konohamaru to one of the short trees that populated the area, chaining him to the thing using manacles, which was rather cruel on its own. It was November, and while it wasn't freezing or snowing as it sometimes did the far North and South of Hi no Kuni, it was still very cold considering that he grew up in Konoha, which was at an seventy to eighty degree climate for most of the year.

After the boy was chained to the plant, Konohamaru stirred, perhaps awakened by the cold of the steel that clasped tightly to his wrists. He glanced around quickly, surprise and a hint of fear in his eyes as he tried to figure out where he was. Then he noticed the finely dressed person standing nearby, one hand upon an ebony cane topped with a silver handle, the other upon his top hat as he kept watch over the area. Konohamaru, although young and inexperienced, did his best to memorize the man's features so that he could recognize him later.

Then the boy shouted "Hey you! Let me go, NOW! I'm a ninja and if you don't let me go I'll kick your ass! I'm the grandson of the Sandaime you know, my sensei and everyone in Konoha will come after you if you hurt me!"

Terzok didn't even look at the boy as he said in a cold voice "Be silent you ignorant whelp. Honestly I can't stand pathetic weaklings like you who act all tough, you're worse that the Soldiers. You think just because you are wearing a headband makes you a ninja? You couldn't be farther from it, you spoiled brat. As for you being the grandson of the Sandaime, I am aware of that already, why do you think it was YOU I targeted?"

Konohamaru got a smug look on his face as he said proudly "Oh, I see, you knew who I was so you took me hostage huh? Good thinking on your part I guess, taking out the strongest in the group."

Terzok again did not look at the boy as he responded, keeping an eye on his surroundings, well aware that Asuma could come from anywhere at any time. He said to the boy in that same cold voice "I suggest you be silent boy, your grandfather isn't here to save you anymore, my Master helped see to that, and I am aware of your uncle's presence here so don't even bother threatening me with him. Simply stay silent and you will remain unharmed… for now at least."

Konohamaru got angry then "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOUR MASTER HAD A PART IN THAT'? Are you working for that scumbag Orochimaru? Are you!?"

A smile tugged at Terzok's lips as he considered the thought. "Have a care what insults you offer me boy, my patience has a limit, and you are beginning to near it. I do not serve Orochimaru, I serve a far higher master than him, the one who set things in motion to ensure Orochimaru's success in killing your grandfather, though I was young at the time, I still remember what took place. The Master was very happy that day. Now I shall help continue my Master's work by bringing you and Asuma to him. You might as well take in the smell of fresh air, the early sunlight, and the rustle of grass nearby. Where you will spend the rest of your life from this day forth, the sun never reaches it, plants do not grow, and the air is stagnant, moist, and cold. Look on the bright side though, there is no guarantee that your time there will be long."

Terzok had a chuckle at the thoughts of what sort of things Naruto would do to his prisoners once they were taken to the Castle. Then he regained his indifferent demeanor and said "Now be silent boy. If you speak again, I shall sew your mouth shut to prevent you from making further noise."

Konohamaru shut up after that. The fact that he was captured had finally sunk in. He was captured by the enemy, albeit with a rescue attempt imminent, but the man seemed so confident that he questioned if they would succeed. Not only was he captured by an enemy, but apparently one of the most dangerous enemies of the village. As Konohamaru struggled to control his rising panic, he thought to himself. 'Please, Asuma-san, please come soon.'

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Hotel, Burning Room

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After the fire was put out with an emergency hose in the hallway, Asuma finally got Ebisu to come to. As the shaded Jounin looked around frantically he said "Where's Konohamaru!? Where's the man from before? Asuma! What's going on!?"

Asuma smacked the man across the face, yelling "CALM DOWN!" immediately afterward to get the Jounin into a state where cognitive thought was once again possible. Then after a moment of heavy breathing, Ebisu regained his composure and Asuma resumed questioning him.

"Ebisu, I know that what happened must be a shock, but can you remember what happened just now? Any information could be crucial. Is there ANYTHING that you can remember that might help us win the upcoming fight? A name, a jutsu, what weapons he was carrying, anything would do."

Ebisu sighed and said "We heard a window break in your room and I heard you and your team scream. I headed for the door to check out what was going on when I heard the window break behind me. I turned around just in time to see some incendiary device fly into the room and detonate. It was a single oven-hot flash of heat that caused a large concussive blast in addition to setting off fires. The concussion caught all three of them and knocked them out."

Ebisu sighed and adjusted his shades before continuing "After that I saw a black figure fly in through the window and head for the Gennin. I drew a kunai and attacked of course, but as soon as I got close the figure vanished and clubbed me on the back of the neck with something. I would guess maybe a cane? Either way he clocked me with that, then I felt a huge amount of pain all over my body and that's all I remember. Next thing I know, you're waking me up and questioning me. Does that help Asuma-san?"

Asuma thought for a moment and said "Yeah, thanks Ebisu." Then Asuma stood up and helped the other Jounin to his feet and said "Ebisu, mind if I take a look at your neck?"

Ebisu stirred a bit at that but nodded "Sure, if you think it would help." Ebisu leaned turned around and Asuma pulled down his collar, looking over the area where he got hit. There was a bright red horizontal stripe midway across his neck and some moderately bad bruising. Something that Asuma noticed however was that the stripe and the area around it showed some pretty bad burns. 'Maybe second degree? This is probably important.' Asuma thought to himself.

Asuma nodded and said "I need you to stay here, look after the Gennin and the clients while me and my team go and get Konohamaru back. Oh, and get your neck checked out if you can. Okay?"

Ebisu nodded and Asuma beckoned to his team. When Asuma and Ebisu were the only ones in the room, Ebisu said "Asuma-san."

Asuma turned back to talk to him, but Ebisu only said, with a blank look on his face that gave off no emotion "I'm trusting you to save my student. If you let anything, ANYTHING happen to him on your watch, I'll be sure that you suffer at least twice as much regardless of who you are or what happens to me because of it. Do you understand me?"

Asuma sighed and lit a cigarette before saying "Ebisu, if anything happens to Konohamaru because of me… I think that I would probably let you."

Then without another word, Asuma was gone and Ebisu was left to explain the fire, the two broken windows, the destroyed wall, and the two unconscious children in his room to the hotel Manager.

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Outside

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Asuma met up with Ino, Shikamaru, and Lee outside the hotel. He said to the three "Alright, let's go, we don't have much time."

Ino looked at him and asked "Umm, Asuma-sensei, didn't the message say to come alone? If we come with you wouldn't that put Konohamaru in danger?"

Asuma sighed and said "I don't have much choice. I'm tired from a long day of traveling and anxiety, so I can't be sure that I would be able to take this joker on my own, even if I might be able to if I was fresh. That's why I need you three to back me up when I take him on. You are right though when you say that it might put Konohamaru in danger which is why I'm going to go ahead and make whoever it is think I'm alone. Give me a few moments and then come after me and help me. By that time, I'll probably be able to stop him from going after Konohamaru once he notices you."

Shikamaru and Lee nodded, understanding the point. Before the four could leave though Lee yelled "YOSH, do not worry Asuma-sensei, together we shall defeat this un-youthful kidnapper and rescue Konohamaru-kun without a scratch! And if even one hair on his head is damaged I shall run five thousand times around Konoha wearing five thousand pounds on each limb after we return!"

The other three just sighed. Lee had been relatively normal so far during the mission, but apparently it was too much to ask for it to last.

Asuma took charge and said "Alright, let's get going. I'll head out first, you three wait five minutes and then come after me. I'll go at a slow pace so you'll show up pretty soon after the fight starts. I'll try and talk to him beforehand to buy some more time. Let's go!"

Then Asuma vanished, leaving the three behind. Again, Shikamaru and Ino were surprised at their Sensei's capabilities. He was so laid back that they usually forgot that he was one of the most capable and powerful Jounin in the village. Then again, it made sense. If Tsunade died, and Jiraiya didn't take the post, then it would be Kakashi, Asuma, and any one of two or three ANBU Captains who would be competing for the Hokage Title. Gai was out of the running since he was…Gai.

Shikamaru shook his head and said "Man this is so troublesome. Well, let's get going and show this guy what happens when you mess with Konoha."

The other two nodded and followed the Nara out of town, going at a moderate pace to arrive at a certain time.

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One mile north of town

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Asuma saw the two of them a long while before he actually got there. There was barely any cover in the surrounding area. One or two patches of tall grass, but they were too far away and too close together to be of any real use for the rest of the team. There was another patch of long grass that could hide someone, and while it was close to the place that Konohamaru was restrained, it was too close. It wasn't ten feet away from the two of them, and it would be very easy to notice someone hiding in it.

Asuma realized now why the kidnapper chose this place over any others: Even if he brought help, he would be able to see it coming a long time before they got close enough to do anything significant.

Asuma gritted his teeth as he hoped that Shikamaru could think of a way to get close without getting seen. If this guy saw the three of them coming, odds were that they wouldn't be of any use. Kidnapping the Sandaime Hokage's grandson and challenging one of Konoha's best Jounin to a duel took a lot of confidence in one's own strength to do. Even if he won, everyone in Konoha would be looking for them and hunting them until they eventually died, whenever that may be. Anyone who would for all intents and purposes declare war on Konoha as an individual is either extremely strong or extremely stupid, and Asuma highly doubted that it was the latter of the two.

Asuma found the two of them precisely where the note said that they would be, one mile north of the city limits. Konohamaru was chained to a tree, which was just wrong considering the cold weather, and about ten feet in front of and two feet to the right was the man who kidnapped him.

He was a very tall person, exactly eight feet, though his hat gave him another four inches. He was immaculately dressed, black pants knife edge creased over fine leather shoes, a crisp white shirt, somber red waistcoat and a tie a single shade darker. Over that he wore a dove grey swallow-tailed coat, on his head was a black top hat four inches tall, and upon his hands were snow white gloves, in those hands he held a cane of ebony wood, topped with a handle of silver. The cane was plunged into the ground, his hands resting atop of it as he waited.

Asuma stopped several feet in front of him, thinking that he was probably a close range fighter, and quickly found Konohamaru tied nearby. He called to his nephew "Konohamaru-kun, are you alright?"

Konohamaru looked over and smiled as he shouted "I'm fine Asuma! Just cold and pissed off that this guy caught me. So take care of him and free me quick alright?"

Asuma nodded and then looked over at the man behind it all, who was waiting patiently and asked "Okay, so who the hell are you?"

The man nodded his head and said "Ahh, Sarutobi Asuma, I was wondering how long it would be before you arrived. You seemed to be moving a little slowly on your way here." As Asuma gritted his teeth the man smiled and said "I am Colonel Terzok, a faithful servant to His Majesty. Now then, I shall ask you a question. Will you save yourself harm and come with me quietly, or will you force me to make a mess of things?"

Asuma showed his teeth in anger as he pulled out his trench knives and said "You kidnapped my nephew and hurt my comrades, and now you think that I would go with you ANYWHERE? You've got more than just a few screws loose if you thought for even a moment that I would say yes."

Terzok sighed and said "I suppose it was too much to hope that you would go with logic and simply surrender to a foe whom you could not possibly defeat, but if you insist upon causing yourself yet more pain, the one thing that all mortals have a right to, who am I to deny you that right? Very well, I shall play my part and cause you the pain you so desire."

Terzok took his left hand from the cane and with his right pulled it from the ground. Asuma looked it over quickly. It was four and a half feet in length, it was very long to reach from the ground to a position where he could rest his hands upon it so comfortably. The handle was of silver and the piece at the top of the shaft depicted a dragon's head and fore-claws, while the tail undulated and became the curved handle by which he held it. The wood was black and looked expensive, and it tapered down to the bottom where there was a single silver spike, sharp as a spear-tip.

Asuma noticed three things about the cane. The first was that there was a small amount of purple sparks jumping around the silver spike at the bottom of the cane. The second was that there was a large amount of these sparks spilling around Terzok's hand where he held the cane by the handle. The third was the ground in which the cane was lodged. It was blackened and burnt, the grass killed, and if one looked into the hole bored by the spike, one would see the faintest tinges of red, melted rock at the bottom. Asuma made a decision to avoid the cane at all costs.

The immaculately clad man spun the cane through the air by the handle until bringing it to a stop upon his left palm, sparks flying through the air as it struck the fine white cloth. Terzok smiled and said "Whenever you are ready."

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With Shikamaru and Co.

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The three Chuunin were moving as quickly as they could through a patch of tall grass to get to where Asuma specified. The only thing was that they couldn't get closer without getting spotted. The moment that the fighting started though, they would make a run for the two and give Asuma all the help they could. But even moving at top speed, it would take them a while to cross this distance and they knew it. Lee had removed his weights in town to make the journey quicker for him, but even then, it would take time to get there.

Asuma, for a while at least, was on his own and he needed to hold out until they could arrive.

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With Asuma and Terzok

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Asuma was in a bad position and he knew it. He was a close range fighter primarily and he only knew a few ninjutsu that would be useful at long range. Mid-range was okay, he had plenty of those, but he had a feeling that this guy would be able to close in way too fast at only mid-range. A few long range Ninjutsu weren't going to cut it here. It didn't help that they affected wide areas and if he used them there was a very good chance that he would hit Konohamaru as well, killing the Gennin for sure.

Asuma thought it over quickly and came to the conclusion that close range was the only option although it wasn't a good one. If he got so much as glanced by that cane, _something_ would happen. He didn't know what but it would most likely turn out to be fatal before long. He knew that something was off with that cane and he had no inclination to find out what it was.

Unfortunately for Asuma, before he could make a choice as to what to do, the choice was made for him.

Terzok frowned slightly and said "Very well then, if you do not wish to make the first move, then I shall."

Terzok moved forward at a tremendous speed, a quick jog for him being the pace or a running man since his legs were so long, the cane spinning in his right hand and leaving a trail of blackened burned grass where the spike just barely touched it on its circular path through the air.

Asuma got his trench knives on his fists in record time as his prediction about mid-range fighting being useless proved accurate and Terzok swung the cane at him from below, coming up toward his chin. Asuma got his knives in the way, and used the wind blades too as he tried to cut through the shaft of the weapon.

It's too bad for Asuma that the blades didn't cut through the ebony wood, they didn't even scratch it, thought they stopped the cane's path through the air.

Terzok grinned while Asuma blocked the attack and quickly nailed him right in the face with a swift kick, his tremendous strength bruising him badly and sent him through the air. Asuma got back up immediately and rolled back in time to avoid the spike as it went into the ground where he was lying before.

Asuma was forced on a constant retreat, blocking and dodging as best he could as the cane swung in from every direction possible as Terzok swung it with great force and skill though he made it look effortless, sparks flying through the air as it forged another circular trail, and a sudden burst as he stopped it with his palm only to start it off in a new direction immediately and started the exhausting cycle all over again.

Asuma was using his wind blades to their full force as he dodged and blocked the cane as best he could and making doubly sure not to touch the wood directly. He could still feel an almost painful shock even when his knives, coated in wind chakra which was strong against lightning, touched the weapon of his opponent.

Terzok had a look of boredom on his face as he kept pushing Asuma into a corner, exhausting him however slowly. Terzok was patient and more than willing to make the battle a long one if he had to, though he was considering ending it immediately since he was on a deadline.

Asuma finally managed to duck under the cane as it swung over his head, burning the tip of his hair as he moved forward as quickly as possible and swung at Terzok's stomach since it was the only part of him that the Jounin could easily reach. Terzok towered over him.

Sadly for Asuma, Terzok's size did not make him un-graceful. He easily moved through the air just over the knife in a single controlled leap, swinging the cane at the back of Asuma's head as he did so, purple sparks trailing through the air.

Asuma ducked and rolled to escape from the imminent attack that just missed him as the spike plunged into the ground where his leg was not two seconds before. Asuma rolled to his feet and used the momentum to leap forward to avoid another swing from the cane that would have done who knows what.

Finally, Terzok began to grow irritated. He stood straight and brought the top of the cane to his eye level. Asuma turned and prepared to avoid another attack or attack himself if he found an opening which was becoming increasingly unlikely. Terzok was extremely skilled.

Terzok held the cane just under the handle as he gripped the handle itself in his other hand and twisted it ninety degrees to the right. Asuma heard a 'click' as the dragon of silver moved.

Terzok pointed the cane straight at Asuma as though it was a gun and not a length of silver and wood and pressed something upon the silver handle, releasing a gas valve built into the mechanism, separating silver from ebony as the length and spike of the cane went soaring toward the Konoha Jounin.

Asuma saw it coming and so he rolled immediately to the right, loving the fact that the enemy made such an idiotic move like that as he rushed forward. Unfortunately, there was more to this mechanism that just the initial launch.

Asuma felt something and oveyed his instinct, dropping to the ground as the silver spiked cane went straight through the space between where his shoulder blades were moments ago. Then he noticed how. The silver handle and ebony body were connected by a chain. It was very thin, and transparent although it glittered in the sun slightly.

Then he noticed the purple sparks that occasionally came from the glittering length as the chain length he view moved toward him at Terzok's command.

Asuma sprung backwards from his side to all fours to his feet as he finally saw that this entire thing had become a much greater threat.

The ebony wood cane was floating in the air, connected to the silver handle by the glittering chain, which was very difficult to see at even the best of times. Asuma could only come to one conclusion, that Terzok was controlling both cane and chain with his chakra.

He doubted that his knives would be any more effective against the chain than they would against the cane, so he prepared to dodge the incoming attack, alone.

Asuma gritted his teeth as the spike-tipped cane flew through the air toward him, dragging glittering chain along with it as the rest of the links moved in a different way to block escape.

'Damn it Shikamaru, where are you!?'

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Omake

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A set of kunai knives- 25 pounds

The price of an A-rank mission to kill your rival- five thousand pounds

A Ninja education for your child- two thousand pounds

A good fanfiction to improve upon the shitty canon, complete with Sasuke getting his ass kicked- priceless

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Yes, I know, I got lazy on the Omake, I'm not much in the mood for humor today, sue me.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter to the fullest extent. Tell me, what do you think of Terzok and his fighting style? What do you think of the battle with Asuma so far? Who do you think will win? What did I do right in this chapter and what did I do wrong?

REVIEW and TELL ME!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	61. Chapter 61

People of this website, I bring you CHAPTER SIXTY ONE! Feel free to faint and praise god (coughmecough) for bringing forth this wondrous document. Now then, I have nothing more to say for a foreword, so let the main attraction begin!

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Long story short, Naruto finds out Kakashi is dead because now that he has Natural Energy he can supposedly feel everyone's chakra. Then three of Pein's bodies, Human, Hungry Ghost, and Animal Realms, attack while Hell Realm and God Realm stay back. Apparently God Realm takes a while for his abilities to return after using the gigantic Shinra Tensei move.

Animal Realm brings out three summons which are disposed of by the toads, while Naruto destroys the Hungry Ghost Realm using physical attacks. Something called 'Toad Katas' which are a type of Natural Energy enhanced fighting style. Oh, Naruto also has a new move, apparently he can use that gigantic version of the Rasengan that Jiraiya had, so once again, he learns nothing but yet another variation on the same technique, big shock.

Then Naruto does the ever so familiar handseal of the Kage Bunshin and says "I'll finish this with my new move." Fifty pounds says that it somehow combines elements of Kage Bunshin and Rasengan in some way.

Oh, and Sakura has pretty much officially been reduced to her original role as a minor character where she belongs. Good news, the year of centering on Kakashi and Sakura is over and we are back on track, hopefully.

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Summary of last chapter

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Asuma faced Terzok one on one while Shikamaru, Lee, and Ino hurried to reach the battle site undetected, with Konohamaru's life hanging in the balance.

That was pretty much it, one big fight scene. There was a scene near the beginning that was between Asuma and Ebisu but that's about it.

Now, let the story continue

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With Terzok and Asuma

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Asuma was in trouble.

Terzok maneuvered that chain like an expert, sweeping it through the ground and looping it around Asuma's ankles and knees, though Asuma avoided them it took some truly remarkable acrobatic feats to do so. In addition to that, the removed wooden piece of the cane was moving through the air, acting as a spear that could come from any direction. With these two elements working together, he couldn't get close to the Colonel, who was only occasionally moving the handle of the cane to which the chain was coming from.

After looking at it for a while, Asuma figured out the basic mechanism. The chain was attached to some kind of winch inside the handle, combined with a series of interlocking pieces which could lock into the main length of the cane, so that even if the firing mechanism was activated accidentally, it wouldn't fly off. The chain was attached to the main piece by a loop of silver upon a circular base at the top of the cane that would fit into the grooves in the handle. This meant that Terzok could extend or retract the chain at will while he was manipulating it, the gas valve releasing mechanism was simply to give it speed upon the initial release and to help get a large length of chain out immediately.

Despite all this, he still didn't know what the chain and cane did. He knew that there was SOME kind of special effect, but he didn't know exactly what it was and he had no intention of finding out.

Terzok didn't move from where he was standing, simply manipulating the chain and the removed length of wood and silver with his chakra from afar. There was a long coil of the glittering chain near his feet that would leap into action if Asuma somehow got close, but he had no fears on that score. He stayed reasonably close to Konohamaru so that he couldn't use long range Ninjutsu, and he was out of range for Mid-range techniques. All that left was close range techniques, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. The first two couldn't be used at range, and the latter Asuma was completely inept at. Terzok had Asuma in a death grip. All he had to do was hold on. Terzok had for all intents and purposes, achieved victory, and he knew it.

Even if by some miracle, Asuma broke the chain and managed to get close and disarm him, Terzok still had his arsenal of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu at his disposal, as well as Taijutsu. And if that didn't work, he had Konohamaru as a hostage to force Asuma's surrender. Terzok had been in Naruto's service for a long time and sought to emulate him as much as possible, valuing such things as tactical planning and strategy and the abandoning of honor or mercy. If he had to hold Konohamaru hostage to assure victory, or rely on a dirty trick, he would do so without a second thought or remorse. He had created two backup plans for victory in the case that the first failed, just as Naruto would have done. Terzok knew that he was going to achieve victory from the very beginning, to him everything after Konohamaru's capture was simply an exercise and nothing more.

Asuma dodged and weaved swirling loops of chain that were only visible because of the sunlight glinting upon them and the occasional flash of purple sparks as energy passed through them.

Asuma ducked under a length of chain, and then moved forward toward Terzok, making a dash for the tall zombie. The main piece of the cane came out of nowhere to his left. Asuma saw it and rolled forward, barely avoiding it as it sank into the ground and stayed there.

'This might be my chance' he thought to himself as he ran toward Terzok as fast as he could, the chain moved and swirled like a snake, but had a lot of practice avoiding it by now and managed to weave aside, constantly moving forward toward his enemy.

Then, Asuma reached a certain point, and Terzok smiled.

Terzok mouthed a few words, and despite the fact that he was at a distance, he understood them. Terzok mouthed to Asuma 'You don't think it will be THAT easy, do you?' then Terzok moved his thumb over the left eye of the silver dragon and a loud 'CLICK' could be heard as something moved.

The chain retracted, quickly. It ripped through the air as it was drawn back into the handle.

Normally, it would form a straight piece and zoom back into the handle, carrying the main piece of the cane behind it, but that wasn't the case. The main length of the cane was stuck in the ground, and the chain was in numerous loops throughout the area. Loops that Terzok had purposefully put them in. All this time, he maneuvered the chain into swirls upon the ground, and then sunk the main piece of the cane while giving Asuma an opening which he clung onto like a life-line.

Now that chain formed rapidly shrinking circles of metal links around Asuma, closing in from every direction. Asuma was hasty and didn't think that it might have been a trap. Now he was going to pay for it.

Only a single thing prevented Asuma from behind caught in the chain. A single shout of "KONOHA SHOUFUU!" (Leaf Rising Gale)

Lee appeared from nowhere and he kicked straight upward at Terzok's wrist, the kick connected and the Colonel's grip upon the handle was broken and the silver dragon handle went flying into the air above Asuma.

With the point of destination changed, the trajectory of the chain changed as well and the glittering links avoided Asuma, going up, instead of in, and were drawn into the handle. Asuma dived between two rows of chain and got out of the snare in time to see Terzok's reaction.

The Colonel didn't show surprise, but reacted with instant violence to the new situation. His leg blurred as it swung from the ground, into Lee's back where he was just retracting his leg from the kick that perhaps saved Asuma's life. The Chuunin was struck and sent sprawling forward.

Terzok acted upon instinct and rushed away from Konohamaru, avoiding the shifting shadow that was nearing his own. He turned and saw Shikamaru holding his familiar handseal, and Ino holding a kunai. Terzok grimaced at the sight, the expression ugly upon his normally rather handsome face.

Shikamaru cursed as his shadow returned to its normal position. He shouted "Are you okay Asuma-sensei!? Sorry we took so long, but we had to go the long way around to avoid being seen!"

Asuma smiled in pride at his student and yelled back "I'm fine, but get Konohamaru out of here fast, we can't let him be used as a hostage!"

Ino nodded and immediately went to the tied down Gennin while Shikamaru moved to reduce the distance between himself, his sensei, and the enemy.

Shikamaru reached Asuma's side and Lee got into position to attack again, ignoring the painful bruise upon his back. Shikamaru asked Asuma "So, what can this guy do sensei? Anything to help me come up with a plan would help."

Asuma shook his head and kept his eyes on Terzok, who was only watching them as he spoke "This guy can fight real well at close range, but he can also use mid-range and long-range attacks using that cane of his." He pointed to the cane, now in a single piece, lying on the ground nearby. "Don't touch the thing, it's not safe to assume that even the user is unaffected by its effect, whatever it is. Aside from that though, I don't know what he's capable of."

Shikamaru frowned at that. Someone who could use techniques of any range was a tough opponent, especially when you didn't know everything he could do. He nodded to himself and said "Okay, Lee I want you to go toe-to-toe with him while I try my Kage Mane. Sensei, when I have him trapped, use your Haisekishou to finish him off."

Both Lee and Asuma nodded and Asuma put his knives away while Shikamaru's shadow moved and Lee dashed toward the enemy, while Terzok watched them unflinchingly.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Things were rather calm at Dark Heaven Castle. Absalom kept the place under control and the knowledge of Naruto's incapacitation under wraps. It had been several days, but so far nothing of note had happened.

Each day, a large group of Soldiers would arrive with dozens of large cages filled with the captured people of Iwagakure who fled from the battle. These people were put into the dungeons and regularly fed by a schedule Naruto had already laid out in advance. Their names were taken and they were given a white card on a string which was put around each of their necks. This card had their name, and a large number on one side, though there were columns for other categories, and on the other side was a black insignia.

Everyone of them tried to remove these cards at some point, but it was no use. Once the cards were around their necks, they would not come off no matter how hard they pulled. The strings would not break, the cards would not tear, and the card and string simply wouldn't rise higher than the middle of their neck. They had no idea what the cards were for, but they knew that it wasn't good.

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In Naruto's bedroom

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Naruto was lying, asleep, upon his bed. Perona was the only one who was allowed inside since Naruto began to sleep. She had tended to him and cared for him as best she could with advice from Hogback who occasionally stopped by to check on his condition. This had been going on for several days now.

The Enigma in question was carefully watching over him and checking his injuries, or rather the places that he WAS injured.

The wounds were gone, completely and without a scar. It had taken only two days for the flesh to completely knit together and become whole again, the muscle and skin flowing like water sometimes. Hogback had checked and declared that they were completely healed. All that was wrong was that he wouldn't wake up.

That was, until now.

Four days, exactly ninety six hours since he was blown to pieces by Barragan Luisenbarn's last effort at killing him, Naruto opened his eyes, to the shock of Perona.

Perona was amazed that he woke up and immediately threw himself upon him "Naruto-kun! Are you alright! Thank goodness you're awake!"

Naruto sighed as he was hugged by the almost crying girl and said "Yes, yes, I'm fine, now then, how long have I been unconscious?"

Perona quickly regained her composure and stood up normally before saying "Um, you've been unconscious for about four days now. I've been tending you with Hogback's help while Absalom has been keeping things running while you were out of the picture."

Naruto nodded and sat up, and then asked "So, what has happened in my absence?"

Perona filled him in on everything that had happened during his spell of unconsciousness. She told him of the ongoing effort to capture the people of Iwagakure who fled from the attack, she told him of Sodom's ongoing attempt to capture the gold caravan, and most importantly, she told him of the presence of the Word of Kemmler at the upcoming auction, and Naruto's smile was wide indeed.

Then, as Naruto was standing up and preparing to dress himself normally, Perona said one more thing.

"Oh, and there is a message from Hogback Naruto-kun. The Special Zombie, it's complete and only needs a shadow to be brought to life."

Naruto's smile could have lit up a room.

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Terzok and Asuma

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Terzok watched and waited as Lee rapidly closed the distance between them, Shikamaru's shadow not far behind, and watched as he jumped in the air and threw a kick at his head yelling "Konoha Senpuu!"

Terzok reacted instantly, ducking under the leg, and then grabbing Lee while he was still in the air and swung him down and into Shikamaru's shadow. Lee was instantly caught in Shikamaru's Kage Mane no Jutsu.

Shikamaru was shocked at the sudden development, nobody had ever done _that_ before and he immediately canceled the technique. Unfortunately, doing so meant that the shadow had to return to him before he could use the jutsu again, and so that gave Terzok time before he had to worry about the shadow again.

Lee immediately got up and jumped back, but Terzok closed in at amazing speed and kicked his teeth in, sending him sprawling on his back. Then Terzok made a dash toward Shikamaru and Asuma.

While this happened, Ino finally managed to pick the lock on the chains and got Konohamaru free. She grabbed the Gennin and started to move away from the fight, Konohamaru being practically dragged along. Shikamaru and Asuma noticed and nodded their thanks to her, she returned the gesture before she picked up the pace and vanished from sight using the Shunshin.

Asuma sighed in relief that Konohamaru was safe before he got out his knives and ran toward Terzok as quickly as he could. Then he saw what the Colonel was going for as it glinted in the sunlight. He was going for the cane that was lying upon the ground. 'Damn it, we can't let him get that thing back otherwise we'll be in the same situation we were in before!'

Shikamaru got the Kage Mane going again and his shadow moved along the ground swiftly as Lee started to pursue the Colonel as well.

Asuma was the first to reach Terzok and swung his knife at the man's chest. Terzok took a quick step back and grabbed Asuma's arm, throwing him at the quickly approaching shadow to tie up the Kage Mane again. Shikamaru saw it coming this time and the shadow swerved aside to avoid contact with Asuma before it moved toward Terzok again.

Lee moved as fast as he could and managed to catch up with Terzok. He yelled "This time you will not get away!" as he threw a powerful kick at his side.

Terzok lunged forward and avoided the kick, landing on his hands a few feet in front of Lee and then sprang up once again to his feet before turning around to face the three ninja who stood before him. There was only one difference from how he was before and Asuma groaned when he saw it.

In Terzok's right hand was a familiar length of silver and wood. The Colonel smiled as he took the handle and began the familiar spinning motion of the weapon as he said "All that effort for nothing. We are right back where we started Asuma-san, only you are even more tired than you were before. Even with these intruders to assist you, victory still won't be yours, you should know that as well as I do."

Before anyone could reply, two loud crashes could be heard. All three looked over and saw two large craters where Lee was standing before, but Lee was nowhere to be found.

Terzok knew immediately what happened and jumped back to avoid the kick to the jaw that would have landed if he had stayed put. Lee landed on his feet and took his familiar stance, determination in his eyes as he said "Weapon or no weapon, the three of us will still win!"

Asuma stood next to Lee, trench knives out and ready and said "That's right Terzok. One on one, you may have won, especially with Konohamaru as a hostage. But now your hostage is gone and you have all of us to deal with."

Terzok smiled as the cane spun through the air. Then he said "Typical Konoha Shinobi, absolutely pathetic unless you're in a group."

Then Terzok jumped through the air to his right to avoid Shikamaru's shadow and yelled "Unfortunately, I already have a strategy to defeat you all!"

Terzok landed and then ran as fast as he could, not towards Lee and Asuma, but straight for Shikamaru.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he saw the enemy suddenly move toward him, and then switched handseals. "Kage Nue!"

The shadow, extended along the ground, erupted into black tendrils that whipped toward the incoming Colonel.

Terzok narrowed his eyes and moved between them and then jumped back away from them and their attempts to stop his movement.

The tendrils moved quickly and Terzok moved just as quickly, his amazing speed and agility coming into full force as he ducked, dodged, weaved, and slithered out of the way of the moving tendrils of solid shadow manipulated by the Nara. The only thing that was gained though, was that Terzok was forced to move farther away from the prone Shikamaru, no matter how much Shikamaru tried, not a single tendril touched the man.

Terzok smiled as he ducked away from more and more of the black tendrils as he thought 'Do they really think that they will beat me this easily. I'm insulted, though I must admit, avoiding all of these tendrils is rather fun in its own way.'

Then he moved to the right and swept his cane through a number of the incoming tendrils, the piece of wood going straight through them, the pieces falling to the ground before liquefying and joining again with the main mass. 'However, all fun must come to an end.'

Terzok dodged another few tendrils, but then another one came straight at his face out of nowhere. Terzok immediately bent back and avoided the strike.

Unfortunately, he walked right into another one.

Terzok didn't see anything, but he did hear it. "Konoha Senpuu!" Before he felt the kick against the side of his head and he was sent flying through the air as Lee, with a smile on his face, landed upon the ground and yelled "YOOOOSH!"

The Colonel landed on the ground and bounced once before lying still. Asuma watched though as the man stood up, his hat gone, and saw his features for the first time.

Terzok was rather nondescript. He was a stereotypical type of handsome, his features looking like they were chipped from marble. His hair was brown and cut short, his features unassuming and bland. If it weren't for his height, you wouldn't have been able to pick him out of a crowd. A mild frown marred those features, however and he dusted himself off, making sure not to touch himself with the cane.

Asuma closed the distance between them slightly and went through several handseals before exhaling a large cloud of smoke. "Katon: Haisekishou!"

The smoke quickly enveloped Terzok and the man frowned as he was enshrouded. Then Asuma clicked his teeth together, and the entire cloud burst into strident flames.

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With Ebisu and Ino

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Ebisu put Konohamaru on a cot in a new hotel room, beside two others that held Udon and Moegi.

Ino had returned just now with the unconscious boy in tow. Apparently moving at that speed after a concussive shock and the cold from the chains was just too much for him. Ebisu could see the beginning signs of frost bite upon his wrists where the chains bound him.

Ino looked at Ebisu after he laid the Gennin down and said "Sorry I can't stay Ebisu-san, but I need to get back to see if I can help. Take care of them."

Ebisu nodded and said "Don't worry, I will. Just make sure that Asuma-san is alright."

Ino nodded and turned to go.

Before she did though, the door was suddenly kicked in and a number of men ran through the door. They were of varying skin colors and looks, but one thing stayed in common. They all looked dead. Ebisu saw one of them move extremely quickly toward him, swinging a club at his head.

Ebisu moved his arms into a guard, but the blow went right through it and hit him in the side of the head.

After that, everything went black for the Jounin.

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One mile North

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The three of them watched with baited breath as the dust cleared from the explosion. The smoke and ash cleared and revealed…nothing.

They immediately started looking around. Shikamaru thought to himself 'There's no way that blast disintegrated him. He's still alive and hiding, but where?'

That was when Terzok burst out of the ground behind Lee, cane already in motion. There wasn't any time for Lee to turn around or avoid the attack, and neither Shikamaru nor Asuma had the time to do anything more than let their eyes widen in surprise before the cane hit Lee in the side.

The moment the ebony wood touched the boy's side, purple sparks ran from the cane all along his body in under a second, causing Lee to arch his body and grimace in pain as every muscle in his body spasmed. There was a 'CRACK' and Lee went flying through the air before landing on his side, unmoving.

The pair of Konoha ninja stared in shock at Lee. The attack had been so decisive and so quick that they hadn't been able to come up with any kind of reaction. One moment, Lee was standing and searching for the enemy, the next moment he was lying on the ground.

Shikamaru immediately moved to where Lee was lying on his side. Asuma immediately charged Terzok.

Shikamaru didn't pay any attention as Terzok quickly and calmly moved out of the way of Asuma's practiced strikes while delivering debilitating blows of his own that Asuma barely managed to block or dodge. The Nara heir immediately got to Lee's side and moved him on his back before checking his pulse.

Shikamaru did his best to see how badly Lee was hurt. Judging by the fact that his skin was smoking slightly and the tip of every hair was glowing bright red, he was probably not that good. The good thing was that he managed to find a pulse, and though it was a bit erratic, it didn't stop.

Shikamaru sighed in relief, Lee was probably going to be okay if he could get him to a medic quick enough.

He looked up and concentrated on the ongoing fight with Terzok. 'Damn it, this guy is strong. He's too quick to hit easily with pin-point attacks and can avoid large-area attacks as well. Lee was the only one fast enough to hit him and once he realized that his immediate next move was to take Lee out, so he's smart too, and he has a weapon that can incapacitate an enemy in one strike. Damn it, who the hell is this guy!'

Shikamaru got between the barely breathing Lee and the fight as he formed the familiar handseal and muttered "Kage Mane no Jutsu" and willed his shadow forward across the ground. He knew that his only chance was to catch the enemy in his binding, so that Asuma could get in a fatal hit. That was the only chance.

Terzok smiled as Asuma continued to attack him to no avail. He had a couple of scratches from the wind chakra extensions, but that was it. Asuma was tiring, Lee was out of the picture, and Shikamaru was almost helpless on his own as long as you didn't give him time to think up a plan. 'He may have received a bit of assistance but in the end it achieved nothing.' Terzok thought as his cane was blocked by the trench knives before Terzok kicked Asuma in the gut and swung the can at his exposed back. Then he abandoned the attack at the last minute, moving to the side to avoid the shadow that Shikamaru was manipulating.

Terzok scowled at Shikamaru from across the field, where he was standing by the fallen Lee. 'He's the thinker, I should have taken him out earlier. 'Never let a thinker stick around, they don't have to be stronger than you to win.' Smart proverb.'

The tall Colonel expertly dodged the shadow as it tried to ensnare him, before finally jumping as high as he could to get distance from the thing.

While he was in the air, he spun the cane by the handle before letting it fly straight at Asuma. Immediately afterwards he went through four quick handseals and pointed the first two fingers of his right hand at Shikamaru and said "Katon: Kofurea!" **(1)**

A spear of two feet wide formed at the Colonel's fingertips and roared through the air toward Shikamaru and Lee, eating up the distance extremely quickly.

Shikamaru released his handseal and grabbed Lee, immediately running from where the attack would land.

The spear of flame hit the ground and a great burst of flame radiated from the spot, sending fire in all directions as well as a concussive wave that knocked Shikamaru from his feet.

The fire caught the grass and lit a fire that quickly spread, eating up the prodigious plant life around it and growing every moment. Shikamaru picked up Lee and started running again to get away from the growing flames.

Asuma ran forward and quickly went through a number of handseals, yelling "Katon: Haisekishou!" before blowing a massive amount of smoke over the fire before it got too large.

Normally, Asuma would click his teeth together and set everything caught in the cloud alight, but in this instance Asuma did the jutsu wrong on purpose. He put too little chakra into the jutsu and so it wouldn't ignite. All that it did was let out a big cloud of smoke and ash that strangled the growing fire before it could grow and burn everyone alive.

The smoke covered the flames, and put them out, and Asuma breathed a sigh of relief before immediately running forward toward Shikamaru and when he reached him, he turned and saw Terzok standing near where he was before, holding his cane in one hand.

The Colonel smiled and said "Run, run, run, is that all you can do? Like I said before, typical Konoha Shinobi, can't do anything on your own, always looking to your teammates to cover your flaws rather than work to eliminate those flaws. That boy by your side Asuma probably spends all his time playing board games and his shadow Ninjutsu, rather than working on Taijutsu in case the enemy ever gets close. He relies on his team to protect him otherwise he's useless and that's why he's almost worthless on his own. The only way I can think of that he's survived this long is that he's only fought opponents who attack at range and never intend to get close."

Shikamaru gritted his teeth. Partially in anger because he was insulting Asuma's training, partially in anger because so far, they had barely hurt him at all when they were nearly beat, and partially because what he was saying was true. For all Shikamaru's planning, he had never put together a plan on what to do should an enemy get close and he was on his own, he always thought that he would have a team to back him up, and if he didn't then he would be able to keep an enemy at range. If he had worked on Taijutsu, he may have been able to assist Asuma and Lee a little more rather than standing by and watching them get outclassed, and in Lee's case, brought down.

Terzok continued on "Honestly, look at you, Asuma you're out of gas at the moment, those wind blades must be taking their toll. All you can do is keep on swinging at me and grit your teeth as I move aside. Then watch helplessly as I mow down your team. How's the green one by the way? This cane is meant to be able to take down Jounin. Since Jounin get training after their appointment to be able to resist torture, you guys go through some pretty intense shock torture until dosages that would kill a normal man don't make you flinch. So this thing packs a pretty big kick to be able to knock you out with a tap. Since that guy never went through the training, I have to wonder how long he'll last until his heart stops. Still, he's lucky that I got him with the wood, not the spike."

Terzok pointed the cane at them so they could see the silver spike at its tip. "The spike is a thousand times stronger than the wood, if I got him with that he would be crispy barbeque right now.

Terzok set the cane in the ground and smiled as he leaned on it. Then he said "I'll give you another chance Asuma-san. Surrender to me and enter my custody willingly, same goes for you Nara Shikamaru. If you do, I'll let Mr. Green there live. He won't wake up anytime soon and even if he did he won't be in any position to help you. Make no mistake, if this continues on he'll die, as will you. So what do you say? Your lives are forfeit anyway, but you can at least save your comrade."

They both were angry as hell about the entire situation. Asuma was thinking furiously 'God damn it, what are we supposed to do? I can't beat this guy on my own, and Shikamaru can't either, nor can we beat him together. I'm tired and running out of chakra, and he's probably the same way by now. He has a lot techniques that he hadn't shown yet so Shikamaru can't come up with an effective plan. Lee's out of it, and we don't have a chance of running away successfully. He's follow us regardless of where we went. Damn it this is bad. My only choice might be to attack and tell Shikamaru to run and then hope that I can hold him off long enough to surrender and then hope for the best.'

Asuma sighed and thought to himself 'In fact, that IS my only choice. At least Konohamaru and Ino got out of this okay.'

Asuma got into his familiar stance and said "Shikamaru, I want you to take Lee and get as far away from here as you can. Consider the mission failed. Get Ebisu and the others and get home as fast as you can."

Shikamaru looked over and said "What about you?"

Asuma sighed and said "If I can't take this bastard out, I'll at least make him wish I had. You're a liability, and so is Lee. Run."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to protest but before he could Asuma shouted "THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Shikamaru grimaced and looked down before nodding and turned around. He just said "Don't die Sensei." Then he moved to leave.

Before he could, Shikamaru heard a voice in the air saying "Oh, don't think you can escape THAT easily boy."

Before the Nara heir or his sensei could find where the voice came from, a figure appeared out of the air in front of Shikamaru and kicked him in the stomach with immense force, sending him flying back about halfway between Asuma and Terzok.

Asuma barely turned around before he got punched with immense strength, flying through the air to land beside Shikamaru and Lee in a heap.

Asuma felt his jaw, it was a bit loose and he could already feel the extremely painful bruise forming on his jaw. 'Damn it, now this guy has an ally? We're screwed if these two work together.'

Asuma got up as quickly as he could, Shikamaru right behind him as they faced each enemy. Asuma quickly took in the newcomer's features. 'Light brown skin, a thin scar on the left cheek, green hair cut in three different lengths, headband, a purple scarf around his neck, a dark purple and black bodysuit and two bracers upon the forearms. Wait, I've heard this description before.'

Asuma remembered then, years ago when he was selected as a part of the group to help fight Naruto. Every ounce of information they had on his forces was given to him right then and there, including the description of the four Zombies that attacked Jiraiya during the Chuunin Exams, badly wounding him. He also saw a description like this guy's in the list of Naruto's lieutenants during his attacks in Tsuchi no Kuni.

'No way, these guys work for NARUTO!?'

Asuma couldn't believe this. If Naruto's subordinates were this strong, then they had a serious problem. It supported the theory that Naruto's minions were getting stronger, in which case the threat was increasing not just from Naruto himself, but from his lackeys as well as they grew in both number and power.

The man who came from behind the Konoha ninja smiled at the suddenly pale Colonel and said "Hey there Terzok, nice job capturing that kid and luring out all these prime targets, as well as luring away the defenders of the shipment. Don't worry though, the rest of the unit already captured the shipment of gold, killed the people who hired these guys, and captured Sarutobi Konohamaru. The others weren't wanted by the Master, so I don't know if they're alive or dead. You know how Soldiers are, if you don't tell them exactly what to do, they'll probably screw up."

Asuma looked between the shocked Terzok and the newcomer, watching the exchange between the two. Shikamaru was doing the same. Both of them were thinking the same thing, that they might be able to get away if they played their cards right.

Sodom continued "Right, well the gold and the boy are captured and back at home, as are the Soldiers and Colonel Repton, so we had better get back so as not to keep them waiting. Let's bring in these three and report, shall we _Colonel?"_

Terzok gritted his teeth in anger. He had it, he had the greatest chance he was likely to have in the next decade for a promotion and Sodom came along and ruined it. If he brought these three in with Sodom, then the General would get the credit, not him. If he went along with Sodom, he lost everything he worked for. If he didn't then he would be stuck with fighting Sodom. It took only a hint of logic to read between the lines of Sodom's words 'Give up on these two now and submit, or face me here and now.'

Terzok was quiet for a long while. Then he thought to himself 'No, I can't let him do this. I won't give up on my ambition this easily. I WILL have my rightful place! I was meant to be a General and I WILL BE!'

Terzok looked at Sodom and merely said "No."

Sodom cocked his head to one side and asked "What was that Colonel?"

Terzok shook his head "No, no I won't let you do this. I won't let you take credit for my plans and operation. I won't let you steal my chance at promotion."

Sodom smiled a small, cruel smile as his blades emerged from his bracers with barely a sound. He looked Terzok in the eyes and said "I was hoping you would say that. Mutiny is mutiny no matter who commits it, you have sealed your own end COLONEL."

Terzok took his cane from the ground and held it at the ready before he said "Have I sealed my end, or have I ensured my ascension, General?"

At that moment, an exact lookalike of Terzok sprang from the ground directly behind Sodom, swinging its cane at the General's back. It was the Kage Bunshin that he had positioned there while he distracted Asuma and Shikamaru by talking to them. He had never intended to let Lee go, he intended to capture all three. But using it on Sodom was just as good in Terzok's mind.

Sodom didn't even look, he just back-flipped through the air, over the cane and landed on the other side behind the clone before dashing forward, slicing through the clone and causing it to vanish.

Sodom smiled and said "Oh, I am so glad you did that. Now I finally have the excuse to eliminate the scourge of false ambition from the face of the army. My thanks, Terzok."

Terzok's face went scarlet with rage and he gripped the handle of his cane and began spinning it through the air once more. "Do NOT underestimate me Sodom!"

Sodom smiled and looked to Shikamaru and Asuma. He said to them "Stay put, this won't take a moment." Then he vanished in a gigantic burst of speed.

The teacher and student quickly turned around and saw the man apparently called 'Sodom' fighting with Terzok!

Terzok's cane whipped through the air an terrible speeds, but Sodom easily slid aside from the electrified wood, causing Terzok to become even angrier.

He yelled at the General as he attacked "I AM AS STRONG AS A GENERAL! I WILL TAKE MY RIGHTFUL PLACE! YOU WILL NOT STOP ME! NOBODY WILL!"

He attacked and attacked, but not a single strike landed on the swift General. Then, he vanished to the surprise of everyone there.

Then Terzok's arm, the arm he was holding his cane in, came off at the shoulder.

Terzok looked at the stump in shock. It was bleeding slowly, since his heart wasn't beating, but the pain still reached him, however slight. It took immense injury to make a Zombie feel pain, but losing a limb would certainly do that.

Before he could reach, his other arm fell off too. Before the eyes of Asuma and Shikamaru, the Colonel literally fell to pieces, his head chopped off, his long legs in pieces, his body cut into large even squares, all while that same expression of shock was on Terzok's face.

Sodom appeared about two feet away from the pile of body parts that was Terzok and smiled.

Asuma and Shikamaru were amazed, neither of them could see him make the cuts, nor could they tell when he moved. Asuma was aghast, completely astonished 'That man, he's….he's...he's faster than Gai.'

Sodom raised his left hand and began doing seals. With just that one hand.

Five quick one-handed seals later he merely said "Fuuton: Atsugai" **(2)**

Wind coalesced around Sodom's hand and shot forward toward the immobile pieces of Terzok, obliterating most of them as they were completely vaporized by the number of cuts the technique caused.

Every piece of Terzok was destroyed except for his head. That piece, heavily damaged, flew through the air and landed at the feet of Shikamaru and Asuma.

Half the skin was missing from it, as was one of the eyes and the hair, the nose was missing, but despite all, the head was still conscious.

Terzok spoke to himself, though Shikamaru and Asuma both heard. "To be created for a single purpose, and yet being unable to fulfill that purpose and so reduced to a lesser state of being, how terrible a fate is that? To see what you were meant to be before your eyes and yet only being able to stand in the shadows of the greatness that was meant to be yours which is now held by others, how cruel must fortune be. Is it truly evil to wish to ascend to fulfill my given purpose? Is it so horrible and ambitious to want to be what I was meant to be? For a man to not be a man, and forced to become an ape instead, and then to want to become a man like he was meant to be, is that so horrible? Mortals, remember this."

That was all that Terzok spoke before a smaller blast of wind obliterated the last remains of the Colonel from the world.

Sodom sighed and said "Poor Terzok, never able to accept what he was and continue on with it. If he was patient then he might have one day attained his goal, but instead he chose insolence and met his fate. It is true that he was as strong as a General, and truly he may have defeated a normal General. But he older a General, the stronger he becomes. Myself, Hashirama, Gomorrah, Samson, and Ryuuma, he could not hope to defeat any of us, the ones who were here since the beginning, we who are the greatest of the Generals, we who are strong as Kages ourselves. Foolish boy."

Then Sodom looked at them and said "What do you know, the two targets from way back when. Nara Shikamaru and Rock Lee. How have you been since your failed attempt to rescue the Uchiha?"

The two were staring at him, wondering what he meant. "You remember don't you? I wasn't able to stay for the entire show, but I was able to take in that guy with orange hair. I killed that fatass too. One slice across the throat, he was pathetic."

Shikamaru and Asuma were starting to realize what was going on and their anger was swelling because of it.

Sodom touched a finger to his chin and said "What did he say his name was again? Chinji? Chobi?"

Asuma stood up and drew his trench knives and yelled "IT WAS CHOUJI!"

Sodom looked over and said "Yes, yes that's it. Were you his sensei? You did a pretty bad job you know, you should have trained him better."

Asuma gritted his teeth in anger and said "Shikamaru, I want you to run. This guy beat Terzok easy, and I doubt we could have beaten him. Get out of here, NOW and go check on Ino and Ebisu."

Shikamaru was angry as hell, he was finally standing before the man who killed his best friend, but nodded regardless. Better to escape and fight another day than be obliterated now.

Shikamaru just said "Don't die, Sensei."

Asuma nodded, but said nothing before Shikamaru left using a Shunshin, vanishing into the long grass.

Sodom looked at the spot where Shikamaru vanished and said "I'll just go after him you know, you can't win and he can't escape."

He turned back to Asuma and said "Why do you insist upon causing yourself more…huh?"

Sodom turned and found Asuma breathing smoke. Unlike his fire Jutsu though, this smoke didn't go forward to envelop the target, instead it encircled them both before rising into the air around them in a dome of particles. Asuma closed his mouth and the smoke stopped, but the dome around them stayed.

Asuma smiled and said "This is one of my personal Jutsu, 'Ninpou: Komuriryoua.'**(3)**

Asuma got into his stance and said "It forms a dome around me and my opponent, letting nobody in or out. The dome won't vanish until either I disperse it, or I die, there's no other way out of here since it covers underground too."

Sodom went to one side of the dome and punched it, getting no reaction he slashed at it several times but got nowhere. He looked at Asuma and said "You've signed your death warrant."

Asuma smiled sadly and said "Maybe, but at least Shikamaru and Lee will escape."

Sodom sighed and said "I can't stand you people who give up your lives for others. You make me sick of your constant preaching."

Sodom slid his blades into view and started walking toward Asuma.

Asuma just thought to himself 'Shikamaru, Lee, don't waste the chance I gave you, and say sorry to everyone for me.'

Then Sarutobi Asuma lunged toward the waiting General

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With Shikamaru

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Shikamaru found Ino, Ebisu, Moegi, and Udon, unconscious but alive, in the hotel where they left them. Shikamaru just thought to himself 'Konohamaru's not here.'

Then Shikamaru looked out the window and saw a white dome in the distance. Then, the dome gradually started to vanish, within a minute it was gone completely.

Shikamaru couldn't keep tears from his eyes as he gritted his teeth and thought to himself.

'Sensei'

Then, behind Shikamaru, a door opened and a shadowy figure entered the room.

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Katon: Koufurea- Fire Release: Great Flare. B-rank, A spear of fire that would explode upon contact with anything it couldn't pierce, sending fire in all directions.

Fuuton: Atsugai: Yes this is the same technique as Kakuzu's Wind Mask. You don't think that he's the only one who knows it do you?

Ninpou: Komuriryoua- Ninja Art- Smoke Jail, B-rank. Developed by Sarutobi Asuma. The user would breathe out smoke which would become a thick, impenetrable barrier around the user and the opponent, preventing the opponent from leaving until either the user cancels the technique or dies, though it takes some time after the user dies for the wall to give out.

Right, that's the end of the chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it. Naruto is back up, Terzok is dead, so is Asuma and Konohamaru is captured. Will Lee be alright? What is the Special Zombie like? What will Shikamaru do now that he and his team are defeated? Who is the mysterious shadow that entered Shikamaru's room? Find out next chapter! In the meantime, review this chapter and tell me what you think about this one. What did you think of Terzok's last lament? What did you think about Sodom? What did you think about the chapter in general? TELL ME!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	62. Chapter 62

I greet thee readers and bid thee welcome to the sixty second chapter of Kage no Naruto. I do hope that you will enjoy it and review with your comments and constructive criticisms posthaste.

Right, archaic dialogue aside, I hope you like the chapter, review it and tell me what you think.

Note: I'm going to ask you guys a bit of a favor on behalf of every author on this site. There is a so called author on this site that I have recently been made aware of by the name of Demonic Warlord who has been stealing a number of stories as his own, copying them word for word. A few examples of stories he has stolen would be 'Rise to Power' by Crashtestdummy or 'Phoenix Sannin' by azad439. There are others but those are the only two that I can bring to mind right now. My request is to take a look at this guy's profile, and upon reaching the point of immense disgust by reading his copied work to report the son of a bitch to the site authorities and hopefully get this prick banned. Do everyone here a favor folks. Oh, and don't worry, that douchebag hasn't had the balls to try and steal my ideas yet.

Second Note: For those who were impatient, I tell you again, sometimes inspiration takes time.

With that rather serious stuff out of the way, let's get this show on the road to use an extremely old proverb.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, Kishimoto redeemed himself a bit with this chapter. The thing starts off with Naruto summoning two Kage Bunshin, big surprise. But anyway, he forms a familiar move, the Fuuton: Rasenshuriken. At first I thought this was dumb as hell. Then, he THREW IT.

That's right, you heard me correctly, he THREW the Rasenshuriken, so he avoids the damage that he would take if he did it up close and personal. NARUTO ACTUALLY HAS A NEW MOVE! (Well, kind of) Then, the thing expanded and took out the Human Realm Pein, leaving only Animal Realm, God Realm, and Hell Realm left. My guess is that using Sage Chakra in its creation keeps it stable enough to use at a distance.

The thing goes on, and Gamabunta takes in Animal Realm and Naruto into his mouth to prevent the other two from interfering while Naruto uses TWO Rasengans simultaneously on the Animal Realm Pein, defeating it.

There was also a scene with Shikamaru and his father talking a bit about Naruto being back and Shikamaru's dad said that if he mastered the Sage Arts, that he was on an entirely different level, which so far seems to be true.

The last scene is the God Realm Pein looking at Naruto and saying that it was the end of his Sage Techniques. And it was true, Naruto is out of Sage Chakra, he's back to how he was before and he still has God Realm and Hell Realm to deal with. And let's not forget that Hell Realm can heal the other bodies. Pein is nowhere near out of this fight.

All in all, I think this chapter really redeemed Naruto's fighting ability. It took back the horrible mistake made when he made the Rasenshuriken unusable, and showed that Naruto actually had a bit of common sense in fighting by separating the Pein's and preventing them from working together. Though I still think that Naruto will lose in the end. So, read the chapter if you want, it's actually decent, and with that, let the summary and actual chapter begin.

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END SPOILERS

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Summary of last chapter

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Pretty much, Terzok faced off against Shikamaru, Lee, and Asuma working together while Ino freed Konohamaru and escaped. Terzok managed to handle the three of them for the most part and eventually managed to hit Lee with the cane.

It acted as a king-size taser and completely fried Lee, taking him out of the fight. Soon afterward, Shikamaru and Asuma were on the ropes since Terzok realized Shikamaru's thinking capacity and targeted him because of it.

After a while, Terzok had Shikamaru, who was carrying Lee around, and Asuma on the ropes. Before he could finish them off though, Sodom showed up and attempted to bring Terzok under control, and to take credit for the capture of Asuma and Konohamaru. It turns out that while Asuma and his team were fighting Terzok, Sodom had the rest of the regiment attack Ino and Ebisu, defeating them and capturing both Konohamaru and the gold that they were sent to retrieve.

Sodom left Terzok little choice but to either give up his chance to become a General, or face Sodom right there. In his arrogance and haste, he chose the latter choice.

In a quick battle between the two, Sodom was obviously superior and completely destroyed Terzok, one of the few methods of killing Naruto's Zombies. Terzok had his last lament before death, and Sodom let a little information slip. That Terzok was indeed as powerful as a General, but the eldest five Generals, Sodom, Gomorrah, Samson, Hashirama the Shodaime Hokage, and Ryuuma, were all as strong as Kages themselves and so Terzok didn't have a chance.

With Sodom before them and Terzok, who beat them, destroyed easily by this new foe, Asuma told Shikamaru to run for it. After a moment, Shikamaru did so, taking the disabled Lee with him.

Asuam stopped Sodom from pursuing them by enclosing both Sodom and himself in a jutsu that wouldn't let anyone in or out until either Asuma dispersed it, or Asuma died. He engaged the powerful General Sodom, and that's when I changed the scene.

Shikamaru saw from the hotel where the Soldiers for some reason left Ino, Ebisu, Moegi, and Udon alive. He saw the dome of smoke disperse before a shadowy figure entered the room.

On the home front, Naruto finally woke up, and he has been brought up to speed on the developments that occurred while he was asleep. One particular bit of information stood out though: that the Special Zombie, which Hogback had been working on for three years, was finally complete.

And with expectation in your minds, let the chapter begin!

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In the hotel, with Shikamaru

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Shikamaru was looking out the window to the north as the dome of smoke gradually dissipated, doing his best to control himself and not to cry. It was like when Chouji was found dead.

He mentally berated himself as he watched the smoke clear, proof of Asuma's defeat and death at the hands of Sodom, who according to him also murdered Chouji. 'I wasn't able to do anything. AGAIN! What's the point of being so smart if I can't even protect the people that are closest to me! Chouji and now Asuma-sensei, I failed them both. Chouji, Asuma-sensei, I'm sorry, I failed both of you and you both got killed by that crazed BASTARD!'

Shikamaru slammed his clenched fist against the wall upon the last word, his grief at his teacher's death merging with the lingering pain of Chouji's passing and threatening to overwhelm his self control.

Shikamaru was used to winning. He didn't say it ever, but he took some amount of pride in his ability to out-think and out-smart his opponents, not relying on mass destruction or physical strength to best his foes, but overcoming them with an easy to understand jutsu and careful planning. He could list the number of people that have beaten in a battle of wits on the fingers of one hand, all of them relatives. His father, his grandmother, his grandfather, and his uncle. Those four people defeated him regularly in both Shogi and other mental contests. He was used to it, to losing to his more experienced relatives.

But losing to them never cost lives.

He was confident in both his analytical ability and the mental prowess of his family and it formed a cast-iron shell of confidence and pride around his emotions that prevented an enemy from reading him or his plans before it was too late.

The thing about cast-iron though, is that it's brittle. You just have to hit it in the right place and it will completely shatter.

Right now, with his sensei just killed by the same man who killed his best friend, and not being able to do anything about it, that was all it took to shatter that cast iron shell, his confidence and pride both wounded and wounded terribly.

After a short time, the sadness and despair dwindled as he brought himself under control again, doing his best to reform his composure and regain himself. The emotions weren't gone though, they had simply taken another form and became a driving fire instead of a debilitating weight upon his heart. The cold sadness, putrid guilt, and heavy despair were all gone, replaced by a frozen determination and a burning rage.

His mind had calmed, as it was trained to do. He had yet to accept it, but he knew that there was nothing to be done by grieving now. All he could do for them, was make sure that their murderer paid dearly for the lives he had taken.

'Asuma-sensei, Chouji, I can do at least this for you if nothing else.'

Shikamaru sighed and started to work on the problem of getting the group of unconscious ninja back home when he suddenly detected a subtle movement near the wall.

He immediately whipped out a kunai and shouted "Who's there!?"

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With Sodom

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Sodom was at the battlesite where Terzok had brought the kidnapped Konohamaru. Specifically he was sitting at the battlesite. Upon Asuma's corpse.

Sodom sighed and said "What a bloody mess all this has become. Sure, I got the gold and completed the mission, and captured that Konohamaru brat for the Master. But I didn't get the two targets that really mattered, well I got one, but not alive which is what he would have REALLY liked."

Sodom glanced down at Asuma's pale, lifeless faced and smacked him on the cheek lightly. "You couldn't just give up and release the barrier could you? Noooo, you had to drag things out like a total bore and waste my time. You could have come out of this alive, but you had to go and be a no fun ass."

The General growled deep in his throat and stood up, looking down at the body. He had done a pretty good job of keeping the thing intact. There were a few small cuts on the jacket, and a few upon the limbs that bled a bit. The actual fatal blow couldn't be seen unless you turned Asuma's head far In either direction, then you would see the fine, deep cut upon Asuma's throat, right under the skull, that bled him dry. If it weren't for the color of his face and the massive amount of blood down his front, you wouldn't be able to tell he was dead.

Sodom sighed again and looked over at the town in the distance. 'I COULD go after them, but odds are that they're long gone by now, even with one unconscious and having to be carried. The only reason they might still be in town would be if the Soldiers left his companions alive, which I doubt is the case. Uggh, what a bore, running away and leaving this STIFF" He kicked the corpse at this point, sending a few feet through the air "To keep me occupied, at least with the both of them it could have been slightly amusing."

Before Sodom could go on however, he felt a deep, bone-chilling cold from a pouch at his belt. He quickly opened it up and took out the small picture frame inside, looking at the Portrait Zombie inside he just said "What is it?"

The Zombie was naturally quite nervous, but after a moment he said "Lord Sodom, you are to return immediately to the Castle upon orders of the Master himself. He is preparing his forces to take Houfu once and for all and complete the conquest of Tsuchi no Kuni. All Generals are to immediately report to the Throne Room for their orders."

Sodom smiled widely upon hearing that. 'Maybe, today won't be so boring after all' he thought.

The General nodded and said "Okay, I will return at once, and tell the Master that I have a gift for him."

The Portrait Zombie nodded and left, leaving the picture empty and dark.

Sodom quickly made his way over to Asuma's body, humming all the while, and picked up the dead weight and put it over his shoulder like it was nothing. He then pressed his right hand into the dirt at his feet and using the gem implanted in the flesh of his right arm, he formed a portal to Dark Heaven Castle.

Sodom sank into the darkness upon the ground, his prize over one shoulder, then the darkness vanished and the place was still once more.

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At the Hotel

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A figure came out of the shadows near the door with his hands raised. The figure said "Hold on, I surrender, I'm not an enemy."

Shikamaru was suspicious and rightfully so, his entire team for this mission had been defeated, his sensei killed and his nephew kidnapped by one of Konoha's most vicious enemies. He doubted that there was anyone who could be called an ally before he got to Konoha. He said "Okay then, come into the light, where I can see you."

The figure sighed and then walked forward into the light coming through the window. The light revealed grey skin and dirty matted hair, not to mention numerous stitches. Shikamaru immediately recognized what it was and charged.

The Zombie grabbed Shikamaru's wrist and threw him into the wall. Before he could get away from the wall, the Zombie went through several handseals and pressed his hand against Shikamaru's chest. There was a jolt of electricity and his arms were forced behind his back and his knees bent so that he was kneeling on the ground.

Shikamaru snarled at his captor and said "Okay then, fine you got me, go ahead and finish it then."

The Zombie sighed and pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him. He said "Sorry about this, but it's the only way I could think of to get you to listen, at least before I can get this makeup off. Don't worry about your limbs by the way. A simple Raiton Jutsu that triggers certain muscles in your arms and legs, clenching them to bring your arms and legs to those positions and holds them there for a little while. I would let you go but it can't be turned off, you have to wait it out. You'll be fine in under an hour and that's more than enough time for me to say my piece."

Shikamaru looked at the man sitting before him warily, not believing a word of it, but listening for any possible clue as to this person's identity and a way out of the rather bad situation he thought that he was in.

The Zombie sighed and said "Listen Shikamaru, yes I know who you are, I'm an ANBU that has managed to infiltrate Naruto's forces. It's only been a few days since I got in, but I had to get out at the first chance, and this is it. I know you probably won't believe me, but there you have it."

Shikamaru didn't believe him, but he tried fishing for information. "Okay, so how did you manage to infiltrate Naruto's forces huh? He doesn't take any volunteers that we know of, and if he did I doubt that they're alive for very long. The locations of his Headquarters is a complete secret that even the combined spy networks of Konoha, Suna, and Jiraiya-sama could not locate given three years to try. How did you manage to infiltrate a group that cannot be found except when they want to be?"

The man groaned and said "I guess I should have expected the interrogation from someone like you. Okay listen, I was with an infiltration group assigned to spy on Naruto's forces. Me and my squad witnessed his attack upon Iwagakure." He shuddered once before continuing on "After the, well fight, every last one of them started heading into these gigantic black portals that led god knows where. We managed to knock out one of the grunts, and using some special makeup we had on hand, dressed me up to look like that guy as best we could, and we did a pretty good job. If Ebisu were a bit more senior he would probably have such stuff as well as the ointment that will get this crap off of me. I took that Zombie's place in the queue, and went through like any other Zombie. When I got to the other side, I was at Naruto's HQ simple as that. I stayed there and gathered what Intel I could until now, when I made my escape at first opportunity. If you want proof, bring me to Tsunade and she'll back up my story, as will the fact that the zombie we knocked out is most likely being interrogated right now."

Shikamaru looked at the ground, considering his options. The guy had him over a barrel, but a lot of things rode on his believing this person. He looked up and said "How do I know that you are telling the truth? If I bring you to Konoha, you could wreak a lot of havoc before the guards catch up with you. Why should I trust you enough to bring you to the Hokage?"

The ANBU in disguise smiled and said "Well, I've already saved the lives of your teammates here." He indicated to the sleeping Ebisu and Ino.

Before Shikamaru could ask he went on "I was in the group that came up here to take them all out. I couldn't do anything to prevent Konohamaru-sama's capture to my deepest regret, but I could at least stop the Zombies from killing Ebisu and the rest of them, leaving them unconscious instead. If you still don't believe me then I am willing to allow you to take me prisoner until we reach Konoha. So, what do you say?"

Shikamaru was thinking furiously. If this guy was telling the truth, then he was a drink of water in a desert when it came to information. Konoha and its ally Suna have been hunting for every scrap of information on Naruto they could and they came up with surprisingly little. The best they could do was show where he had attacked with his army so far and hope to predict the next attack point. They had very little solid information on his hierarchy, his plans, and what he might be after. For the most part, it was a complete blur and whatever information this supposed spy had could be of critical importance.

The main problem was, as it was before, whether or not to believe him. Since he gave so many possible ways to check his story and with a gift in good faith already given, he was making himself seem very believable. If he turned out to be a fake however then he would be able to wreak a lot of damage to Konoha if he got inside. Every consequence that would occur if he turned out to be an enemy would be on his head.

Shikamaru thought about it for a long moment before finally saying "Alright, I'm not sure I believe you, but I'll at least bring you to the Hokage. She'll be the ultimate proof to your story."

The ANBU nodded and leaned back in his chair, pleased.

The reason for Shikamaru's decision was simple. It wasn't because he actually believed him enough to bring him to the village, nor was it because he could provide information. The only real reason that Shikamaru agreed to bring him to Konoha was so that he could help carry Ebisu and the others back to the village. It was five people in all, he needed the help.

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Dark Heaven Castle, Throne Room

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Sodom walked into the Throne Room at the seventh floor of the Castle, its steepled ceiling above him. He walked forward upon the red carpet that led through the decorated hall to the throne and table.

Sodom came before the table of black and white marble, flecked with silver, and kneeled in his proper place in the line. Specifically, the line of Generals that were before the table. Most of the chairs at the table were empty, save four. The tall chairs of bronze and silver in which the Enigmas sat, and the even taller gold, gem-encrusted heavily cushioned throne upon which Naruto himself sat were all occupied. The wooden chairs of the Sound Four and other human servants were empty.

The Generals knelt upon one knee, heads bowed, in a line from right to left depending on their order of creation. On the far right, according to Naruto's perspective, knelt Ryuuma, GZ-001. Next to him knelt Sodom, GZ-003, beside him was Gomorrah, GZ-004. Then came Samson, GZ-005 and then Hashirama,GZ-006. Then there was Sakumo, GZ-007 and then Zabuza, GZ-008, followed by the youngest General, the four-armed Grievous, GZ-009.

The Niidaime Hokage, Senju Hakushin was GZ-002, and Zodd was GZ-010, but they were no longer alive hence the inconsistency in the numbers. They all waited patiently for their Master to give them their orders, to lead them to greatness.

Naruto smiled and said "Sodom, I take it that your mission was a success?"

Said General smiled as he nodded his bowed head and said "Of course, Master. I also brought in two that you may have an interest in. Sarutobi Konohamaru, grandson of the Sandaime Hokage, as well as his uncle, Sarutobi Asuma. However, I was unable to capture Asuma alive, I beg your forgiveness Highness."

A dark glint entered Naruto's eyes as he heard the news. His voice was low, and had a tinge of excitement as he said "Oh really? Well then we should get this done with quickly so that I may enjoy your gifts General."

Naruto sat up in his chair and put his elbows upon the table before he said "Now then, to business."

He swept his arm over the table and the Generals looked up as a map appeared in the air over the table. It was a Genjutsu that Naruto had put over everyone in the room to give the briefing.

The map depicted a city, defended on three sides by mountains, and on the fourth side lay a great wall. It was the capital of Tsuchi no Kuni, Houfu.

Naruto said "It is finally time that Houfu joined my holdings. While true that their wall is indeed a great obstacle, it is not impossible to overcome. The only people who shall take part in this mission are myself, all of you, and the Soldiers we have posted to enforce the blockade. Today, Houfu will fall, the Daimyo's head will roll, and Tsuchi no Kuni shall be mine in its entirety!"

Absalom raised the issue "But Naruto-sama, how will you breach the Kongoubenso? Even fifty Soldiers, armed specifically with weaponry made to pierce walls and defenses, could only do so much. The wall will attack anyone who seeks to harm the city and will heal itself if damaged. How can something like that possibly be bested!?"

Naruto smiled and said "My dear Absalom. I have given it great thought, and you are correct. Something like that CAN'T be bested. It is truly impossible, even with my new powers, to destroy that wall. I don't think anything short of a God really could."

Before any questions could be raised Naruto continued "However, simply because it cannot be destroyed does not mean that it cannot be bypassed. We won't break through the wall, we shall simply go through the open doors. I will open them myself, before you can ask how. The Switch Room that contains the leavers that will open and close the gates is on the top of the wall, clearly in view and guarded only by two soldiers outside and the guards patrolling the top of the wall. I will fly to the top, kill the guards, and open the doors for my forces to enter the city and destroy those who oppose me!"

Absalom nodded, the plan was a good one. But Perona raised another issue. "But Naruto-sama, the Switch Room cannot be opened except by the key, it can't be forced open. The lock and door are set with numerous seals so that only the key would be able to open them and that key is only in the hands of the Commander of the Army of Tsuchi no Kuni, whose location is unknown. How will you get the key?"

Naruto smiled at Perona and merely said "Well spotted Perona-chan. You're right, I doubt that I will be able to break through the door to the Switch Room. But I have a plan to deal with that as well."

Before anyone could ask any other questions, Naruto stood up and said "Generals, we leave immediately. Today, Houfu becomes mine!"

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Houfu, at the blockade wall

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Ever since Naruto commanded it, one hundred Soldier Zombies have been manning the wall before the Kongoubenso. They had turned back or captured every caravan, any travelers, or idiotic adventurer who was on his way to the capital of Tsuchi no Kuni. They had repelled several assaults by the army protecting the great city, killing or capturing several hundred soldiers. After all this time, the people of Houfu began to lose hope that they may ever leave the city alive again.

Inside the wall, the soldiers kept a constant vigil for any signs of a possible attack. Many of them were civilians pressed into service and quickly trained by the actual soldiers, in other words given a crash course on how to use a sword and a spear, and to always obey orders first and think about them later, if ever. Beyond that, they were taught how to go on patrol and take care of their arms and armor before given the official title of lowest scumbags in the army for everyone else to spit on.

So far, nothing had happened since Naruto left them last, the only real difference was that the stored food in the city was starting to run out. If they couldn't get a food shipment in, or get everyone out, then eventually everyone would starve. But then again, that's exactly what Naruto threatened them with. Surrender and be taken as slaves or killed, or continue fighting and die of starvation.

Still, some people had hope that perhaps the Tsuchikage would defeat him and rescue everyone from the horrible situation, but that hope never came to pass and the possibility was completely killed when A dark hole appeared before the barricade wall manned by Naruto's forces, and nine individuals stepped out. The eight General Zombies, and Naruto himself.

Naruto looked up at the sentries upon the wall as they scrambled for a superior officer and smiled as the ants did their grunt work. Before any sort of plan could be made, Naruto spoke. He held a handseal and put chakra in his voice to make it carry and spoke normally, though his voice carried throughout the entire city.

He said to them "People of Houfu, I have returned as I said I would. Barragan Luisenbarn, the Tsuchikage, is dead by my hand, every Iwagakure ninja has been slain and Iwa itself has been razed to the ground! I now stand before you, seeking an answer to my previous question, a reply to my generous offer to let you keep your lives. Do not believe however that it shall be unending slavery should you agree however. It will only be an indenture, a debt to work off. You shall be put to work and earn your freedom. Now give thought, and decide, shall you choose an indenture, a few years at most of work before being set free, or shall I simply keep up this wall here and let you all starve. Think of your children, your families, do you truly wish them to face such a fate? Send out a person of suitable rank to parley with me with your answer."

Naruto released the handseal and smiled as he heard the people scramble inside the city. His hearing had increased even more since his transformation upon absorbing the massive power of the Demon Lord Kyuubi. He could imagine what would happen from there, given his wording. The General of the army would have no choice but to either show up himself or send a very highly ranked replacement. Then he would make his move.

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Ten minutes later

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Sure enough, before long the gates to the great wall opened and a flamboyantly dressed man stepped out. He held a white flag on a pole held in one hand over his shoulder. He walked toward the towering Naruto with confidence in his step and bearing, he was most likely a very highly placed officer.

Eventually the man reached Naruto and plunged the flag into the ground. He put one hand to his eyes and looked up and asked "So then, you're the Corpsetaker, Naruto?"

He looked down at the man and nodded before speaking. "And you are?"

The man puffed out his chest, apparently very pleased with himself as he said "Indeed, I am Colonel Gongen, second in command of the army in whole. Now then, shall we get to business?"

Naruto nodded and snapped his fingers. The shadows around them immediately responded, slithering and taking form around them. Gongen looked around and asked "Hey, what's going on?"

Naruto held up one hand and said "Calm yourself. I do not think that we should hold negotiations in the hot afternoon sun, I am merely giving us a little shade, that's all."

The officer was nervous as the shadows came up over their heads, forming a box of shadow around them, where the light of day could not reach, and nobody could see inside.

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Inside the 'Tent'

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Inside the box of darkness, nothing could be seen. The Military Officer looked around frantically for a possible light, but couldn't see or hear anything before his arms were grabbed by something and pulled behind his back. Then all of a sudden he couldn't move at all, he didn't know why, but it was as if someone touched a nerve that paralyzed his entire body.

He was terrified, panicked, and tried to call out for help, but his mouth wouldn't move. It was as paralyzed as the rest of him.

Then he heard a voice. It was calm, cultured, and flowed like water, clear and pure. The voice asked "_What is your name_?"

Gongen couldn't do anything, but his mouth began to move of its own accord, air exited his lungs and his lips formed the words "Gongen Masaru, Colonel of the Army of Tsuchi no Kuni."

The voice returned and asked "_Who is the General of the Army?"_

Gongen tried to not speak at all but his mouth moved of its own accord again, and it frightened him as it did. "The General is Sukunushi, Sukunushi Kei."

The voice spoke again, he couldn't tell where from and it asked "_The General is the only one who has a key to the Switch Room, is that correct?"_

Gongen tried to still his body, but his head nodded of its own accord. Then the voice asked another question "_Where does he keep it? Where does he keep the key to the Switch Room?"_

The captured Officer tried to resist but again his body acted without his brain's consent and spoke "He keeps it upon his person at all times, he never leaves it out of his sight."

There was silence for a moment before the voice asked again "_Where is the General right now?"_

The same thing occurred, he spoke without wanting to, giving information he did not want to give up. "He is in the Switch Room waiting for my signal to open the doors for re-entry to the city. He doesn't trust anyone else in there right now so he runs the room himself, keeping it locked whenever he's not there which is quite often."

There was silence, and then the voice sounded one last time _"Thank you mortal, you have been a great help."_

Then everything went black.

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Outside

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To everyone watching, the tent of darkness burst into shreds and rejoined the darkness around it, the shadows of the mountains and the walls. To every onlooker, the military officer saluted Naruto and began to walk back after Naruto nodded his head.

What those people wouldn't see would be the lack of life in Naruto's eyes, the lack of something critical.

They also wouldn't notice the something new in the Colonel's eyes. The new hardness of his eyes. The new cruelty, the new malice, the new arrogance and ambition that subtly wormed its way into his walking patterns and bearing, they wouldn't notice the new glint of madness in his eyes. They wouldn't notice the new ring on his left hand, gold and set with diamonds, silently humming with power.

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Okay, that's the chapter. Naruto is officially back in the spotlight, you can all rejoice, and I shall leave you on that gigantic cliffhanger leaving nother explained until next time. Why? Because I take pleasure in others' pain and it seemed like a good place to stop.

So then, I hope you will all review and feel free to pass around theories, point out flaws or particularly good points, and until then I bid you good night.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	63. Chapter 63

Welcome my faithful readers, I am here today to bring you yet another chapter of Kage no Naruto. The sixty third chapter, honestly I have to wonder how many chapters this thing will have before I finally finish it. Well, we'll know when we know, and not a moment before. So, enjoy the chapter, review at the end, and I will see you at the ending note.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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In the latest Naruto chapter, this is actually getting good. It's like when the series when it started, original, good, things as they were meant to be. Naruto is fighting Pein with everything he's got and though he's making a lot of progress, is still nowhere near victory.

He ran out of Sage Chakra, so God Realm Pein went after Naruto. He still doesn't have his powers back yet so he was using close combat. Naruto retreated, unclasping the scroll from his back while Gamabunta held of God Realm for a while, however it didn't work and Pein got in front of Naruto. Naruto threw the scroll to Fukusaku and went hand-to-hand with Pein, losing rather badly.

Then Fukusaku opened the scroll and used a 'Reverse Summoning Jutsu', and summoned a Naruto shadow clone from Myobokuzan, one of two. Apparently, Naruto made two Shadow Clones before they left and had them gather Sage Chakra. When he summons one and dispels it, all of the Sage Chakra it gathered will go back to the original. So Naruto got back into Sage Mode and after Gamabunta got out of the way, he started up another Rasen-shuriken, throwing it at God Realm Pein.

God Realm stood there, and Hungry Ghost Realm got in the way and absorbed it. Naruto was shocked because he had already defeated Hungry Ghost Realm, and then looked over and saw Hell Realm with that monster of his in full view, probably reviving another Pein. Then everything clicked and Naruto realized that Hell Realm is the 'Key Pein' the one that can bring dead bodies back, and the hypothesis was strengthened when he remembered the beginning of the battle, when the six Peins got in formation, he was at the very back. He came to the conclusion that if he was to win, he had to take out Hell Realm before any other.

He forms two Rasengans, using Shadow Clones as always, and has one clone use some smoke bombs to hide himself from Pein. Then a Rasen-shuriken comes out of nowhere toward Hungry Ghost Realm. He attempts to block it, but it was the original Naruto, in disguise. Judging by that statement, it would seem that Hungry Ghost Realm can also absorb clones of any kind.

Hungry Ghost Realm gets tackled by Naruto to the ground while another Rasen-shuriken, a real one, comes straight at God Realm. Then, just before it hits, God Realm deflects it. That's right, God Realm's ability is back in force, so now he has TWO enemies who can stop his most powerful attacks cold.

Then, in the last page, another Naruto comes out of the sky with those two Rasengans in hand, and smashed them into Hell Realm. So now he only has Hungry Ghost Realm, and God Realm to deal with, but keep in mind that those two are the most dangerous, not to mention the REAL Pein that is controlling all six bodies from somewhere. Naruto is doing very well for himself, but I don't think that he's going to win in the end.

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END SPOILERS

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Summary of Last Chapter

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Sodom killed Asuma, boo-hoo. Shikamaru met up with the ANBU spy who managed to escape Naruto's fortress alive, and with his help plans to return to Konoha with the unconscious teammates in tow.

On another front, Sodom went back to Dark Heaven Castle with the body of Asuma in tow and gave Naruto his official report, letting Naruto know that he has both Konohamaru and Asuma in his custody, though Konohamaru is the only one still alive. The Generals were gathered together and left with Naruto for Houfu, the capital of Tsuchi no Kuni and the only thing standing between him and total conquest.

At Houfu, Naruto opened negotiations with Houfu, and spoke in private with a high ranking officer of the army. Once the two were alone however, he forced several pieces of information from the man and when they parted, Naruto looked lifeless while the man from Houfu looked different, his eyes had changed, not physically but what was behind them. He also had a golden ring, set with diamonds, on his right hand.

What did Naruto do to the Military Officer? How does Naruto plan to conquer Houfu? Will the plan work? Read the chapter and find out!

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At the gates of the Kongoubenso, Houfu, Tsuchi no Kuni

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Colonel Gongen, the second highest ranked officer in the entire Houfu Army, approached the gigantic steel doors of the Kongoubenso. He raised one hand to bring attention to himself. A few moments later, the first door opened, slowly and soundlessly.

The Colonel walked through the first gate, and discovered about ten feet of space, followed by a second gate, identical to the first. The door behind him closed, cutting off the view of the assembled Zombies, and their Master who was currently sitting down upon the wall, absently staring into space. The Colonel looked back at the group and smiled as the door behind him closed and the second door opened further inward through the wall.

This process was repeated twice more past the second door before he made his way out of the Kongoubenso, finally reaching the other side and the Houfu proper.

The Colonel looked around quickly at the outskirts of the great city which held a population of roughly two hundred thousand people at the last census. The buildings were in reasonably good condition, but there was an air of despair about the place, the shuttered windows, and firmly closed doors, the lack of movement, of human life in general gave an air of fear and complete dread, the hopelessness of the helpless before a mighty predator. Any human being would be easily unnerved by it. The Colonel however, just stood there, and took a deep breath, taking it all in like a normal man might take in a pleasant Sunday morning.

A junior officer came out of a nearby door in the wall and saluted his superior. He immediately said "Sir, General Masakado wishes to see you in his office immediately to discuss your meeting with the Corpsetaker, sir!"

The Colonel looked over and mimicked the salute with careful precision and said "Very well, tell the General that I shall be there momentarily."

The officer however remained where he was and said "I'm sorry sir, but by direct orders of the General I am to escort you to his office."

Gongen sighed, but did not press the issue. He merely gestured with one hand and said "Very well then, lead on."

The Sergeant led Colonel Gongen through a good distance of passageway and corridor, all of it built throughout the wall. This was the fortress built into the wall itself, on the Houfu side before the diamond matrix about halfway through. It hosted a large complex of rooms and corridors that made for both the base of operations and the barracks of Tsuchi no Kuni's armed forces. Its purpose was one simple goal: Protect the Daimyo and his city.

Eventually, the two military officers came to a large door of chestnut and the Sergeant stood to the side and saluted the higher ranked officer as he stepped forward to the door, saying only "General Masakado's office sir."

The Colonel nodded and said "Very good, dismissed." As he neared the door and started to reach for the handle.

Before the Sergeant left though, he looked back and asked "Excuse me sir, but did you get a haircut or something? I don't know how to say it, but something about you seems… different."

Colonel Gongen looked over his shoulder and smiled before he said "I have no idea what you are talking about." before he opened the door to the General's study and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

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General Masakado's study

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Colonel Gongen stepped into the General's study as he was tucking something into the breast pocket of his uniform. He took notice of his right hand man and said "Ahh, Colonel, I see that you have at least returned intact from a conversation with that monster. Now then, sit down and we shall decide on what to do next."

Then the General went around his desk and sat in the large chair there, gesturing at the chair across from him, which Gongen quickly sat down in.

The Colonel looked over the man before him, the commander in chief of Tsuchi no Kuni's armed forces, General Masakado. He was a man getting on in years, somewhere between his late fifties and mid-sixties. His hair was silver and was held in a single tail that reached almost to his neck. His skin was a light tan color of being in the sun everyday for a long time, and he had a fair number of wrinkled, though not nearly so many as one would expect. His uniform was black and was decorated with a decent number of medals upon his chest, though it was nowhere near every medal that he had earned, wearing all of them at once would leave hardly any room left on his tunic. He also had a considerable amount of gold braid upon each wrist. His eyes were cold and piercing and left no doubts about the large amounts of experience he had on the battlefield as either a soldier or an officer.

Said man leaned back in his chair somewhat and asked "So, what is that monster demanding of us? Unconditional surrender? A pint of blood a month from everyone in the city? Five rooms filled with gold and three rooms filled with silver? What's his offer to leave us alone?"

Gongen sighed and said "He says that if we surrender then we will be made indentured servants to him and forced to work in the mines until we pay off our debt, at which point we would be freed. The actual debt is five thousand Ryo for each person, regardless of age or skill. He didn't go into much more detail than that. He said that if we agree to those terms and surrender peacefully, he would not attack."

The General burst out laughing at the end of the speech and after a moment he said "He really thinks we'll surrender? If he's actually taken Iwa then good for him ,but he won't take us. There's no way he'll get past the wall, and even if he did, we have over ten thousand men ready to ram down his throat. Let him come, we'll do the same to him and everyone else who stands against us as we did to those fifty creatures who attacked a week or so ago. We'll do to them what we did to those other ones and leave the world better off for it."

The Colonel nodded solemnly and asked "Then, what are your orders sir?"

Masakado looked at his highest ranked officer and said "Oversee the defense of the walls. I wouldn't put it past that bastard to find some way to fly to the top, so make sure that there are plenty of archers there to intercept any possible aerial attack. Beyond that, we wait for him to make the first move. Dismissed."

The Colonel nodded and stood, but before he turned to leave, he said "I'm sorry sir, but I have one other piece of business to bring up before I go."

Masakado stood and stretched his arms over his head and asked "Oh? And what's that?"

Colonel Gongen drew his military issue katana from his belt and said "The matter of your death sir."

Masakado's eyes widened and he immediately moved back to avoid the first strike. He quickly pulled a sword from where it was on display upon the wall and held it in a defensive stance. "What the HELL do you think you're doing Gongen!?" he yelled. "Do you have ANY idea what the penalties are for drawing your sword on a superior officer!?"

Gongen merely nodded and swept his sword toward the General's head, continuing the chain of attacks. Masakado however either avoided or blocked every attack.

"Fine then" he snarled "you leave me no choice. GUARD!"

Immediately after calling for aid, the General launched a furious series of blows with the precision, strength, and speed of a level far past Master. Gongen fought well, but in the end his defense was overwhelmed. Masakado swept his sword toward the traitorous Colonel's eyes, and as soon as he raised his sword to block the attack, he shifted the target and movement, and sank the blade into the treacherous officer just under the sternum.

The Colonel looked down as he took at least a foot of cold steel into his body. Then he looked at Masakado with a strange expression. Then he did something that disconcerted even the experienced General, who had seen many things that humans should not have to see upon the battlefield. He laughed. Colonel Gongen had over a foot of steel in his body and he laughed. That laugh was colder than mountaintops, colder than the ice that coated the seas to the North, it was cruel, arrogant and it chilled General Masakado to the bone.

Then Gongen looked the General in the eyes, still laughing. Almost immediately, the aged General felt a strange _tug_ at his mind. Like his thoughts were being drawn elsewhere. His vision blurred, and all he could see was Colonel Gongen's eyes, as they grew larger and larger, dominating his sight.

Then, everything was as it was before, his vision crystalline and clear. The only difference was that he had a blinding pain in his chest, just under his sternum. He looked down, and saw the uniform of a Colonel, a sword in his chest. He looked up, and saw himself holding the sword. He murmured something unintelligible, and then everything went dark.

Above him, General Masakado reached down and took the golden ring from Colonel Gongen's finger, slipping it on to his left hand just as a group of fully armed soldiers burst into the room.

The lead soldier immediately went over to him and asked "What's wrong sir? What's happened to the Colonel?"

Masakado sighed and said "Colonel Gongen attacked me without provocation. He was yelling nonsense the entire time and I was forced to defend myself. I imagine that the Corpsetaker did something to his mind while they spoke. I should have known that something like this would happen. I was an IDIOT to actually send someone out there."

The soldier shook his head and said "It wasn't your fault sir, nobody could have known what that son of a bitch would do, you did the right thing. All we can do now is give the Colonel a proper burial."

Masakado nodded sadly and said "Yes, see to it. I must go to the wall, I have to make sure that he isn't trying anything."

Every soldier in the room saluted him as he left his office, and General Masakado smiled a very wide smile as he strode away from the dead body of the Colonel, and from his office, ascended several flights of stairs, and finally emerged to the top of the wall.

The view was extraordinary from the top of the Kongoubenso. He could see for miles into the distance, beyond the valley in which Houfu was situated. He looked back and saw the city itself, vast and sprawling, containing hundreds of thousands of humans inside. If he looked hard enough, he could see a small alcove by the side of a nearby street, an entry for rainwater to the underground sewer systems which all dumped into the sea. Near the beginning of the siege, there was a plan to escape through the sewers, but a stealthy raiding party reported that there were a lot of Naruto's creatures on the other side, ready and waiting. After that, there could be no escape. They had to take Naruto's forces down or sit there until they died.

There were also the entrances to the mines, carved into the mountains. There were numerous sprawling tunnels and excavations throughout the mountains that surrounded the city. There was more space in the mines then there was in the city, since they had been worked on for so long. However, nobody took shelter there during the attacks. Lord Yokushin had barred the mines since the beginning of the siege, for reasons of his own.

Masakado looked down the wall, and about halfway down it, he saw the large stone structure that had only a single steel door guarded by a pair of fully armed soldiers. The door was set with enough seals by Lord Yokushin's personal guard that there was no way that anybody could force open the door, and if anyone tried, then they would regret it. The only way to open that door was with the key, which currently rested in General Masakado's breast pocket. This was the Switch Room, the only place where one could open or close the gates of the Kongoubenso.

The General strode down the wall, until he reached the two guards. They saluted him and then he dismissed them for the day. Strictly obedient, they left without a word, the mark of a good rank-and-file soldier. Masakado smiled as he took the key from his pocket, unlocked the steel door, and went inside, closing the door behind him.

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Inside the Switch Room

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The switch room wasn't much to look at really. There were three metal structures, each of which had four levers sticking out of it, all twelve of them currently in the upright position. Each of these levers opened or closed one of the four doors that blocked each of the three passages through the Kongoubenso.

He wasted no time in sealing the door behind him. It couldn't be locked from the inside, so he quickly bit through the skin of one finger deeply, resulting in a steady flow of blood. Using the blood as ink, he drew a complicated seal around the door, and a specific symbol in the middle of the door itself. The only thing was that the symbol was only half there, it wasn't finished.

He flooded the seal with chakra, activating it, and before long a steady hum of power could be heard as the seal blocked any would be intruder from opening the door, which was now chakra-locked. The unfinished symbol represented the keystone, the key being a specific chakra code which would complete the symbol and undo the seal, allowing it to be opened. However since there were literally billions of possible combinations and only one specific code would open the lock, one could be quite sure that nobody would be opening that door any time soon.

Masakado staggered with fatigue after he activated the seal. 'Damn it' he thought 'this body isn't used to channeling chakra, so this geezer's body will keel over at any second. Got to do this quick and get back.'

He then staggered over to the first structure, and quickly pulled each of the four levers, in sequecnce. He then repeated the process with the other two structures. With all of the levers down, all twelve of the Kongoubenso's doors began to open, allowing Naruto's forces inside.

The General pressed his palms together and opened his mouth wide. After a moment, a cold energy leaked from between his lips. It was dark blue and black in appearance and radiated cold, merciless and uncaring. The energy flowed from his mouth and soon from his eyes as it floated below the ceiling, a large, nebulous cloud of darkly sparkling lights. Before the energy finally stopped flowing and the General's body fell to the ground, the entire room was filled with these motes of light.

This entire nebulous cloud, this entire structure, was Naruto, his spirit, his being.

Every Necromancer with the right knowledge can possess another human being, but those are permanent deals, switching the consciousness in the body to be taken with their own, meaning that the previous owner of the new body would now reside in the one the Necromancer had. No Necromancer, no mortal, could remove their being from their body however.

Naruto, quite simply put, did not absolutely need his body to exist anymore, not since he took in Kyuubi's strength. While it is true that his mortal shell had taken a great change and was indeed his original body, the body could die and yet he would still survive as a creature of spirit, all of his powers intact. The only problem would be that he wouldn't be able to manipulate the world around him without a physical shell to use. Outright possession was a tiring exercise, the body and mind would defend themselves against the invading presence, and it was dangerous to be out in sunlight without a physical body. But make no mistake, simply killing Naruto's body would no longer necessarily mean his death. His body was difficult to kill, it wasn't mortal, but it wasn't his only means of survival any longer.

The motes of light were the form of manifestation in the real world that he chose at the moment, and the sheer size of the cloud indicated how strong he was, how much energy he wielded. He had eaten and taken the powers of a Demon Lord, and while it wasn't anything compared to even the weakest God, it was still immense.

That was how he would continue to exist should his body ever get killed, as a construct of his choosing. If that ever happened, if his body were ever killed, his spirit would continue to exist. From there, he could manifest a body using ectoplasm, matter from the Spirit World, and create a body by infusing it with energy to make it real. From there, if that body got killed, he could create yet another one, and another one. At this point, the only way to destroy Naruto would be to destroy or seal his very being, the part of him that was more than merely physical. He had simply surpassed a merely mortal existence.

The motes of light swirled and then formed a column that surged through one wall and out into the early morning sunlight, diving immediately into the nearby shadow of the wall, avoiding the light. It surged like a tempest through the shadows of the mountains, away from the wall and toward the barricade, toward the Generals and Naruto's forces, before it dived into his original body, flooding into it as it sat in the shadow of the wall. The motes of light disappeared down his throat and through his skin, until finally, the nebulous cloud of light vanished into the tall form.

Naruto opened his eyes and stood up. Then he watched as the gates of the Kongoubenso finished opening, leaving a clear passage inside.

Naruto smiled as he took his sword in one hand, and his staff in the other, as he looked forward at the city and said a single word. 'Attack'

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One hour later

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One hour. That's all it took, one hour to conquer a city. One hour in which one hundred undead warriors and their eight Generals defeated an army of ten thousand men. It was a simple enough matter. While the soldiers were many, they were but men, nowhere near a threat, even in numbers, against the eight Generals working in tandem, not to mention Naruto himself behind them and prepared to offer assistance should any General actually get overwhelmed.

The Soldiers weren't really a major part in the battle, they were there as backup. It was the Generals who truly won the battle, if you could call it that. Sodom, Gomorrah, Samson, Ryuuma, and Hashirama were all there and even a squad of Jounin wouldn't be able to take one of those five on four-on-one. Ten thousand vanilla mortals didn't stand a chance. Their highest officers were dead or missing, the chain of command was broken and their morale was low. It didn't take very long for the entire force to retreat after they saw what was coming for them. Not a single civilian opened their doors or windows, they took in conscripted family members, but that was it. They stayed quiet, and hoped that they wouldn't be killed by the new ruler of Houfu.

The soldiers who didn't manage to obtain refuge were captured, and enchained. They were prisoners of war, and nothing else. Naruto had given the order to capture every soldier possible for their shadow. With them, they would create legions of Soldier Zombies with military training. After this battle, Naruto's ranks would greatly swell, more than quintuple in size with fresh Soldiers. That was if they captured even half of the ten thousand man army. They captured eight tenths.

Now, Naruto was standing outside of the Imperial Palace, the home of Lord Yokushin, King of Tsuchi no Kuni. The place was extremely overdone, as though it was made to compensate for every flaw its designer had. Gold embossing, statues, everything a noble could blow money on was here.

The gates weren't defended, and so Naruto lightly jumped over them, and was quickly joined by four of his Generals, Grievous, Gomorrah, Samson, and Sodom.

The battle was over, but they had yet to take care of one loose end, Lord Yokushin and his twelve ninja guards. Although he doubted that they would truly be a threat, Naruto did not get to where he was by taking unnecessary risks, no matter how low the chances were. They swiftly walked to the front door of the palace and Samson kicked down the door, a loud ringing of iron meeting iron as his armored heel hit the door and sent it half-way off its hinges.

The armored Zombies drew his blade, the Raijin, and looked around the main foyer before nodding at the others to follow him.

The five of them entered the palace, and could not help but notice that everything was overdone and had little taste in decoration. Naruto was not against lavish decoration, but he drew the limit or reasonable extravagance at the Palace of Versailles. The Palace of Houfu crossed that line.

The five of them walked through the foyer and when they were about halfway across the floor, four figures jumped from the shadows of the ceiling, weapons drawn.

The four Generals acted on pure instinct and surrounded Naruto on four sides, weapons at the ready, and immediately launched an attack staying right where they were. Samson shot lightning from the Raijin, Grievous blew his enemy into the wall with a gust of wind, cracking open his skull. Gomorrah spat acid and dissolved the head of his opponent, while Sodom simple created a Kage Bunshin and threw it into the air where it slit the man's throat before he caused it to vanished and recovered the chakra.

The Generals had acted solely upon instinct, acting upon their foremost objective, Naruto's safety. The purpose of the Generals was two-fold. The first was to command the lesser ranked Zombies in battle to lead them to victory, but the Second, which took precedence over the first, was to act as Naruto's body guards first and foremost. If at any time Naruto was in danger, the Generals would do anything and everything in their power to ensure that he escaped alive and unharmed. Naruto had grown paranoid over the three years and he was taking every measure to ensure his safety.

Naruto nodded to the four of them, and then moved on, the Generals right behind him.

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Before the Daimyo's bedroom

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Two men stood in front of the door to Lord Yokushin's bedroom, where the man was cowering in fear after he heard that the gates had been breached. These two were the only remaining members of the twelve guardians of the Earth Lord. The other ten had already been slain by the intruders.

Of the two, one had long white hair that reached his middle back, while the other had black hair that was cut short. The white haired one held an elegant sword in his hand, delicately made and of high quality. The other held a sword as large as he was. The two had seen what had happened to their brothers in arms. They had been systematically slaughtered the moment they attacked. The Corpsetaker hadn't touched them, or even stopped moving. He simply walked on and his followers prevented any attack from reaching him.

The two of them knew that they were unlikely to win the battle, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't try.

That was what they thought until the party of five finally stepped around the corner and began walking toward them.

The white haired man felt the immense power coming towards them and froze, shocked at the sheer power that he sensed. The man had been in over five thousand instances of combat, so he was pretty good at estimating how powerful his opponent was by feeling their chakra. But in this case, even the most powerful enemy that he had ever faced was nowhere near a satisfactory baseline to how much chakra he felt coming from the five of them.

'Is it five times as much as Barragan? Ten times? More?' he thought to himself as he struggled to keep from shaking in fear at the immense strength that he could feel from the five as they moved, coldly and precisely down the hallway toward them, the only sound when the armored ones boots touched the ground.

Then, the one with the green hair vanished and the white haired man knew no more. The black haired man drew his sword, all six feet of it and swung at the figure who stood where he comrade had fallen, only to feel a pain in the back of his neck before everything went black.

When Naruto finally arrived outside the room, he just walked through the door, not even paying either of the two corpses his slightest notice.

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Inside the bedroom

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Naruto found Yokushin hiding behind his bed. The noble was still wearing his normal trappings, extravagant as the palace itself. Chains of pearls and gems surrounded his neck, gold upon his chest and arms, jewels in his ears and on his fingers, he saw that a scepter of gold and gems was sitting on a nearby stand, next to a gigantic crown that was almost three feet high. Naruto had no idea how someone would be able to move without it falling off short of having it bolted to one's skull.

He approached the quivering noble. He was a small man with short black hair, clad in fine robes and over extravagant jewelry. He wasn't a very imposing figure at all. Naruto looked at him with unveiled malice as he asked "You know who I am?"

The man shuddered and nodded once, ducking his head between his knees and his arms over his head. Naruto smiled at the action and said "Good, then this will go faster. Here, sign this." He said this as he produced a scroll from a pocket and put it under the man's nose. "Sign this and I will let you live."

The man didn't say a word, he immediately took the scroll and dashed over to a nearby writing desk, flipped open the scroll and quickly signed it upon the line before handing it back and running for the door.

Naruto appeared in front of him, scroll in hand, and back handed the man onto the floor, clutching his face while Naruto checked it. Naruto nodded to himself before he put the scroll away and smiled. He said "Wow, I can't believe that you ACTUALLY signed that without asking what it was, nor any guarantee on my part that I would let you go, you must really be scared shitless huh?"

The noble crawled back and did his best to increase the distance between the two as Naruto moved forward, his sword appearing in his hand. "Just so you know, what you signed was a document saying that you abdicated from the throne, allowing me to take your place. So congratulations sir, you are the first to kneel before me as the Daimyo of Tsuchi no Kuni."

Naruot drew closer and put his blade to the man's neck, enjoying his expression as he froze in fear. Naruto smiled and said "Don't worry, it will be quick. Most people take me for someone who mindlessly tortures someone to death but that just isn't me. After all, one can only watch so many dismemberments before they become predictable."

And those were the last words the former Daimyo of Tsuchi no Kuni heard. The next second saw his head on the floor, his body beside it, and Naruto smiling at the sight.

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Okay that's the sixty third chapter completed. Sorry it took so long, but what can I say, things happen. Well, the Tsuchi no Kuni conquest is complete, so next chapter the Auction Arc begins! Oh, and an as-of-yet-unspecified gift shall be given to the first person to accurately guess the names of the two Guardians killed by Sodom near the end. Aside from that I don't have anything to say except to review in order to tell me what I could do better, and enjoy life.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	64. Chapter 64

Greetings to all, and welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter sixty four. We finally begin the Auction Arc in this chapter, well kind of. The first bit will be a bit of transition between the two. Oh and regarding the 'Guard Guessing' thing last chapter, the actual answer was Guts and Griffeth from Berserk. It was correctly guess FIRST by TheLordofPages1692 or something like that, I can't remember the number.

Anyway, with that out of the way, enjoy the chapter.

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Summary of last chapter

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Right, Naruto infiltrated Houfu and opened the gates from the inside, allowing his forces to storm the city. The entire thing took one hour to best the entire army and then Naruto and four Generals attacked the palace.

The four Generals killed the twelve Ninja Guardians without incident, and Naruto confronted the Earth Daimyo, Lord Yokushin. He had the noble sign a contract before killing him. The thing he signed was an abdication from the throne, marking Naruto as his successor, making Naruto the Daimyo of Tsuchi no Kuni.

And that was where the chapter ended. So now, enjoy the next chapter!

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Houfu, Palace, two days later

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The Palace at Houfu was a large affair, but it contained three floors, each one progressively smaller. The first floor was very large, the second not so much, and the third was only two rooms, an antechamber, and the throne room, where Naruto was currently meeting with General Samson, and four Colonels. There were also two towers, one on either side of the palace, which were similarly constructed.

Naruto had taken over the city, and under his new rule, he had ordered every one of his new citizens into a city wide assembly, where they had been numbered and given a tag just like the ones his prisoners in Dark Heaven Castle also wore around their necks. The army was the only exception to the rule. Nine thousand, eight hundred soldiers were left after his takeover, and so he put them to good use. Namely, killing half of them, having Hogback enhance the bodies, and using the shadows of the other half of the army to animate them, to create four thousand, nine hundred fresh new Soldier Zombies with military training. The process was still underway, as it took time for Hogback to enhance a body, but by the end of the month, Naruto's ranks would swell considerably from about one thousand, to almost six times that number.

He had immediately issued the command for the prisoners at Dark Heaven to be brought to Houfu, and they joined the assembly with the citizens and refugees of Houfu to hear Naruto's first official address as Daimyo. In that address, he had officially put every last one of them into indentured servitude. He issued a payment of fifty thousand Ryo for every man woman and child in the assembly. However, before he made this announcement, he also gathered up any and all actual currency in Houfu, and had the same process repeated in the other remaining cities, meaning that the people had nothing but the clothes on their backs. He instated a communist regime, everything they had belonged to the government, to Naruto. They were to live in appointed spaces and they were to work where he ordered them to, upon penalty of death.

He decreed that no one could leave their servitude until their debt was paid off, and so put the populace to work. The men, women, and children were put to work in the gold mines of Houfu, and large numbers of people were sent to other large towns that Naruto had left intact, iron mines, diamond mines, and other places where precious materials would be dug out of the earth and refined. It was by this measure that the people would pay off their debt, which was constantly kept track of by their indenture cards around their necks, and the Master Indenture Roll which kept track of all the contracts of the Indentured, keeping track of their earnings and owing, as well as a number of other things.

After Naruto had issued the debt, every card had two other columns formed upon it as though by an invisible writer. The two columns were simply titled 'EARNINGS' and 'OWING', with the EARNINGS column at zero and the OWING column at fifty thousand. Whenever anyone earned any money, that number would be added to the EARNINGS column and once it matched or exceeded the OWING column, they would be set free. At least that was what was officially said, the reality was quite less hopeful.

Naruto had everyone placed into gangs of twelve who would work together in the mines day in and day out. They would be paid one tenth of the worth of the total amount of whatever substance they mined was worth. However, Naruto issued a new income tax of ninety five percent of all income from mining, which almost everyone was forced to do. There were various refineries for the raw iron and gems, crafting shops for the gold and silver to be smelted into coins and bricks and the gemstones to be polished, and forges for the refined iron to be crafted into goods to be sold, as well as a decent number of farms to grow food for the country, but they were taxed heavily as well. So if a gang of twelve managed to mine one hundred thousand Ryo worth of gold in a day, which was approximately one ton, then they would be paid only five thousand. To make it worse, the payment was split between the twelve of them, so that five thousand would be reduced to less than five hundred.

Of course, even by that method, they would eventually work their way free, but Naruto put a stop to that as well. By his rule, the government owned all the tools that they used, as well as the uniforms that they were required to wear. They were taxed heavily for their use, increasing the debt each day. Even the air that they breathed, the meager meals that they were issued, and the little water they were granted was taxed since officially it belonged to the government, and so the debt went up each time they took a breath, ate, or drank anything.

The grand meaning of it all, was that they would never work themselves free, and neither could they escape. Their indenture tags could not be removed, and were highly durable. Even if they were damaged, they would simply reform themselves. That combined with the fact that every one of them was branded, meant that any indentured worker would be easy to spot in another country, and so would be returned to collect the reward that Naruto issued for any escaped workers. That was of course assuming that they were caught by civilians or ninja rather than the small group of Soldiers that Naruto had ordered to track down any escapees, and since they could be tracked by either their brand or indenture card, they were easy enough to pursue.

On the surface, it was a fair indenture and only a matter of time until they were freed to do as they please. The truth of the matter was, they were enslaved and could do nothing to escape it. They were stuck in Naruto's service forever.

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Houfu Palace, Throne Room

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Naruto was seated upon the throne itself, in front of him was a low table at which four immaculately clad Colonels sat around it joined by General Samson in his medieval armor, the Raijin upon his lap.

Upon the table was a map of Tsuchi no Kuni, in great detail. Every city, town, or settlement no matter how large or small was marked upon it. A good percentage of these settlements were crossed over with a black 'X' indicating that they had been destroyed during the conquest. The rest were circled in red, and beside them was a number indicating the number of Indentured Workers that were to be sent there to work. There were seven major mining towns, and two towns that were nothing but factories and refineries. There were also a number of extremely large plantations where food would be grown by a number of Indentured Farmers. They would be charged whenever food had to be imported to encourage them to do their jobs well, not to mention the fact that a force of Soldiers and a Colonel would be at each one to make sure that there was no sabotage.

The largest number of Indentured Workers was to remain at Houfu, overseen by General Samson himself. Houfu had the most expansive gold mines and potential worth, so Naruto made sure that it was well protected. A force of Soldiers would be posted at each location to enforce the will of the Colonel Governors who would oversee the various cities, and in the case of Houfu, enforce the will of General Samson. The point of the meeting was simply to decide who went where.

They had already decided on most of them, and there were only one refinery city and a town that was very close to a large silver mine left to decide. Naruto tapped the refinery and said "Colonel Sargarol shall watch over the refinery town." Then he tapped the silver mine and said "In reward for your latest successes, I will appoint you Colonel Repton, to the important task of overseeing this silver mine. At that, the nearby Colonel Repton bowed his head in utmost reverence, muttering thanks.

Naruto nodded and said "Okay, now go back and get everyone into position as we decided, except you Samson, I will need a word with you."

The Colonels stood and bowed before descending the stairs in the next room and using their gems, report back to Dark Heaven Castle where they would announce the new appointments, of both Soldiers and Colonels.

Samson remained where he was and, his voice being awkwardly echoed by his armor, asked "What is it that you wish to speak of me about Master?"

Naruto took a scroll from his pocket and unrolled it upon the table. He placed his hands upon the unrolled vellum and there was a burst of smoke. When it cleared, it revealed a gigantic bronze-bound book. It was about two feet thick, with incredibly thin pages like onionskin. Naruto said "THAT my dear General is the Register of Indentured Workers. I am placing it into your care here in Houfu. It can keep track of the changing earnings and such on its own, but new entries must be written in. I shall obtain a clerk to keep track of such new entries in the near future, but I need you to take care of the job for now and even then, to guard it as well as you can. If this book is destroyed, then the contracts inside of it would be nulled, and nothing would prevent the workers from running free. Do you understand the importance of what I am telling you now General?"

Samson nodded his helmeted head and said "Yes Master, I shall guard it with my life, and the lives of everyone in this city."

Said Master nodded and said "Good, then in that case as Daimyo I officially appoint you Governor of Houfu during my absence. Use your power responsibly and wisely, and make as much profit as possible. The position includes overseeing the work upon the gold mines here in Houfu, maintaining and defending the Register, and the regulation of trade, the importation of food and necessary goods, as well as the sale of the various goods that the refineries and factories will start making once they have gotten under the way. You are to sell all the goods that I have already ordered to be made, as well as fulfilling the orders that any one or any country cares to make. I do not care what you must do to meet those orders within reason.

Naruto stood and walked to the balcony that overlooked the town. He said "This country possesses more natural materials than any other, iron, bronze, oil, coal, gold, silver, what have you. I shall use those materials and I will change this country. I will burn the ways that these people knew with the fires of industry. Cloth, statues, weapons, household goods and appliances, machine parts, electrical equipment, and more, we will build it all and we will sell it all for a profit. The smoke from the factories will cloud the skies, and nothing shall stop those flames of production from creating, creating so much that the rest of the world will rely on us to provide what they need. Then, they will fall at my whim."

Naruto took a deep breath and said "That is how I will rule this world General. Sun-Tzu said 'To capture the enemies cities is best, to destroy them is second best. Preserving their companies is best, destroying them second-best. Preserving their armies is best, destroying them second-best. For this reason one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the pinnacle of excellence. Subjugating the enemy without fighting is the pinnacle of excellence.' He was a wise man, and those are wise words which I shall follow. To conquer this world totally and utterly is to do it without drawing another sword, and that is what I intend to do. There are a few groups that I will have to take care of, of course, but as for the actual countries, let them attack us if they wish, but that is why I have such vast power at my command."

Naruto smiled and said "A few things more is all I need, and this world will be in my grasp forever, and then I shall have an excellent grasp upon the world beyond the merely physical as well. I will bring this world peace. I will strangle my enemies with it, and they will thank me while I tie the noose and put it around their necks."

They stood there for a moment, Samson kneeling in his armor, and Naruto staring into the sky. Then Naruto said "I must go. Only a few days remain before the auction and I must be there before then, with enough money to obtain the book, and enough power to defend it. I entrust this country to your care Samson, make sure that my trust is not ill-placed."

Naruto turned to leave and said, as an afterthought "Oh, and be sure that any orders from Konoha take some time to make, and be sure to charge them more than just a little bit extra. Milk those bastards for all their worth."

Then Naruto stepped into the nearby shadows and was gone, leaving Samson to run the country as Naruto believed he would.

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Konoha, Hokage's Office

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Tsunade sat at her desk, and in front of her stood two figures, one was Nara Shikamaru, and the second was the ANBU that had managed to infiltrate Naruto's fortress, wherever it was, and actually return with information. Shikamaru had just finished explaining what had happened over the course of the mission, from the attack by the bandits, to the kidnapping of Konohamaru, to the battle with Terzok, to the death of Terzok and the appearance of Sodom, to Asuma's sacrifice, and discovering what they had left behind and taken with them.

Tsunade's face was in her hands by the end of the report. This was an absolute debacle. She merely whispered to herself "My god, how could this happen? It was meant to be a small-time mission, and even then I had one of my strongest Jounin backing them up. But I never thought that _he_ would get involved, I never thought that it would happen."

Shikamaru stepped forward "Tsunade-sama…." He began but was cut off by Tsunade.

"It's my FAULT!" She yelled. "We've seen the reports that he's been taking every bit of gold that he could get his hands on, yet I sent you all out to defend a GOLD caravan! I sent Sensei's son and his grandson to their deaths! I should have realized that Naruto would find that caravan an ideal target, I should have realized that the danger of that mission was much greater than anyone suspected. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!" She shouted, almost crying in anguish at failing her sensei so horribly, for sending a young boy to his death.

Neither of the two really knew what to say. What do you say when a superior is on the point of a breakdown for something that's not her fault? Shikamaru merely bowed his head and said "Don't worry Tsunade-sama, they won't go un-avenged. I'll make it a point to hunt that Sodom bastard down and make him pay for what he did to Asuma-sensei, and Ino will be there to help."

Tsunade did her best to regain her composure and said "No, you won't. If what you told me is true, the two of you don't stand a chance against this 'Sodom' person anyway. Besides, I have a different job for you anyway, and you might even run into him along the way, I'll give you the details a bit later, you'll be leaving today."

She quickly took up a piece of paper and wrote something down upon it before thrusting it out to him and said "Take this and head down to profiling. Tell them everything you can about Sodom and we'll make sure that he's in the Bingo Book when it is next released, I'll have the description circulated among the local ninja and the other villages. That's all we can do for now."

Shikamaru took the paper and bowed, a frown on his face, before leaving the office, leaving Tsunade and the ANBU alone.

Tsunade took a moment and when she fully regained her composure, she turned to the ANBU and asked "Okay, so what have you got for me Shiroku?"

Shiroku cleared his throat and said "As you said, I managed to infiltrate the enemy's fortress, and I have found a few critical pieces of information that may help us defeat him in the end. As you have thought, the warriors that our enemy wields are undead. They are linked into a military-like chain of command, depending on how strong they are. They fall into three groups: Soldiers, Colonels, and Generals."

Tsunade took out a scroll and started writing this all down, she asked "Can you give me an example of each class and as much specific information on the Generals as you can."

Shiroku nodded and said "The Soldiers are the most plentiful, they are grunts plain and simple. The fellow that we captured and sent here is a Soldier. The Colonels are all well dressed and act superior to everyone around them, that Terzok that Shikamaru mentioned was a Colonel, albeit a particularly strong one."

Shiroku took a breath and said "Then, there are the Generals. They are the most powerful fighting force Naruto has. There aren't many of them, fewer than ten, but those ten possess incredible abilities. Sodom, the man who killed Asuma-san, was a General."

Tsunade nodded as she wrote it down before she asked "Do you know anything about his human followers? And how are the Zombies created?"

Shiroku intoned "I actually did manage to find out how Naruto brings one of these Zombies to life. He first takes a dead body, he then has a subordinate of his who I will describe later use his surgical and medical prowess to make the body incredibly strong and fast, far stronger than any human really should be. Then, here comes the interesting part, he brings it to life using a shadow that he has taken from a living person."

Tsunade looked up "What do you mean by that?"

The ANBU spy shrugged and said "Just as I said. Apparently one ability that Naruto possesses is the ability to remove a shadow from its original owner, which can then be put into a body. I know that there are negative effects for those who have their shadow stolen, but I am not aware of the specifics. That Zombie would have all the abilities, personality, and techniques that the original owner of the shadow had. For example, if he took your shadow Tsunade-sama and used it to create a zombie, it would act just like you, and have all of your abilities save for your summoning contract. The only exception to this would be the fact that no matter how stubborn or contrary a person might be, every Zombie follows Naruto's orders without question. These Zombies are almost completely impervious to pain and can continue to survive no matter what kind of damage they take short of complete annihilation. I know that there is a way to kill a Zombie, but I did not manage to find out that secret, my sincerest apologies."

Tsunade wrote all of this down and said "Okay, now then do you have information regarding the Generals individually? They seem to be the most powerful."

Shiroku nodded and said "They are. As for the Generals individually, I don't have much. One thing I do know is that of them, at least five of them are as strong as a Kage level ninja."

Tsunade's hand jerked at that, ruining a line of script as she looked up. "WHAT?!" She yelled "FIVE KAGE LEVEL NINJA!? Are you SERIOUS!?" Tsunade bit her thumbnail as she furiously thought over the new development. "If he has that kind of strength at his command then he would crush us in almost any confrontation. Five UNKILLABLE Kage level ninja would mean the death of anyone he wanted to kill." Tsunade shook her head and tried to isolate the sudden fear that sprouted in her chest at Naruto and his newly revealed might. She asked "What of the information on the individual Generals?"

Shiroku nodded and said "I only have any detailed information on one General specifically, and that General has the body of Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime Hokage."

Tsunade bared her teeth at that piece of information. She remembered the day at Tanzaku-Gai, the day that Shizune died and she fought Naruto. She remembered that Jiraiya fought two individuals that looked like her grandfather and his brother, and when later the Niidaime lookalike was destroyed. She growled "I know about him, I saw him once. What do you have regarding his strengths?"

Shiroku cleared his throat again before continuing "He has all of the abilities that the Shodaime had. Mokuton Ninjutsu, spectacular Taijutsu, if I didn't know better, I would say that it actually was the Shodaime reborn. But I think I may know whose shadow was used to bring that Zombie to life."

Tsunade wrote down everything the man said and asked "What's that? Who do you think it is?"

Shiroku merely said, softly, "I believe that the shadow used to animate the Shodaime's body was the shadow of Tenzou-taicho. The times of his disappearance and the disappearance of the Shodaime's body are about right, and the Shodaime Zombie acts a lot like Tenzou did."

The Hokage gritted her teeth and said "So that at least explained what happened to him. My Oinin have been searching for a dead man for over three years, joy. What of his human followers and his headquarters, give me everything you have on them."

Shiroku gave her the information she asked for. She told her of the Sound Four, and the fact that Sabaku no Temari and Mitarashi Anko were working for Naruto which brought about shock and anger respectively. Then, he told her of the Three Enigmas, of Perona, Hogback, and Absalom. At last, Tsunade had the name of Shizune's murderer.

The next week, when the Bingo Book was released again in its latest version, the names 'Perona' and 'Absalom' appeared in it beside their pictures, as well as the name and description of Sodom. Each of them had a large bounty for each of their heads. She kept the information on Hogback secret however, for her private use later.

Tsunade was irritated that her ANBU couldn't give her the location of the enemy's base, but still he served his purpose and so was dismissed.

She leaned back in her chair and sighed at the horrible condition that her village found itself in, and opened her eyes as she regained the determination to defend it no matter who would want to destroy it. She called for Jiraiya and a number of specific ninja from all over town.

It was time that the team for the auction was sent.

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One day later, Kaminari no Kuni, Nyuusatsu, three days before Auction begins

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Nyuusatsu was a gigantic city. It sprawled for miles and miles around, housing uncounted thousands of people. Well, I say uncounted, but upon the last census, the population of the metropolis was registered at about one point five million. It was the biggest center of trade in the world, bigger than any capital city, and housed more crooks and thieves than anywhere else, but also had the most lucrative merchandise.

The local Yakuza are the ones who really controlled this town though there was a city government. Anything illegal or really valuable went through their hands, and they got a good share of whatever profit that was made. The only exception being the merchandise sold at the Southern Peace Auction of course, even the Yakuza didn't mess with Southern Peace.

The Southern Peace Auction was held once a year in the middle of a grand festival that lasted two weeks. the entire festival was one gigantic auction war, where hundreds of millions of Ryo worth of goods were bought and sold every day for those three weeks. There were numerous different types of auction, different forms of bidding, and thousands upon thousands of different items being bought and sold during those three weeks.

Southern Peace was the biggest auction however, as would be expected. It occurred over the course of five days, with a multitude of extremely rare and expensive objects being sold each day. The only way to know for sure what was being sold and on which day was to buy a catalogue for twelve million Ryo. The catalogue indexed every item and the day it was being sold, the history of the item, and its starting bid. The catalogue also came with the ticket for the auction itself, each individual ticket had a serial number and a file was made of who owned what number to prevent thieveries. The ticket allowed the bearer and a maximum group of four unlimited access to the Auction Hall during the five days that the auction was held.

That was where he currently could find Naruto, in the lobby of the Southern Peace Auction house, with Sodom, Perona, Anko, and Haku with him.

He walked up to the lady at the desk and asked to purchase a catalogue. A quick payment and a few signed forms later and she handed it over. The catalogue was a book about twelve inches thick, the lady could barely hold it in one hand. She turned to the back cover and showed the ticket that was there, a black card which had a serial number clearly marked upon it in gold ink below the symbol of the Southern Peace Auction; a golden triangle, with a calligraphic 'S' in the middle.

They thanked the woman and left the Auction house, walking into the street. Naruto immediately put the ticket into a sealing shadow and flipped the book open, flicking through the pages. 'The ashes of Saint Hogumo, the armor of the founder of Kaminari no Kuni hey that's one of the items I gave them for sale, the mummified body of the Shodaime Hokage's wife, wow Tsunade would be pissed to see that for sale. Let's see, a set of jewels worn by the first Queen of Mizu no Kuni, the disease infected skin of a dragon wonder where they got that, ahh, here we are.'

Naruto had flipped to a page that featured the picture of a small black volume, not much thicker than a pocket notebook. There was a picture of the first page too, which bore a spidery scrawl in letters that no one in the Elemental Countries could decipher. Naruto understood it easily though. When translated it read 'The Word of Heinrich Kemmler.'

Naruto smiled very widely as he read the title, there could be no doubt about it, he had found the book that held the secret of giving a being the power of a God.

He closed the book and sealed it away as he and his entourage continued through the streets, seeing numerous objects for sale.

Haku asked "Naruto-kun, what are we going to do for now? You told me that the book was being sold on the fourth day of the Auction, right? What will we do until then?"

Naruto looked around them and said "Well, there are quite a few things to do. One thing would be the Yakuza Auction taking place tomorrow night. Not as high class as the Southern Peace Auction, but quite a number of rare items will be sold there, mostly illegally. It will be worth a look. There's also the common auctions to look at, who knows what we might find. This is one of the biggest cities in the world Haku-chan, there's plenty to do if you just look hard enough."

Anko was looking around as Naruto said this. The items were being displayed upon stalls and mats being watched over by their owners, but each item had a card attached to it, some of them had writing on them, some of them didn't. She asked "Naruto-kun, what's this?"

Naruto looked over and said "Oh, we must have wandered into the tag-bid market, the silent auction. All the items around here have those cards, if someone wants them, they write down their name and the amount that they are willing to pay for it. The one with the highest bid by the time on the stall will get the item. All sorts of things can be sold this way, and it's a good way to find expensive items cheaply, or if you are dumb, then cheap items at ridiculous prices." He indicated a hanging plushie doll and said "See what I mean?" A closer look at the mostly filled card showed that the most recent entry was for almost a thousand Ryo, when if you went elsewhere in the world you most likely could have gotten it for under fifty.

Naruto scanned the items as they walked by and said "Mind you, these aren't the most scrupulous people in the world. Most of them would sell you the item before the time if you give them the right price."

Then Naruto saw something ahead of them and stopped in his tracks. Everyone else stopped as well and after a moment he muttered to himself before saying "Sodom, go and ask that man at that mat about that oddly shaped knife. Now."

Sodom looked at the item and shrugged before doing so. Naruto watched for a moment as Sodom picked up the knife and looked it over.

He went over and said "You interested in that knife Sodom? I've seen better ones elsewhere." When Sodom looked at him in puzzlement, Naruto gave him a glance that said 'play along'.

Sodom nodded discreetly and said "Maybe so, but I like this one."

Naruto nodded and turned to the man watching over the goods there. He asked "Excuse me sir, but we have to leave soon and my friend has an interest in this knife. Is it possible for us to buy it right now?"

The guy shrugged and said "Nobody has made a claim to it so far, so for the right price, no problem."

Naruot merely said, with a bit of emphasis on the number "Twenty Ryo."

The man looked like he was going to argue but his mouth opened of its own accord and said "You have a deal."

The man clamped his hands over his mouth while Naruto immediately dropped a twenty Ryo coin on the mat and gestured at Sodom to come with him as he left, the others following the two.

About five minutes of walking later, Naruto stopped by some steps and looked at the knife very closely. It was extremely oddly shaped. It had the handle of a pocket knife, but the blade was very strange, it curved and cut off where you wouldn't expect it too, curving into a sharp point and having an extremely sharp, one sides blade, though there was a trio of spikes upon the back of the knife, facing toward the point near the hilt. He looked at it very closely, and then without warning, he cut into the stone of a nearby building, leaving a deep gash. He smiled and said "There's no doubt, it's a real one. A real Benz knife."

Anko leaned in closer and asked "A Benz knife? Never heard of it."

Naruto examined the blade as before while he explained "Bennizou Doronu was a blacksmith and serial killer who lived about two hundred years ago. 'Benz' is the name that he gave to a particular series of knives. He made a special knife each time he killed someone, for a grand total of two hundred eighty eight knives that he sold alongside his normal wares. Each knife has a number engraved into it and has special properties, though there are many times more fakes than real Benz knives in the world. He wrote a book in prison in which he said 'The cries and expressions of the victims give me inspiration', it was quite popular, hell I have a copy of it back home."

Naruto put the knife away and said "Needless to say, they're very valuable, the price changes a lot depending on the number, the most valuable ones being the ones under ten, around one hundred, around two hundred, and over two hundred and eighty. Despite the variation though, I haven't ever heard of one being sold for under ten million and I just bought knife number seventy eight for twenty Ryo, best deal I've ever made."

Naruot smiled as he put his hand over the place where he kept the knife and said "I have a hobby, an ambition almost, to find and collect every last Benz knife. I have fewer than ten, but I will one day have them all. You entered my office once Perona, you most likely saw a glass case with a lot of empty spaces. That was my Benz knife collection, and now I have one more to add to the tally. Anyway, if I can find a priceless object like this, then perhaps I can find something else of similar worth. Come on then."

Naruto was quite eager to find another object of high value, but didn't find anything of particular worth. Then they heard a man shouting nearby. "Step right up, step right up. Conditional Auction is about to begin! Our item is this diamond, worth three million Ryo with a certificate of authenticity from the jewelry store behind us. The condition is arm wrestling! The first man to beat this boy in arm wrestling gets the diamond, the price of participation is ten thousand Ryo! Step right up!"

Naruto looked over and saw a man with glasses raising the fuss while a boy of perhaps twelve or thirteen was sitting at a table on the side of the street. On another nearby table was a decent sized diamond, set in a silver ring.

Perona looked over and asked "Naruto-kun, what's that?"

Naruto kept his eyes on the event while he said "One form of auction here is the 'Conditional Auction'. The seller offers a non-monetary challenge of some kind, and the first person to complete this goal gets the item. This can take any sort of challenge, as you can see here. I guarantee you that there is a trick to this somewhere though."

The five of them joined the group that had gathered around the table. He heard a man say "Hey, it's only a kid, should we give it a try?"

The reply was "No way, this kid beat almost five hundred people at this yesterday, and at least twenty walked out of it with broken arms. There's no way I'll try it."

Naruto smiled when he heard that 'So that's the catch. That's simple, I was afraid it was something trickier than that.'

Before anyone could stop him, Naruto walked out of the crowd and pulled out a ten thousand Ryo piece and said "I'll give it a try."

The man with the glasses looked over Naruto with a careful eye and said "Yosuke, switch with me."

Naruto looked at the man and said "You can't do that now, it's against the rules."

The man picked up his briefcase and opened it up on the table with the diamond, showing rows and rows of notes. He said "Five million Ryo, plus the diamond if you go up against me. What do you say?"

Naruot shrugged and said "Sure, no problem." He handed the man the ten thousand Ryo and sat down.

Before the man with the glasses sat down, he said "I'm sorry sir, but would you please remove the rings on your right hand? They would cut into my hand and give you an unfair advantage."

Naruto frowned, but removed the rings, and keeping them in his lap, offered his hand to the man who took it quickly.

The man started immediately, pressing down with impressive strength, definitely an ex-ninja. However, he couldn't hold a candle to Naruto. He waited a moment before he slammed the man's hand down upon the table with a loud 'THUMP' of impact.

Naruto quickly put his rings back on and stood up. He walked over and pocketed the diamond and took the briefcase, looked over his shoulder and said "I win" to the stunned man before walking off away from the stunned crowd, his entourage quickly gathering around him.

As they walked Naruto took the ring out of his pocket and handed it to Haku. "You can have this Haku-chan."

She looked a bit surprised but took it gently, carefully and said "Thank you Naruto-kun, you are too kind to me." Meanwhile, Anko and Perona looked furious.

Before anything else could be said though, something caught Naruto's eye that made him stop in his tracks. The others acted in a similar fashion and looked at where Naruto was staring.

They saw five individuals just up the street, staring at them. Those five individuals were Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura, Hatake Kakashi, Hyuuga Hinata, and Jiraiya of the Sannin.

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Okay, that's the end of the chapter and the beginning of the Auction Arc. Naruto's plan to conquer the world is finally revealed, and the Auction Arc begins in earnest. What shall happen when the two groups meet under peaceful circumstances? Find out in the next chapter! Review, and tell me what I did right and wrong, and see you all later.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	65. Chapter 65

Greetings and salutations fans of mine! We bring you the thing you begged for, that you pleaded for. The one, the only, Kage no Naruto chapter sixty five! Please, save your cries of adoration for later, in the meantime, call your friends, if applicable, sit back, relax, and read. Then review afterwards. That's the most important bit.

Note: I took a lot of inspiration from The Keys to the Kingdom book two, Grim Tuesday, last chapter regarding the Indentured Worker system, just letting you all know. I also made a few Hunter X Hunter references for those who missed them.

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Summary of last chapter

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Right, Naruto basically enslaved the entire populace of Tsuchi no Kuni. He has forced them to work in mines and quarries, upon farms, in factories, foundries, and refineries to take the massive natural resources of Tsuchi no Kuni and turn the country into a gigantic producer of finished goods of all kinds, which he will sell at a profit to anyone who pays. Using this strategy he will gradually be depended upon by everyone so that they will easily fall when he turns on them later. He left Samson in charge of the entire operation.

Shikamaru and the ANBU, named Shiroku, finally returned to Konoha and got the wounded medical treatment. Tsunade almost had a breakdown, but she got the information from Shiroku and used it to update the Bingo Book to include Absalom and Perona by name and picture.

In Nyuusatsu, Naruto pin-pointed the Word of Kemmler and is killing time until it is sold. He has so far obtained a knife worth at least ten million for twenty Ryo, and a diamond worth three million and five million in cash.

He is in town with Anko, Perona, Haku, and Sodom. And just before I ended the chapter, a group spotted them, and they spotted the group. The group consisted of Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sakura, Hinata, and Jiraiya. Then I left you with a cliff-hanger because I am a jerk.

With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!

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Nyuustatsu, With the Konoha team, three days before Auction begins

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The Konoha team was handpicked by Tsunade herself for the mission. Her own apprentice Haruno Sakura due to her medical abilities which would be beneficial as well as her amazing brute strength which was taught to her by Tsunade. Nara Shikamaru for his strategic capabilities, and Hyuuga Hinata for her Taijutsu as well as her Byakugan which would be helpful in any number of situations. Finally, Hatake Kakashi was sent to supplement the group's Genjutsu capabilities and long range combat. Kakashi may rely on his Sharingan more than he should, but that made him no less of a dangerous fighter tempered by years of experience. He could use some training, but he was definitely capable. Finally, Jiraiya led the mission himself. The mission to obtain the Word of Kemmler, and bring it back to Konoha.

They had traveled to Nyuusatsu in only a day overland by train, a new technology that was recently developed, but was becoming popular. The developers, people in Taki no Kuni, had already gotten permission to lay tracks for the locomotives through several countries, including Hi no Kuni, Kaminari no Kuni, and more recently, Tsuchi no Kuni. It would be a while before the tracks were installed, but most believed it was only a matter of time before you could to almost any important city by train.

They had arrived in the city and met up with Jiraiya's contact there, a member of his spy netword by the name of Kirijo Makoto who generally creeped everyone out and made everyone uncomfortable with his presence. It wasn't so much of him being a decent ninja as much as it was that he was a flaming homosexual that hit on Kakashi quite openly. After everyone recovered from the trauma of the man's presence they made their way through the town.

Jiraiya had bought a catalogue weeks ago so they had to simply wait until the auction began and make sure that they out-bid anyone that Naruto sent to buy the book in his stead. In the three days before the auction began, they were planning on simply enjoying the city, perhaps get some training in, and maybe buy a few things, it was a gigantic hub of purchasing and selling objects after all.

They had decided to have a look around the city and left the hotel they were staying at and let the sights take them in. It was a city of over one million people, one of the biggest cities in the world, only surpassed by one of the Capital Cities, and there was a lot to entertain any tourist or full time resident.

Shikamaru, who had taken to smoking after his sensei's death, had called the entire thing troublesome, and Kakashi only read his Icha Icha book as they walked around, but Hinata and Sakura quite enjoyed the various displays, and Jiraiya who hadn't been in Nyuusatsu for a very long time, also enjoyed the festivities.

That was until they saw them. Just down the street was a group of five people. On the left was a familiar face that none of them had seen for at least three years, Ibiki's former assistant in the Torture and Interrogation Division, Mitarashi Anko, gone rogue during Orochimaru's attack. Near her was a face that only Kakashi and Sakura were familiar with, in distant memory. A girl that had once worked with Momochi Zabuza and they had last seen her falling off of a bridge in Nami no Kuni with a hole in her chest. Zabuza's apprentice, formerly believed to have been deceased, Haku.

To the right was a girl that Kakashi at first sight thought was the love-child between Rock Lee and Sakura. The eyes of the Taijutsu expert, and she had Sakura's hair color, though it was worn in a very different style. She was moderately sized, though well endowed in the chest department, which was accentuated by the fact that she wore a shirt that exposed her midriff. The most noticeable thing about her was the fact that she wore an old English style crown upon her head, Kakashi and Jiraiya almost immediately realized her to be the 'Ghost Woman' that had been said to be working with Naruto. To the right of her, was a figure that only Shikamaru and Jiraiya recognized. Jiraiya had last seen the man when he was attacked in the Konoha forest, and Shikamaru had last seen him when he left Asuma alone with him. The man who murdered both Sarutobi Asuma and Akimichi Chouji, General Sodom.

In the center was a figure that all of them recognized, though none of them had seen him in a very long time. Towering over those he stood with, and dressed almost exactly as he was years ago, though he changed his clothes somewhat. Instead of the combat boots they had last seen him in, he wore expensive looking Armani loafers, and fine dress pants, black in color, that looked like they cost more than the dresser such clothes were stored in along with a belt of black leather with a shining gold buckle. A shirt of fine black silk covered his chest and stomach. A trench coat of black expensive looking leather hung around his shoulders, his arms not in the sleeves so it was fastened around his neck by the first button of the garment. Golden rings set with diamonds adorned his fingers, bracelets of various metals adorned his wrists, and atop his head was a black top hat with a black ribbon tied around the base. All in all he looked like some executive, not a ninja of fearsome reputation. But he was a ninja of fearsome reputation. He was Naruto the Corpsetaker, self-proclaimed Daimyo of Tsuchi no Kuni, Lord of Dark Heaven Castle, commander of a near immortal army, murderer of thousands and Necromancer of deadly skill. The man that had caused most of Konoha's recent suffering stood right in front of them, not twenty feet away, and everyone in the Konoha group froze in a shock of recognition.

None of them expected to meet Naruto himself there, not so soon. Shikamaru had said that there was a chance that Naruto might show up personally, but taking into account his personality, there was a much greater chance of him sending someone else to take care of the deal. But they were wrong, Naruto had come himself.

Suddenly, Naruto began to walk toward them, his group following him obediently. As he got closer and closer, they could feel his presence. The aura of chakra that he gave off hit them like a bucket of ice water. For most people, you couldn't feel their chakra unless you were actually touching them, or they were really angry, but in Naruto's case it hung around him like a wet, cloying cloud. It was like they were suddenly assailed by horrible smells, rot, mildew, burnt oils and grease. The aura itself was horrible, it was freezing, dark, greasy and simply, fundamentally _wrong_ on a level so deep that the Chuunin could barely stand for the first few seconds they were exposed to it. They staggered but regained themselves as Naruto walked steadily closer.

Naruto stood perhaps five feet away from them, his entourage standing slightly behind him in obvious subservience. He eyed them, one by one, ending on Jiraiya, before finally speaking. "Good evening. I must admit that I did not intend to see any of you here today. Tell me, what business do Konoha ninja have in a place such as this?"

His voice was deep, cultured, melodious, almost hypnotic. Sakura heard him speak and for a moment, she found herself hanging on his every word, she simply wanted to listen to that voice and nothing else, she could spend all eternity listening to that voice and she felt that she would be utterly content.

Then the moment passed and she was herself again, staring at the hated enemy of the village and wondering what just happened. She noticed then, that his tongue was a bright metallic silver, unlike the pink of any normal human. She called on chakra and prepared herself for a possible fight, on her guard and determined to not let that happen again.

Jiraiya stood against him, calculation in his eyes before he said "You know perfectly well why we are here Naruto. We are here to prevent you from becoming something more horrible than the world has ever seen. We know what you intend and know that we will stop at nothing to prevent your ambitions."

Naruto smiled for a moment before saying "Do you now? Well then, if you intend to do all you can to stop me from doing as I wish, perhaps I should prevent any problems in the future and kill you all here."

Everyone in the Konoha group immediately tensed, and Naruto just laughed. "Come now, you think that I would attack you HERE? We are in a city of over a million people, quite a lot of attention to be had that I don't really need. Don't worry, I will not attack you today."

Everyone in the group relaxed a bit after that, except for Shikamaru. He took his hands from behind his back and said "Kage Mane no Jutsu, successful."

Everyone's eyes widened as they noticed that Shikamaru's shadow had stretched, until it had connected with Naruto's! Shikamaru smiled a grim smile and said "There may be casualties, but it may be worth it to take you down now!"

Naruto looked at Shikamaru and Sakura rushed forward to attack, despite the cries of Kakashi and Jiraiya telling her not to do so. Naruto switched his gaze from the Nara to Sakura and said, crisply and precisely "Haruno Sakura"

Sakura immediately put her hands to her mouth and staggered back, off balance.

Everyone had a Name, a series of specific syllables that call to you and only you, a part of who you are. You can always tell when someone calls your name specifically in a crowd, you always recognize it. When someone like Naruto spoke someone's name and MEANT it, then it was a whole lot more. A name given by one's own lips could be used as a conduit for Naruto to work his power upon them, damaging them from afar. Mind, it took the entire Name to do something like that. Naruto had used only a PART of Sakura's name, her true Name, and had said it exactly right. He had used that partial bond and had casually backhanded her off her feet without moving an inch. To her, it felt like someone had hit a tuning fork and pressed it against her teeth.

Sakura had told Naruto her name, years ago, when they first met in an Academy classroom. She had boasted to being the most beautiful ninja in Konoha at the time, and not ten minutes later, Naruto had fought Uchiha Sasuke and drove him into the dirt. Even a name given long ago counted, Sakura had given a part of her Name and Naruto had power over her, now and forever. Luckily for her, Sakura had a middle name that she hadn't said that day, otherwise, Naruto would be able to do anything he wanted to her, kill her, worse than kill her, and there wouldn't be anything she or anyone else would be able to do about it. Still, even a part of a Name had power, and that power was more than enough to stop her in her tracks.

As Kakashi caught Sakura and tried to determine what was wrong, Naruto spoke again. "Idiot Nara, I thought you were supposed to be a genius yet you use a Jutsu without even understanding how it works. I bet all you know about it is that if you connect your shadow to someone else's then you can control their movements. True enough but you do not know HOW you are able to control them."

Sakura got to her feet and panted as Naruto continued "Your Kage Mane creates a link between you and your opponent, a bond through which your shadow forces mine into a certain position and by the laws of nature, the body and shadow must hold the same shape so the target must conform to the shadow's shape. However, I doubt you have used this Jutsu against a family member, otherwise you would know…"

Naruto suddenly moved, his left hand released the briefcase it held and he folded his arms. Moments later, Shikamaru followed the same motion, panic obvious on his face as Naruto continued "…otherwise you would know that that bond can work two ways."

Shikamaru tried to struggle against the binding, but was unsuccessful until Naruto formed a seal and said "Kai" releasing his hold on Shikamaru and forcing him to stagger back in an attempt to regain his balance.

Naruto chuckled at the sight and said "Please, do you really think that you could defeat me with a strategy like that? I'm insulted, I think that I would be well=known enough to warrant at least some kind of sneak attack." He looked over at Jiraiya and said "So then, THIS is the crack team of professionals that Konoha sent? One idiotic genius, one former-fanatical fangirl hung up on an old crush with a modicum of power, the shy Hyuuga heiress who could barely speak a few years ago, though she has improved, a one eyed scarecrow who favors a Rogue Ninja and depends upon his ill-gotten Doujutsu for victory, and an old husk of a ninja far past his prime? THIS is what Tsunade sent against me? Tell me, what on earth is Tsunade doing in that office of hers because it definitely isn't making effective plans. Who knows, maybe she seduced that Natsuki girl she has playing Shizune and is filling her time with that. Or perhaps she simply doesn't care anymore, hence why she gave that suicide mission to Konohamaru. She should have sent someone competent instead of Asuma. Oh, by the way Jiraiya, do you know where I can find that Kirijo guy? I've tried finding him but he's a bit elusive."

Kakashi whispered to Jiraiya "How does he know about Kirijo-san? Not even Tsunade knew about him until recently."

Jiraiya whispered back, and all three Chuunin heard "This is the man that has declared himself the enemy of Konoha and is actively working against us. I don't doubt that he has files on most if not all of our allies and agents, working inside or outside of Konoha. Not to mention most of the ninja we have."

Naruto nodded and said "And some of the Academy students."

The five of them stared at Naruto in pure shock. Even Kakashi, less than a meter away, had to strain his ears to hear Jiraiya speak, yet Naruto picked it right out.

Shikamaru recovered his composure and asked "What did you do to Konohamaru? Give him back, he's done nothing to you!"

Naruto looked at him with all the interest one might give an insect and said "I don't think I will. He may not have done anything, but he is related to one who did. You see, I despised being lied to, and that old bastard of a Sandaime did nothing but lie to me for years. Alas, he is no longer with us in flesh so I must make do with what he left behind. As for what I'm doing with him, it depends on the time. Right about now he's probably enjoying himself actually."

The group was put off by this unexpected answer. Before they could ask any more he said "I can't help but wonder though, why do you really care? He is an insignificant brat by most standards who has been pampered all his life because he was related to that old monkey. He has some potential sure but so does everyone. He doesn't have a chance of becoming as strong as his grandfather. His uncle maybe, but not Hiruzen. Though he actually is quite a bit smarter than the Sandaime, he actually made a few right choices, as opposed to making gigantic mistakes like making that idiot pupil of yours Hokage. Seriously, what was he thinking when he made Namikaze Minato the Yondaime Hokage!?"

Kakashi stepped forward and said "If you insult the Yondaime, I don't care about the location, I will do my best to kill you."

Naruto merely said "Do your worst." Then he continued "I'm going to tell you a little story about him, you probably don't know this about your beloved Yondaime. He was an absolute joke."

Before anyone could ask questions, he continued on, anger gradually pouring into his voice "He was an absolute IDIOT, a failure of a ninja! If you look into Konoha's records, you will find precious little about him before the war with Iwagakure. Do you know why? It's because what would be found would embarrass the man to no end! He stumbled his way through the Chuunin exams, and got lucky enough to pass on his fifth try! Jiraiya left the village around then, so I doubt he knows this either, but as a Chuunin, he failed about ninety five percent of all the missions he was given! He had no subtlety, no tact, he just ran into everything head on and got a good number of people killed by his stupidity though he managed to survive his own mistakes! Why the Niidaime Hokage made him a Jounin, I have no idea, I can only imagine it was so that he could be put in a desk job where he couldn't get anyone hurt. He had a small talent for seals, and that was it, beyond that he was as hopeless a ninja as you could think of."

Naruto took a breath and calmed himself before continuing, nobody daring to interrupt him "He managed to get a spot as a Jounin sensei a few years after his in-town exile to metaphorical Siberia. His career was going nowhere fast, but by Konoha law at the time, every Jounin had to teach a team at some point. The team he got was Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and a girl named Rin. He actually had a bit of talent for teaching and managed to get them to Chuunin rank, and that was when the war set in. During that war, he got two of his students killed with his idiocy, leaving the third one with the left eye of his former student Obito. With that eye, Kakashi here managed to become a Jounin. How does it feel Kakashi? To know that the only reason that you are as feared as you are, is because the idiocy of your sensei caused your friend to get killed and he got your teammate to give you his Sharingan eye? How does it feel to make a career out of the thing you obtained through failure!?"

Kakashi lost it and charged Naruto without a second thought. Naruto acted immediately with instant violence, his hand moving so quickly that it was only a blur and slamming into Kakashi's midsection, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Naruto was hardly coherent at this point. He was going into one of his fits of rage at the topic. He all but screamed "Then, during the war, he made the Hiraishin no Jutsu. THAT was the ONLY thing that made him useful! The ONLY attack that made him worth notice! That and the Rasengan, those two moves were his only claim to fame, the only things that made him somebody worth living. Luckily for him, no one realized just how badly flawed it was until the damage to Iwagakure was done. By the time Barragan found out how it worked, Iwa had already lost the war. But Barragan still found him and took him down. He stopped the Hiraishin no Jutsu and beat him to a pulp. The only reason that Namikaze Minato lived past that day was that he had to fight his way through fifty Jounin to get to him and exhaustion took him before he finished the bastard off!"

Naruto was obviously angered beyond reason, everyone near him took a step back as he continued "THEN, he was made HOKAGE by that IDIOT of a Sandaime! That pathetic NOBODY was made the leader of Konohagakure! Why? Because it was what the people expected! Nothing more! If he had made Orochimaru Hokage, the people would have hated it! 'Why isn't the hero of Konoha the Hokage?' 'Why is that snake Hokage?' THAT'S what would have been heard if he made anyone else his successor! So that blundering moron actually got promoted to the highest rank in Konoha, and Orochimaru fled the village soon after. You know what? I don't blame him. If I had worked all my life to obtain a goal, and then saw the prize GIVEN to someone not worth his weight in salt, I would have left too! Then, a few years later he got married, and he had a son on the day of the Kyuubi attack. ME!"

All of the Konoha group was stunned at this revelation. Naruto, the Corpsetaker who had conquered Tsuchi no Kuni and was dedicated to Konoha's destruction, was the son of the Yondaime Hokage? It wasn't possible. But it was true. If Naruto was thinking he wouldn't have given up such information, but he was mad with fury at the moment, and completely unpredictable. Sodom and the others he brought with him had already noticed the signs and had intelligently fled to where they were staying in town, leaving Naruto alone with the Konoha ninja.

Naruto continued, almost foaming at the mouth as he spat out "Yes, he had a son born by Uzumaki Kushina, that he named 'Naruto'. And he used a forbidden technique to seal the Kyuubi into that boy and left him alone in the world! He sealed the Kyuubi into me and left me alone to die! To face misery! To face pain! He destroyed my life before it even began! But I do not care about that. Honestly, I thank him for sealing the Kyuubi into me, just as I thank Konoha for their hatred, without it who knows how I would have turned out. Toward Konoha I have nothing but gratitude, but towards HIM I have nothing but hatred! Jiraiya! Do you know what caused Uzumaki Kushina's death!?"

Jiraiya, as with everone else, had backed away slowly during the entire exchange, but softly said "She died due to complications giving birth."

Naruto shouted, foam, _actual foam_ forming at the corners of his mouth as he shouted "WRONG! SHE WAS FINE! THAT COMPLICATIONS DURING BIRTH BULLSHIT IS A LIE! HE IS THE CAUSE OF HER DEATH! HE KILLED HER! It was true that there were complications, but she would have been fine if she was given some time to heal, and competent care. HE is the cause of her death! He grabbed me from her hands the moment he entered the room, ignoring her cries, and immediately rushed out of the room. His idiocy took one last life before he died. He tripped over her breathing apparatus, caused irreparable damage to it! She choked and when the doctor, the only doctor there, who tried to get him to stop got in his way to draw attention to his choking wife, HE STABBED HIM! He stabbed the only one who might have saved her! He left her to die without a second glance! He took my mother, he took everything I might have had before I could even have it!"

Everyone in the Konoha group was about to run as he suddenly went quiet. He just softly said "He took everything he could before he left me alone in the world. But I won't let him win. He wanted me to have nothing, so I will have EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING!!!" He screamed before he launched himself at the Konoha group.

They immediately fled, jumping up to the buildings and doing their best to put distance between them and the raging madman.

He screamed as he released the energy inside his rings at the building they were climbing, all of the rings. The base of the building shattered and the entire structure began to crumble and fall. Jiraiya and the others jumped from the building to the street as the building crashed into another, causing extreme damage to both. Several people dropped out of windows in the falling building and splattered on the pavement.

A man stumbled out of a building nearby and Naruto immediately turned to him. His sword appeared in one hand and he lunged at the man, stabbing him through the heart with his blade. The man fell to the ground, but Naruto kept stabbing him, again, and again, and again, nowhere near in control of his actions.

Once the man had more holes then Swiss cheese, he turned on other buildings, releasing green blasts of energy that disintegrated entire sections of building, yelling "DO YOU HEAR ME FATHER! EVERYTHING YOU DID WILL BE UNDONE! EVERYTHING YOU NEVER WANTED ME TO HAVE WILL BE MINE! NOBODY CAN STOP ME EVERYTHING WILL BE MINE, AND I WILL STAND SUPREME AS THE PATHETIC MORTALS BOW DOWN!" He turned to a man trying to sneak past. He pointed his blade at him and yelled "KNEEL!" and struck at him lightning fast, removing his head.

The Konoha team was long gone, and Naruto had long forgotten them, lost in the throes of his inhuman rage, his burning anger and unquenchable wrath.

All five of them panted as they put as much distance between them and Naruto as possible, all of them absolutely terrified by what they just saw and the crashing sounds of destruction that they could hear behind them.

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Okay, that's the chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it, even though it was mainly a filler chapter. Next chapter will be more plot and sorry to disappoint those of you who were looking for a gigantic fight. No such luck, maybe next time.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	66. Chapter 66

Greetings once again oh faithful readers, welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter sixty six! I got a pretty split opinion last chapter, a good many people enjoyed it, but others did not, and said that it was disappointing. In retrospect, I might agree with the latter of the two groups. I rushed the chapter, I admit it, and perhaps if I thought about it, I probably could have done that a lot better. I apologize for the break in my quality control and hope that we can all move on.

Now then, with that, let the previous chapter summary and Naruto Spoilers begin!

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, this chapter was AMAZING! It was only the God Realm and Hungry Ghost Realm Peins left, versus Naruto, one clone, the two elders, and the three giant toads. Naruto and the clone attacked immediately, but the God Realm blew them away, destroying the clone.

While Naruto planned with Fukusaku to trap the God Realm in a Genjutsu and aim for the five second interval in the God Realm's powers, Pein attacked the three boss toads and nailed them all with ONE SHOT! All three giant toads were taken out and it was Naruto and the two elder toads against God Realm and Hungry Ghost Realm. Hell Realm was defeated, so Pein couldn't resurrect any more bodies.

Then we go to a scene where everyone is realizing that Naruto is fighting Pein alone. Most of them are in shock and decide to stay back, with one exception. HINATA IS BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT! Well, partially. She wanted to go help him, the ONLY one that really wanted to go help him, but she was given a good reason not to. She's stuck watching the fight with her Byakugan.

Naruto is stuck waiting for Fukusaku to gather enough Sage Chakra for the illusion, so he has to hold off Pein until then. He considered calling in the second Clone, but couldn't out of self-preservation. Two is the maximum amount of clones that he could have gathering Sage Chakra, and he can't make more than three clones on the battlefield without interfering with the two gathering the Sage Chakra, so that limited his options and prevented his usual 'spam Kage Bunshin' strategy. He couldn't call in the other clone because then he would be out of Sage Mode before long, and he wouldn't be able to beat Pein then. The three of them realize that they can't let the battle drag on.

Then Hungry Ghost Realm got up from where Naruto tackled him to the ground earlier and joined God Realm. Pein says that Naruto is very strong, that nobody had ever given him this much trouble before now. Then he uses God Realm's power, the skill to take things in which is apparently called Bansho Tenin, and brought Naruto into close range. When he got close enough, God Realm slugged him, and Hungry Ghost Realm put him in a full nelson. Then we get shots of Fukusaku thinking for him to hang in there, and Hinata looking on helplessly.

Naruto says that the punch didn't hurt, and not to underestimate him in Sage Mode, and says basically that he's going to kick Pein's ass. Then Pein said that it WOULD be troublesome if he did that. Then Naruto ran into a problem, his chakra was vanishing, being drawn in.

We are now introduced to a new skill of Hungry Ghost Realm Pein. Apparently when he's making contact with someone, he can EAT their chakra like he does with Ninjutsu! Naruto lost his Sage Chakra and went back to normal, and then he passed out.

The chapter ends with Pein saying 'The Nine Tailed Fox has been captured.'

Right, Naruto lost to Pein, big shock. THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT! Finally, it doesn't come down to who has the biggest Jutsu, it doesn't matter who has the strongest punch, or the most chakra. This is something that I don't think we've seen since the first fight between Kakashi and Zabuza, save for Shikamaru's fights, a battle where TACTICS beats POWER. Pein couldn't beat Naruto as he was, so he used superior ability and tactical thinking to neutralize the threat. To be honest, Naruto's opponents haven't been the intelligent types really. There was Haku, but she didn't really put a lot into planning. Kiba was a tank, same with Gaara, he was just a much better one, there was Kimimaro but he was yet another tank. Sasuke was strong, but he wasn't much of a tactical planner. There was the fake Itachi, but that doesn't really count as a fight, same goes for Deidara, he never really fought the two of them. There was Orochimaru, but he used Four Tails then so I don't count that one. Then we had Kakuzu, but that was pretty much one gigantic Rasen-shuriken show-case.

And Naruto hasn't had a big fight since then. The closest thing to it was when he fought Tobi with everyone else, and got nowhere. This is the first time that Naruto has ever fought an opponent that doesn't rely on strength to win, the first time that he ran into someone who used tactics and strategy to overwhelm his foes with a few select abilities. Honestly, this fight turned out how I expected it to more or less, and I think we are finally getting a look at what the entire SERIES should have been.

This was a great chapter that brought Naruto in contact with his first intelligent opponent and had him lose to it. It also brought Hinata back into the picture. I'm kind of looking forward to a Rescue Mission headed up by Hinata at this point. That would be absolutely grand. So yeah, great chapter, read it for yourself, and I am moving on.

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto spoke with the Konoha team. He revealed shocking truths about the Yondaime Hokage that nobody, not even Jiraiya knew. That he was a failure of a ninja, that he was responsible for his own wife's death, that he caused everyone trouble, grief, and not much else. That he didn't really deserve the title of Hokage, he was just over hyped by everyone, and it was for this unfair appointment that Orochimaru left Konoha.

After that, Naruto went into a snarling fit of rage, sparked by his hatred of his father, and attacked the Konoha team, but not killing anyone. As the chapter ended, Naruto was going on a bit of a rampage. Now, let the chapter begin, and I hope that this chapter is better than the last one.

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Nyuusatsu, with the Konoha Team

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The five Konoha Shinobi were in a safehouse that Makoto had set up in advance in preparation for Jiraiya's visit. It was in the basement of an abandoned tenement. It came complete with a solid steel door, brick walls, and enough food to feed twelve people for a month. It also had a number of rooms, only one bathroom though.

Currently, Jiraiya was leaning against one wall near the door, Kakashi was sitting with his back against the wall across from him. Shikamaru was sitting at the table in the main room. Hinata and Sakura were sitting on the couch facing the door. It wasn't a big room, but the five of them had only just arrived and couldn't bring themselves to perform any unnecessary movements at the moment.

After a while, Shikamaru just muttered "That…that… Kakashi-sensei, Jiraiya-sama, what was that?"

Kakashi just shook his head. After a while Jiraiya muttered "You all felt it too, didn't you? Once he went out of control, his chakra, it…."

Kakashi picked it up from there "Once he went nuts, his chakra surged. You could already feel it within ten feet of him, like a knife against your skin. But after he got like that, it was different, it was more, bestial, more out of control, and there was a lot more of it. I don't know if it was just power that he concealed from us, or something else but-"

Jiraiya cut him off "He wasn't hiding that power from us Kakashi. If that was hidden power then it would feel the same as the aura we felt around him before, there would just be more of it. This is different. It's not the Kyuubi's chakra. It's like…it's like his anger changed his power into something more suited for destruction. Maybe his emotions influence how he can use his power, or maybe it's just his anger that causes it, but one way or another, once he got that angry, he was definitely a lot stronger, but it didn't look like he had much in the way of cognitive thought. Hell, even his own people cleared out once they saw him get like that."

The others just nodded, not really sure what to do. All they knew was that after Naruto went insane with rage, his power jumped drastically. There was an entirely new feel to him, completely different than his normal presence. Instead of the frozen, frigid cold, calm and collected, there was howling rage, uncontrollable bloodlust, and the simple, primal urge to destroy something else. They knew that if they stayed back there, they would have died. If that man hadn't stumbled out of the building and caught Naruto's attention, they probably would have died. The Chuunin didn't know how to deal with the fear, and it was almost strangling them.

It's not like anyone could blame them. Shikamaru had his own most powerful weapon turned against him. He had some other techniques sure, but none of them were as effective as the Kage Mane no Jutsu. Most of his other jutsu were based off of this one technique. Throughout his entire career, he only had one technique on his side, upon which he had relied on for his entire life. His strategies were all about how to use the Kage Mane and how to trap his opponent using it. Having such a well trusted and often used technique turned against him hurt the boy in more ways than one, especially since it was done by the man who ordered the deaths of both his sensei and his best friend.

Sakura was suffering similar insecurities. She was used to being an unstoppable force, a hammer to crush the enemy. Her worst enemy took that overwhelming power, and batted her away like an insect. He hadn't done anything more but say a few words and assert his will to send her stumbling. If that was in a combat situation, it would be more than enough of an opening for an opponent to put a knife between her ribs. Naruto had a handle on her, and there was no way that she could get around it. She was forever vulnerable to his influence, she knew it, and it terrified her on a level so deep that all she could do was brood on that fear.

Of the three, Hinata had it the worst. She was useless in the confrontation, what's worse, she knew that even if she DID do anything, it would have been pointless. She was in the same boat as Sakura, Naruto knew her name and could use it against her just as effectively as he used Sakura's name against her. If she had told him her middle name, ever, then she would most likely be long dead. What's worse, it would have been done by a person she once looked up to, a person that her cousin said that she could trust. It was the knowledge of her position, along with the knowledge of the fact that it was someone she once trusted deeply who had her in that position, that ripped her composure to shreds.

Kakashi looked to Jiraiya and saw that the same thoughts were flowing through his mind as well. Kakashi turned to the three of them and said "Listen, we'll go over this more tomorrow. I want the three of you to get some sleep. Jiraiya-sama and I will guard the door tonight. Go on, that's an order."

The three of them nodded in various degrees of absent-mindedness and slowly walked to their individual bedrooms, three of the six that the safe-house came equipped with.

Kakashi looked over at Jiraiya and said "Jiraiya-sama, do you really believe that we can get the book instead of Naruto? And even if we did, would we be able to prevent him from taking it immediately after we acquire it?"

Jiraiya shook his head and said "Honestly Kakashi, I don't know. All I know is that if Naruto gets that book, he would be able to become something worse than the world has ever seen. I won't let him do that, regardless of the cost to me or anything else. If all five of us dying is the only way to get that book somewhere safe where Naruto would never be able to reach it, then it is our job as Shinobi to ensure that it happens as quickly as possible. If we have to fight Naruto, then we will fight Naruto, and all of his little goons too."

Jiraiya started heading for his own room and said "Kakashi, you take the first watch. Wake me up and four AM and I'll take over. Remember, Makoto is meeting us here tomorrow so don't kill anyone that might come knocking."

Kakashi watched as Jiraiya went into one of the three available rooms and shut the door before he sighed and thought 'Getting all of us killed may be the only way that this mission CAN turn out. I've seen Naruto's strength before, and he has Anko with him and she was never anything close to a pushover. The information we have on that other guy makes him look like a pretty dangerous enemy as well, and I have some idea of what the girl can do and it isn't pretty.'

Kakashi sighed and looked up at the ceiling as he thought 'I wonder, why does that last one, the girl to Naruto's left, look so familiar? Dark hair held in a bun, woolen clothing, I swear that I've seen her before, but I can't say where. I also can't stop myself from thinking, what with the forces arrayed against us, I wonder just how good are our chances of survival? That's assuming we can even get the book in the first place, if we don't I don't think that Naruto will hunt us down… we really, REALLY need help, now more than ever.'

There were two things that nobody there noticed. The first was Hinata herself. None of them saw the look of sadness she wore as she dressed herself in night clothes and got into bed, tears in her eyes as she whispered "Naruto-kun, what has happened to you?" before she fell asleep.

The second thing that nobody noticed was in the ceiling, just barely visible. It had a humanoid shape, two arms, two legs, but it was childish-looking, like it was drawn by a toddler. It had no fingers, or discernible appendages aside from two awkward legs and a head atop a body, but despite its appearance, it could still see, it could still hear.

It was one of Perona's ghosts, visible, yet able to pass through objects. It could see and hear, and it heard what was said, it could see what happened. And what it saw and what it heard, Perona, far away, could see and hear as well.

Far away, Perona smiled in her night gown as she rolled over in her bed, a smile on her face before she curled up and went to sleep and the ghost vanished. Perona knew now where the Konoha team were hiding away, and so it was only a matter of time before they were hunted down.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was in the same place that he met with the Konoha team, leaning against one building and breathing heavily. All around him was debris and death. Men, women, children laid dead and dying from multiple blunt impacts traumas, stab wounds, and other damage. He growled and punched the wall he was leaning on, leaving a slight crater as he gritted his teeth in sheer frustration.

Naruto stepped away and walked to the shadow left by a building he had damaged. He said "Kage Hokou" and was gone.

Nobody saw him and survived. Nobody except the Konoha team knew that it was Naruto who had wreaked the destruction. The next day in the newspaper, the entire thing was put down to a gas explosion, the people killed by sharp and blunt debris.

Was it stupid? Yes. But the truth behind the matter was that most people didn't want to admit to themselves that a single human being could do such things. They knew that ninja were powerful, but most civilians didn't know the true extent of that strength. The last thing that the city government wanted people to know was that a single man could have been responsible for all those deaths, and that there wasn't anything that they could do about it.

The explanation was stupid, but nobody in the government lost face, and although it may not have been just, that was simply the way that the world worked.

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With Naruto, elsewhere

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Naruto stood upon a high plateau overlooking a city in Hi no Kuni. There was no one around and that was why he came here.

Naruto punched a tree and watched as the wood cracked and the tree leaned. He thought to himself 'God damn it, I can't believe that I went flying off the handle like that! Well, I didn't give away anything important. So they know I'm his son, what are his enemies in Iwa going to come after me? They're all dead so who gives a damn. So Konoha knows that I'm the fourth's son, or they will soon. It doesn't change anything. He wanted to protect them, and now they know that his son is their enemy. Knowledge of this kind is only beneficial when it can hurt or embarrass someone, and the only one this could embarrass would be dear old dad, and he can burn in hell for all I care. No, the only thing that this can cause is positive things. The Yondaime discredited, especially if they find out about what he did to mom, and I would become even more feared if they knew that I'm related to that bastard, even though he's hardly good stock to be born from.'

Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He thought 'I have to learn to control this, to control my wrath, my rage. If I don't, I could end up destroying something that I can use, and can't be replaced. I can't let my wrath best me, not in a place like that at least. And if I can't manage to control it, then the very least I must do is make sure that I direct it toward my foes.

Naruto sighed and prepared to leave. As he walked into the shadow of a tree and vanished he thought to himself 'I will control my power, and use it to my gain. I must be devious, I must be cunning, strong, and swift. That is the only way to truly gain anything in this world."

Naruto stepped into the shadow of the tree and vanished. He reappeared in the hotel luxury suite where his group was staying.

He quickly disrobed, went to a bed and laid down, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, mental stress taking its toll.

What he didn't notice was that the bed was already occupied by someone else.

Someone that smelled of snakes and blood.

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At Houfu, the mountains surrounding the city

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Surrounding Houfu are a large number of extremely tall mountains. Those mountains are close together, and passing through them is almost impossible, emphasis on the word ALMOST impossible. There are small, difficult paths through the mountains that take a long time to get through and are extremely dangerous. Even the most skilled and athletic of ninja would have immense difficulty slipping through the cracks, and even then it would be easier to go alone, if you went in a group, you would have to go one by one, in a straight line where the slightest slip would result in the deaths of everyone with you.

However, one particular team found one of those pathways. One team had managed to find an ex-Iwa ninja, one of the very few who managed to escape Naruto's attack upon Iwagakure, and one team managed to get information out of him that let these two get through the mountain pass. It was a long, difficult, and deadly road. The mountains were cold, and the paths narrow. Food was scarce, and a good number of poisonous insects and plants existed along the path. However, those who managed to trek these dangerous and highly secret roads would be able to circumvent the Kongoubenso, and enter the city secretively.

That was where these men dropped from the chilled stone of the mountains high above, landing heavily upon the roof of a building below and dashing immediately into movement, dropping into an alleyway and keeping to the shadows as they slinked through the all but abandoned city. It was working time, so the only people in the city would be zombies, and the people in the refineries and factories that purified the gold and other materials that could be found in Houfu's mines. In addition to gold, one would also find thick, rich veins of copper, bronze, iron, and silver that were refined and forged into finished goods for sale to other countries, organizations, and individuals who would be willing to buy them.

It was these people who managed to enter the city by a method that Naruto did not know of that watched large carts driven by oxen being set up to leave through the one open path through the wall to the other side, to be carried by land to one of the other cities who would ship the finished goods to those that ordered them, or in the case of raw materials they were taken to one of the other cities to be shaped.

There were three paths through the great wall of Houfu, each of them blocked by four gates. One of these paths was always kept open and the others were always shut. That one path was well guarded and everyone was searched and checked before being allowed into the city. There was no way to get through the wall without being discovered.

That was why the two of them had taken the back way, the secret way.

That was the reason that the two of them skulked toward the palace in preparation to fight and best their opponent. That was why the two members of Akatsuki were moving in to take down Naruto once and for all. They didn't know that he wasn't there, but they were going to search for him there, and if they couldn't find him, then they would get information.

As they neared the palace, one Akatsuki said to the other "Man Kakuzu, are you sure that we can't kill this punk?"

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With the Konoha Team, the next morning

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Jiraiya was standing guard at the door now. As the hours passed, the other team members woke up and prepared themselves for the day. There were things to be done in preparation for the auction, escape routes had to be planned and arrangements had to be made. Other than that, there was also much to be done in the immense city that children like them hadn't gotten to experience yet, so this would be a rare opportunity.

Then a series of knocks came at the door. It wasn't by a normal person either, the door was practically rattling in its frame.

Without a word, the three Chuunin readied themselves for a potential fight, only Kakashi drew a knife, the others relied on Taijutsu or in Shikamaru's case he prepared a handseal. They waited soundlessly until the next series of knocks rattled the door again. Then Jiraiya jerked the door opening mid-knock without warning, and then stepped back as a man stumbled forward, off balance. Jiraiya quickly planted his foot on the man's back and pushed him to the floor, holding a knife at the back of his neck.

The man sighed and said "Jeez, Jiraiya-san, aren't you moody in the morning?"

Jiraiya sighed and stepped off of the man, and everyone else backed down once they saw who it was. The man stood up and dusted himself off. He was lean and middle-aged, with dark curling hair that reached his shoulders. He was pale of skin and dark of eye, and he seemed to have a sort of radiance about him, an obviously active man. He was wearing casual clothes, everyday pants, though he had a shirt that was so tight that it showed every muscle on his frame. He was Kirijo Makoto, Jiraiya's contact in Nyuusatsu.

He wiped off a scuff on his shirt and said "Honestly Jiraiya, why do I keep putting up with you? I understand that a good number of people want to kill you, but that's no reason to go jumping the gun. I swear, I'll quit if you keep this up. I really don't know why I keep working for you."

Jiraiya just moved past him and said "Yeah, yeah, we all know the routine Makoto. You use that threat twice a week, get something new."

Makoto gave him an irritated look and said "I MEAN it damn you, I really don't know why I keep putting up with this sort of treatment!"

Jiraiya just kept going and left Makoto to fume, he was hungry. Said man just glared at his back. Then he looked at Kakashi and his mood obviously brightened. At that same moment, Kakashi's mood went from alert to scared. Makoto sauntered up to him at record speed and put an arm around the Jounin's neck as he purred "Oh yes, NOW I remember why I put up with this sort of treatment. All the benefits that Jiraiya provides. But benefits aside, you won't let him get away with treating me like that, will you Kakashi-kun?" He asked all of this while moving his head closer to Kakashi's, a girlish pout on his face and completely oblivious to Kakashi's obvious discomfort.

Sakura and Hinata were watching the entire procession with baited breath, waiting to see what would happen next. Shikamaru quickly joined Jiraiya in the kitchen, eager to get away from Makoto and his mood swings.

As Kakashi did his best to politely get the man away from him, Makoto suddenly drew in a breath and said "Oh, that's right, I have the stuff you asked me for Jiraiya!"

He quickly moved over to the door and went outside, leaving Kakashi to breathe a sigh of relief that turned into a groan of despair as the man came back in with a large case.

Jiraiya and Shikamaru came out of the kitchen as Makoto opened the case and revealed several outfits, wrapped in plastic to prevent damage. They were items of high class clothing. Three high end tuxedos, and two evening gowns.

Makoto picked up one of the tuxedos and held it up to Kakashi's chest and said "I hope that I got the right sizes for you all. I had to guess for you three. I know Jiraiya's size already as he provided the information, and I had to guess in Kakashi-kun's case. But I hope I got it right. Why don't you try it on Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi looked at the object of clothing held in front of him and mentally grimaced. The thing was at least a size too small and if we wore it, it would cling to his body like Gai's spandex. Probably what Makoto had in mind.

Shikamaru went over to the case and picked up another of the tuxes and asked "What's with the formal wear Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya sat down and said "It's what we're going to be wearing during the auction. They have a strict dress-code for all attendants, so we'll be wearing these to blend in. It's probably why Naruto was dressed as formally as he was last night. There are plenty of other auctions that require formal wear, and he's after more than just the book. I asked Makoto to pick up some evening wear for us yesterday, we'll need it."

Sakura nodded and picked up one of the evening gowns, a pale pink number, and held it up to her chest to get a rough guess on how it would fit. Hinata did the same, picking up the second gown of dark lavender.

Makoto pouted and said "Kakashi-kun, won't you _please_ try it on? I have to know if I got the size right."

Kakashi continued to back away from Makoto, thinking 'God help me.'

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With Naruto's group

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Naruto woke up in a soft bed. He tried to get up, but noticed something clinging to him around his arms and one leg. After a moment he turned his head and saw what it was. It was Anko, with her arms around his neck, one leg wrapped around one of his, bare naked, with her breasts pushing into his back, fast asleep.

Then he noticed the two figures standing at the side of the bed. Perona and Haku, looking angry and hopeful at the same time.

Naruto mentally sighed and thought 'This won't be easy.'

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One hour later

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After everything was explained and Anko had woken up and had gotten her clothes on, everything went more or less as planned. They journeyed the city, taking in the sights, and looking for rare treasures worth fortunes being sold for a pittance.

At the time, they also entered a clothing store where Sodom as well as the three women had their sizes taken and orders placed for them. When Anko later asked him why, he replied "The reason is quite simple. You four will need formal evening dress for tonight."

Perona got close immediately and pushed Anko out of the way so she could ask "What's tonight? I thought that the auction wasn't for another two days?"

Naruto nodded as he continued walking and said "It is, but we will be attending a different auction this evening. The black market auction held by the mafia. I may wish to purchase a few items, and since none of the items for sale there have gone through customs, I may find something interesting."

Haku strode up close and asked "Why would we buy things? We are ninja, if we want something, then we should steal it." Anko and Perona quickly gave their approval of this plan.

Naruto shook his head and said "It's not the items that I want so much as the opportunity to make allies that the auction represents. It never hurts to be owed a favor, especially when the one who owes you the favor runs this city, and much of the country at large."

Anko frowned and said "I didn't know that the Yakuza were so influential. I thought they only ran this one city."

Naruto nodded and said "They do. I'm talking about meeting and making allies with the real rulers of this country, the ones who run the mafia and the government of this country."

Perona cocked her head to one side and asked "Who?"

Naruto smiled a grim smile and said "The ones who really run everything in this country. The masters of emotion, and perhaps this world's greatest manipulators, the White Court of Vampires."

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Okay, that's the end of the chapter. I know that it took a while for it to be released, but it was worth the wait wasn't it? Akatsuki makes its reappearance looking for Naruto, things come together and the groups Fukusaku spoke of are finally coming into play.

Also, regarding Makoto, I went with an old proverb from where I grew up. 'When you need humor, bring in a gay guy.' Those aren't the exact words, but they're close enough. Don't worry, nothing will happen in THAT way, he's only there for humor.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	67. Chapter 67

Welcome all, to the not-so-long awaited Kage no Naruto chapter sixty seven! I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long, but alas, life can be and usually is a bitch, and we must all dance to her whim. So, enjoy the chapter

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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This is a pretty rare moment. My reviewers saw something coming that I didn't in the Naruto Manga. The Hungry Ghost Realm Pein was absorbing Naruto's chakra, so Naruto took advantage of the immobility and began to harness Natural Energy. The Hungry Ghost Realm kept absorbing it, and eventually turned into a frog statue, which Naruto broke and escaped Pein's trap.

In the last chapter, a few people reviewed and said that this was going to happen. I didn't believe them because Sage Chakra has a perfect balance of normal Chakra and Natural Energy, and so there wouldn't be any adverse effects. My logic didn't foresee Naruto taking in pure Natural Energy for Hungry Ghost Realm to absorb, so I overlooked a possibility, and my prediction was proven wrong. Oh well. To those that reviewed and said that Hungry Ghost Realm would turn into a toad, congratulations you got me.

The chapter goes on and Katsuyu finally tells Naruto that the six bodies are in fact just puppets, and a final real body is hiding in the shadows to manipulate them. Oh, keep in mind that Naruto isn't in Sage Mode anymore, all of his Sage Chakra got absorbed, so he's normal right now.

Then, the two Elder Toads get ready to cast the Genjutsu, but Pein has already seen the Genjutsu once before and he intervenes, drawing in the Pa Toad, Fukusaku, with the Bansho Tenin. Naruto runs to try and stop him, but he's too late, and Fukusaku gets run through on Pein's sword. Just to revisit this topic, each Pein body has a sword in addition to their individual skills. The blades are crafted from the same material as the piercings that all the bodies have, which we now know are Chakra Receivers that the real Pein uses to control the bodies. So, when these swords pierce the body of the target, the real Pein can use the sword as he uses the piercings, and fuck up the enemies' chakra flow, like he did with Jiraiya.

Anyway, Fukusaku gets run through on Pein's sword and is killed.

Elsewhere, Shikamaru and his father are found by Ino's group, consisting of Ino, her father, and an ANBU captain. Apparently, everyone is alright, except for Shizune who is being carried by the ANBU captain, or rather her body is. That's right, you all read this correctly, Shizune is DEAD. Apparently that technique the Human Realm Pein did WAS an instant-kill attack after all, and not something that someone strong can survive.

Then it does a quick showing of the three Boss Toads, who are surprisingly still in the normal world, but they are knocked out or in Gamabunta's case immobilized due to so many broken bones. Yeah, the three of them aren't getting up.

Shikamaru says that they can't let Shizune's death be in vain, and that they should try and find Pein's real body, an idea that is opposed by Shikaku, but is backed up by Inoichi, that finding Pein's real body is the best thing to do at that moment. Shikaku says that someone of Inoichi's skill could surely trace the enemies' chakra back to its source, but apparently that can't be done. According to Inoichi, Pein is switching the frequency of his chakra constantly, making it impossible to trace. It takes some real skill to do that, according to Inoichi, then the scene changes again.

Naruto runs forward as Fukusaku gets impaled, but Pein just flings Fukusaku's dead body at him, stalling him long enough for Pein to use the Bansho Tenin again and bring Naruto in. He slugs Naruto, and grabs his hands, piercing them into the ground with the sword, and fucking up his chakra flow at the same time.

Naruto loses his temper, and shouts at Pein, asking what he is and why he is doing what he's doing. Then Pein says something that I find to be very cool, mainly because it is very true, and that is 'Events always occur without warning, it is only after the fact that reasons become clear.'

After that, Pein says that in this particular situation, it's okay to talk a little. So, we can look forward to a bit of an exposition next chapter.

Then, it switches back to Shikamaru and Ino's groups. Shikamaru tells Katsuyu to get in touch with everyone who had encountered Pein, even the ones who are dead because they might have left some kind of information. Then, Shikamaru says to carry the bodies out if she had to. That phrase apparently made something click with Inoichi, because he says that he thinks that he knows where Pein is.

Where Inoichi thinks he'll find Pein, I have no idea, what Pein will tell Naruto, I have no idea. Regardlesss, the next chapter will be a good one, just like this one was.

It was a good chapter, it shows just how ruthless Pein is compared to most of the other characters we've seen so far. He doesn't hesitate for a moment to kill someone who may have information on him, slaughters those who stand against him immediately and without warning, he does massive damage to the populace without remorse. Yes, he is indeed the leader of Akatsuki, regardless of what Madara has planned.

Oh, and on an unrelated note, for you Bleach fans, in the latest Bleach Manga, Ulquiorra has finally released his sword, and it is KICK-ASS!

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END SPOILERS

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto promised himself to get his head in order and to try and control his anger. With Jiraiya and the Konoha team, they were struggling to get over what just happened, which they started to after Jiraiya told them to go to sleep.

Naruto staggered in and fell asleep in Anko's bed, pissing off Haku and Perona when it turns out that Anko was sleeping in the nude.

Makoto finally makes an appearance, bringing formal evening clothes for Jiraiya and the rest of the team, its required for the auction that they are going to attend.

Finally, Naruto makes similar arrangements for formal wear for Sodom and the others so that they can attend the auction. However, he is planning on using them much sooner than the Southern Peace Auction. He intends to participate in the Auction held by the Yakuza for Black Market Items. The reason? To make friends and allies, in the Yakuza of course, but more importantly, with the group who controls the Yakuza, the White Court of Vampires.

In Houfu, Hidan and Kakuzu snuck in through a well hidden and well kept secret mountain pass, and are going to attempt infiltrating the palace, looking for Naruto. They don't know where he is, so they're going to his apparent base of operations.

What shall happen in the Yakuza Auction? What will happen when Hidan and Kakuzu infiltrate the Houfu Palace? Will Makoto rape Kakashi? If so, will Kakashi enjoy it like Orochimaru would? Read the chapter, find out, and then review about it. Enjoy

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In Houfu, with the Akatsuki

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Hidan and Kakuzu were sneaking around through the city, moving slowly on foot through the alleyways and very rarely through the open street. They both knew that there were a large amount of enemies in the city, and even though Hidan was all for it, Kakuzu decided that taking them all on plus the Jinchuuriki that beat Itachi, even though the Uchiha was holding back, wasn't a good idea.

It was made more difficult by the fact that there was a lot of activity through the streets; various carts driven by teams of oxen were carted through the streets toward the gate as well as the occasional patrol of Soldiers looking for intruders or any indentured servants that managed to break away from their gang. There was also the difficulty that they didn't really know where to go. Visibility was very poor, they only got the occasional glimpse of the palace through an ever-present smog that had begun to fill the area.

The smog was the result of a large amount of refineries and factories that had been put to work in the city. It wasn't a very big thing now, but in a few decades you would most likely barely be able to see in front of you, and breathing it probably wouldn't be a very good idea. It wasn't at dangerous levels, but the constant breathing in of coal smoke and other air-based pollution from the factories and other facilities couldn't be healthy in the long run. At the moment, it did little but impair long-distance vision and put a slight bitter odor in the air, but that was more than enough to block the sight of the palace for the most part and make the place more miserable. Houfu was a big place, and the palace was near the back, pressing against one of the mountainsides. In theory all they had to do was head North and they would find it, but going straight North and remaining undetected were difficult to do at the same time, so movement was slow and careful.

Hidan was complaining the whole way. "Man, this shit stinks, what the hell is causing it? I guarantee that when we get out of here, it'll be sunk into our clothes and we'll be smelling it for weeks."

Kakuzu sighed as he watched the road carefully for any incoming traffic so that they could cross over to another alley and continue on their way, given the smog he had to be very careful. He said "It's caused by all the coal being burned and other chemicals being used in the factories around the city. This place doubles as a major mining facility and a large manufacturing city. It hasn't been around long, but quite a few orders have already been placed and need to be filled. If you think it smells now, give it ten or twenty years and you probably won't want to go outside without a gas mask." He waited another second and then tersely said "GO!"

The two dashed across the street as quickly as they could, ducking into the next alley and moving away from the street, making a turn they moved ever northwards, and a good look showed a quick glimpse of the palace through the grey, smoky smog. It also showed a large building that had several smoke-stacks pouring out a mixture of various smokes and gasses.

Kakuzu sighed in irritation. This was going to be a very difficult, very irritating job, and he knew it would just get worse as they got closer to the factory, and then to the palace where the smog was at its thickest. And to top it all off, he had Hidan complaining all the way.

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Nyuusatsu, with the Konoha Team, two days until auction begins

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The Konoha team had split up into three groups. Jiraiya had gone with Shikamaru. Kakashi had gone with Sakura, and Hinata had gone with Makoto. The purpose of the splitting up was to find information. They had all the information they could get on the book, all they had to do on that score was wait. No, what they were currently seeking information about was information on Naruto, where his group was staying, where he intended to go, and if they were lucky, what was going on in Tsuchi no Kuni.

Sakura and Kakashi were going around the various shops and hotels, looking to see if anyone had matched the descriptions of Naruto or any member of his group. So far, they hadn't had any luck. However, when they walked into a silversmith's shop, they were lucky. He was currently talking to none other than a Soldier Zombie, dressed in business attire.

The two acted quickly and looked at a rack of various pieces in glass display cases, mainly dishes, teapots, small statuettes and such, as they listened in on the conversation and tried not to draw attention to themselves.

The Soldier Zombie was speaking, in a harsh, raspy voice "You wish to make an order of us? What do you desire, and in what quantity?"

The store owner was sitting behind the counter and said "I require a shipment of refined silver for my business. I need fresh material to forge and mold into new pieces for sale as my current storage of metal is running low. I will require one thousand pounds of silver, refined yet unshaped for this purpose. What will the cost of the delivery be and in what time could I expect the metal to arrive?"

The two watched as the zombie took a piece of paper from one pocket and looked at it for a moment before saying "The distance between here, and the area from where we would be shipping the silver is approximately nine thousand miles. It would be moved overland by caravan from there, to the town near the border that has a train station that has recently been completed. From there, it would be shipped here via train. The time it would take is about two weeks. The only thing that has yet to be discussed is the cost."

The man nodded and said "Can you give me an estimate?"

The Zombie nodded and after a few moments he said "If you were asking for goods instead of just the metal, it would be much easier, but since you want just the metal, it would definitely take a good deal out of the price. For the high quality, refined ore, one thousand pounds of it would come out to around eight hundred thousand Ryo. Is that acceptable?"

The man thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Yes, the silver from Tsuchi no Kuni is of the highest quality, and so it would justify me increasing the price of the goods I make from it. If I put some real skill into it, I should be able to turn a profit from this much ore. We have a deal."

The Zombie bowed and produced a slim portfolio from the inside of his jacket. He laid it down upon the table, produced a pen and said "Excellent, merely sign here and we will have the ore shipped immediately. The method of payment, as we discussed the other day, will be in monthly increments over the next year."

The man nodded and quickly signed the contract inside the portfolio, handing both back to the dead man and said "Good, I'll be expecting it in the station at the agreed upon time."

The Zombie put both items away and said "A pleasure doing business with you sir." before quickly walking out the door.

Kakashi and Sakura looked at eachother and went to the counter. The store owner looked up from a sheaf of documents and said "Hey there, welcome to Takeba's silverworks. What can I do for you folks? Is there a particular item that you want a closer look at, or maybe you want something custom made?"

Sakura shook her head and said "No sir, we wish to ask you a few questions about the man who just left your shop."

The shop owner looked puzzled and said "What about him? He's a member of the local branch of that delivery business that's operating out of Tsuchi no Kuni. Haven't you guys heard the news? It's only been posted on about every notice-board in the city."

The two shook their heads and asked for him to continue. The man sighed and said "Look, that Corpsetaker guy has taken over Tsuchi no Kuni, managing to get himself recognized as Daimyo. He had some paperwork or other and he managed to get the other Daimyo to go along with it, so nobody has a complaint against his succession to the throne. Since he took over, he's been mining all of the country's resources, coal, iron, oil, gems, gold, and other such things. He's turned every city into nothing but factories and refineries, and forges, and they make anything you want them to. They've been selling everything they make for a profit, like one gigantic company. The price depends of course on what the item is, how much of it you want, and the quality of the item. There's also a big difference between the 'Exquisite' items and the 'Ordinary' items. Apparently there is someone who has some real craft who makes the Exquisite items and they cost a lot more than the other kind. I ordered two identical statues, in silver, one Exquisite and the other Ordinary, and the Exquisite one was almost two and a half times the cost of the other one. There they are, there. Have a look."

The man pointed to one side of the store, which was dominated by two large, identical silver statues of the Shodaime Raikage.

As they looked closer, it was obvious which one was the exquisite item. Of the two, it was shinier, it had a luster that the other one didn't have. It was also much more detailed. You could pick out each individual hair on the man's head and each individual strand in his mustache. You could see the individual threads in the clothes he wore, even though the material was solid silver. It was a completely different level of craftsmanship than the other statue, which was identical in all but detail. It had the same man in the same pose, but it was nowhere near as well made.

"Wow" Sakura breathed to herself as she examined the flawless work of art before her. The thing was without a doubt the most gorgeous thing that she had ever seen.

The store owner chuckled and said "You see the difference I take it? Yeah, someone with way more skill than me made that statue. My level of work is closer to the one next to it. I'm not sure who makes those things though, I've heard that all the Exquisite items are made by the same person. Rumor has it that it's the Corpsetaker himself who makes them, leaving the ordinary items to his lesser artisans."

Sakura turned to him in shock "_Naruto_ made this thing?"

The guy held up his hands and said "Again, I don't know. That's only a rumor, I don't know if it's true. All I know is that those guys do good work and they deliver their goods on time and without damage. They don't have any problem about large quantity orders either, although the units they use are a bit strange."

Kakashi looked over and asked "What do you mean 'strange'?"

The store owner pulled out a paper and said "Here, take this. It's a basic price sheet on various items. It shows the price depending on the weight of the item, the material, and the quantity. It also shows the exact number that each of the terms refers to."

Kakashi took the paper and looked at it. It was a standard piece of paper, an everyday price list. It gave different prices depending on the size of the item, which could be anything that the client specified, and the price differed depending on the material used, though some items were only made in one material. The prices varied quite a bit depending on the material used, the item in question, and the quantity, though the shop owner was correct that the increments used were quite strange.

Kakashi muttered to himself "Dozen, Gross, Great Gross, Lac, Plentitude, Quintal, honestly, what numbers do these refer to? I know what a dozen is but all of the others I've never heard of."

The store owner said "There's a key on the back I believe."

Kakashi turned over the paper and read out loud "One Gross is one hundred and forty four. One Great Gross is one thousand, seven hundred and twenty eight. A Lac is one hundred thousand. A Quintal is apparently refers to a weight of one hundred pounds. A Plentitude is, holy crap two hundred, forty eight thousand, eight hundred and thirty two! Who the hell orders that much of ANYTHING?"

The guy shrugged and said "You'd be surprised. When it comes to small items, like pens or pencils, a large company may purchase that many of them for the long term. You can keep that if you want, I've got another one. Anyway, if you guys aren't going to buy anything, then please go on your way. I have business matters to attend to." He then turned back to the documents in front of him and ignored the two Konoha ninja.

The two left and went off to find Jiraiya. Kakashi was thinking about the implications of what he had just found. 'So, that's what Naruto is doing to Tsuchi no Kuni. Konoha must be informed of these developments.'

The two went off into the streets to find the Sannin, unaware that the same Soldier Zombie from the store was quietly watching them.

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About one hour later

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Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Makoto were already in the middle of a conversation by the time that Kakashi and Sakura found them. Jiraiya looked up and said "Ah, you two are finally here, good. Makoto and I have managed to uncover some interesting information. Listen to this."

Jiraiya cleared his throat and said "In my immense genius, I have managed to ascertain that Naruto and his entourage will be attending the Yakuza Auction being held later tonight. I'm not entirely sure why he will be there, but I know that he will definitely show up, and with all of his flunkies in tow."

Makoto picked up then "And with MY incredible connections, I've managed to get invitations for all six of us to attend the auction! Aren't you proud of me Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi shook off Makoto's attempts and said "Jiraiya-sama, as impressive as that is, I have information of my own, regarding Tsuchi no Kuni. Read this."

Kakashi handed Jiraiya the price sheet and Jiraiya looked it over. After a moment, the Sannin asked "What am I looking at here Kakashi?"

Kakashi just said "That is a price sheet that shows the cost of goods depending on size, material, and quality that are being sold out of Tsuchi no Kuni. From the information I've gathered, Naruto has turned the entire country into one gigantic manufacturing plant, using the citizens of the country as miners and workers in the various factories. He's selling the ore he mines as well as the things that he is making out of the materials he has mined, which includes just about anything you care to name."

Jiraiya frowned and said "So, he's putting the people to work and taking full advantage of the country's abundant resources huh? This could be bad news in the long run, but our current priority is to stop Naruto from getting that book. I'll send a report to Konoha with your findings Kakashi. It won't help us on this mission, but it will definitely help us after this is over, nice job."

Hinata stepped forward and said "According to Makoto-san, the Yakuza Auction will start in two hours, and requires formal dress. We should return to our safe-house and prepare for the evening."

Jiraiya nodded, and the six of them quickly vanished into the twilight that was overtaking the city.

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Approximately two hours later, outside the Yakuza Auction house

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The Yakuza Auction was being held in a rather high class hotel, in the basement where nobody without an invitation could go. Doubtless that many people were bribed to have the auction in such a place, but for these men it most likely wasn't difficult. The Yakuza owned this city, and the men and women who controlled the Yakuza owned a great deal more.

Jiraiya, Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Makoto were entering the building from the front entrance, all of them dressed in the formal clothes that Makoto had obtained for them. Kakashi was at on lookout duty from the roof of the building opposite the Auction building. The reasons for it mainly being that they needed someone on the outside to tell them if something is going on, though the fact that he didn't want to wear a tuxedo also helped his case. He wasn't the only lookout either. Kakashi knew that a good deal of the other Yakuza families had their own retainers waiting outside in case of an unlikely incident.

What Kakashi was really looking for though, as his allies entered the building, was Naruto and his entourage. If they didn't show up than the whole thing was a waste of time and effort that they could be using to achieve more important goals.

Kakashi's patience was soon rewarded as a horse-drawn carriage came out of the darkness of the night, and five people stepped out of it. Kakashi quickly recognized them. Naruto was wearing a starched white shirt, somber red silk tie, a waistcoat a shade darker. Dark pants, patent leather shoes, white gloves along with his usual assortment of rings and his two bracelets. A black evening jacket was worn over the waistcoat and his usual top-hat adorned his head. He was easy to pick out as he stood head and shoulders above most of the people around him.

Upon his right arm was the ghost girl, Perona. Her hair was unbound, flowing past the waist of her evening gown that was a pale pink in color. A silver bracelet upon one wrist, and diamond earrings completed the look as she happily held onto Naruto's limb.

Another girl stood to Naruto's left, one arm linked with his. She wore a dress of dark blue, with a slit in the material showing an expanse of creamy leg. Her heels added a few inches to her height, and she wore a diamond set in silver upon her right hand.

Anko stood behind them, dressed in an evening gown of dark black, the material emphasizing her chest. A silver necklace was around her neck, and ruby earrings were in her ears as she walked just behind Perona.

Behind them stood Sodom. He was dressed in a plain tuxedo without specific ornamentation. His bracers with their hidden blades were nowhere to be seen, but Kakashi knew better than to suppose that he was unarmed. He was definitely carrying a weapon of some kind on him, it just wasn't as easily spotted since weapons were forbidden beyond the door.

The five walked casually through the door without a glance toward the roof.

Kakashi carefully reached for the headset he was wearing and said into the mike "The target had been sighted, and has entered the building. I repeat, the target has been sighted and has entered the building.

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With Naruto

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Naruto led his group into the building, and then off to the side before they entered a guarded elevator that went down to the basement. They walked down a hall and turned a corner and then they were in a very expansive room. There was a stage at one side, but it was empty. There were a large number of small round tables with two or three chairs around them, but few people were sitting at them. Everyone was on their feet, talking to the other guests.

Naruto whispered to the others "Keep an eye out, a good number of these people are high ranking Yakuza members, and everyone here is extremely influential. Everyone who isn't a gangster or a high ranking official is doubtless a White Court Vampire, and I wouldn't doubt that a few of the first two groups belong to the third.

Perona, Haku, and Anko looked over the crowd, trying to locate one of the Vampires that Naruto said were there, Sodom didn't care, he remained focused on any potential danger to his Master. They looked and looked, but they couldn't find anyone suspicious looking. Nobody was drinking suspiciously dark red wine, nobody was drinking from someone's neck, nobody was sporting rather long fangs. There weren't any vampires there at all.

Then Naruto nodded toward a person and said "There's one"

The three of them looked over at the indicated person immediately. She was a beautiful woman, about five foot eleven, and was wearing a woman's business suit of a dark expensive looking material. She was talking with a number of men and women and was obviously the center of attention. She was absolutely gorgeous, the sort of woman that men have embarrassing dreams about. Not like a supermodel or something, she was better. Supermodels and stereotypically attractive women followed a general pattern, large breasts, wide hips and so on. They could be ordered from a kit, and put together on a table. That woman wasn't like that, she was the real deal that people in magazines did their best to imitate but couldn't compare to. There was just an aura to her, something that the people around her didn't have that drew people in and kept them there.

Perona frowned and asked "Are you sure? She doesn't look like a vampire. Sure, she's a bit charismatic but she seems human to me."

Naruto smiled and said "I know. White Court Vampires are the most human of the three Courts, and they hide themselves better than any other breed. They don't feed on blood, they don't burn in sunlight, they don't have a weakness to crosses or garlic or holy water, or anything else that you might find in Stoker's book. They are quite difficult to find and they like it that way."

Haku looked up at Naruto and asked "What do you mean they don't drink blood? I thought that that was what a vampire WAS."

Naruto sighed and kept his eyes on the woman as he said "They don't feed on blood, they feed directly upon their victim's life energy, using emotion as a medium. The White Court has about a hundred and fifty different families in it, all of them having titles like Duke or Count or something depending on their strength, which is rather impressive even though they aren't as strong as the other two. Hell, even I wouldn't want to tangle with the White King, the leader of the entire court. It would be a fair fight and try and avoid them. The emotion differs from family to family and individual to individual. Usually though, it's either lust, fear, or despair. The vampire uses a mental compulsion and forces the target to feel that emotion. They use that to feed upon the individual's life energy directly, draining them. It's not fatal the first time, usually they don't take enough to kill someone, but they definitely can if they want to."

Anko carefully watched the woman and asked "Isn't there a way to fight off the compulsion?"

Naruto said "Of course, if you're ready for it. If you aren't, if they get you by surprise, then you would definitely be in serious trouble. When it comes to the ones who feed on lust, then you would be able to fight it if you really tried, but for a normal person, once the vampire makes a conscious effort to turn up the mental come-hither, the person literally cannot say no, and by the time the vampire starts feeding, they usually don't WANT to say no."

Naruto sighed as he watched the woman and started to turn his gaze on the crowd "That's how most of the Court works. They induce thoughts of lust in the victim, and force them to engage in sex, eating their life as they perform the act. It usually isn't fatal the first time, but once a vampire has taken a bit out of you, it gives them a link to the victim, making easier and easier to come take another bite. A heart attack during the act usually finishes off the victim. No cause of death that anybody could find that might implicate a murder, just natural causes. In any other case, the body just shuts down, they're completely healthy, just dead. That is how the White Court works, silently, and behind the scenes. Of course, the ones who feed on fear and despair do it differently. The ones who feed on fear usually give their victims heart attacks after they've eaten enough, and the despair vampires generally cause their victims to commit suicide. White Court Vampires are hard to track down, way more than the Red or Black Courts."

Anko continued to watch the woman as she whispered something to one of the men that made him start stuttering. She asked "How tough are they in a fight?"

Naruto watched the crowd and said "Hard to say. They can call on their powers to make themselves stronger, faster, and more difficult to hurt, but they'll die like any other human. It doesn't take anything extravagant, it's just hard to find them. The White Court are manipulators, they use cat's-paws and work through others, the more untraceably the better. The watchword of the White Court is pretty much 'straight fights are for losers'. They don't confront their enemy directly unless they have no other choice. One of the more common moves of a White is to seduce the target using their abilities and then control them that way, leaving them operating in society and controlling their actions however they like. That's how the lust variety works. I'm not sure about the fear and despair types though. Doubtless they have their methods."

Naruto pointed towards a handsome young man and said "There's another one. You have to look really carefully if you want to spot a White Court Vampire. Unless they call on their hunger, they're pretty much human, the only physical evidence is that they live a very long time, centuries. The Court as a whole controls a good deal of the mortal world, so pissing them off isn't recommended. Mind you, the threat of having every mortal against you would only be effective if they all work together, which is rare."

Perona scanned the crowds for another vampire as she asked "They don't get along?"

Naruto shook his head and said "Nowhere close. The various lords are always trying to out-do eachother. The three big houses right now are Raith, Malvora, and Skavis. Right now, Raith is on top, so Malvora and Skavis are doing their best to out-do eachother and take the throne for themselves. At the same time, House Raith does their best to keep their hold on power. I know that they hold a large amount of influence in various governments, they also own a good amount of businesses. Hell, I believe that the current Lord Raith owns the publishing company that Jiraiya sends his books to."

Anko looked over at that one. "Well, that would explain a lot."

Naruto nodded and continued to search the crowd "Yes it would. He also owns a large number of pornography studios, which is genius if one thinks about it. With that kind of thing at his control, he can shape the populace how he wants. It would show the populace 'What is the proper way to react to temptation' what sex is, what beauty is, hell it's like training the cattle to come to the slaughtering house and then stand still."

Haku looked up in shock "Dear god, that's insidious, yet absolutely ingenious. The White Court has that much control over this world."

Naruto nodded, "Oh, definitely. They aren't to be underestimated. Only the top nobles are really strong, but every individual is dangerous. The White Court Vampires kill their enemies without anybody realizing it was them more often than not, they pride themselves on not getting directly involved. Like I said, when it comes to the White Court, as far as they are concerned, straight up fights are for losers."

Then Naruto pointed into the crowd and said "There's another one."

The three of them looked at where Naruto pointed, and they saw a black haired man with a tuxedo. Nearby him were Jiraiya of the Sannin, Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata, and Nara Shikamaru. And all five of them were staring at Naruto and his group.

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In Houfu

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It was late at night in Houfu, when a large amount of explosives ripped through an area of the city.

Buildings burst into flames, and a few buildings crumbled as the structures' integrity collapsed. The people nearby panicked and ran as best they could chained to eleven other individuals.

The Soldiers did their best to control the populace and put out the fires, all of their attention focused on containing the flames and the people.

What none of them notices was two silent figures slipping over one wall, and into the palace.

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Okay, that's the chapter. Pretty much an introduction to the next chapter, and as a result I don't have much to say. Review and tell me what you all thought of it, and I hope you all have a nice day.(Applies to reviewers only)

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	68. Chapter 68

Hello oh faithful readers. I bring you the one thing that will quell your hunger, the one thing that will sate your thirst. Yes, I bring you, Kage no Naruto chapter sixty eight! Hold your applause, hold your applause, save it all for the end. In the meantime, read and enjoy. Then review at the end.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Right, Inoichi found out where Pein's real body is. Apparently, from the information he got from that prisoner's mind, they carried the bodies to the HIGHEST tower. Then, he used logic to deduce that Pein needed to be in a high place in order to send chakra to the six bodies. So now that little group is going to go thoroughly search the highest places in and around Konoha .

Pein talks to Naruto regarding what he desires. He finally makes it dawn on him that everything isn't black and white. He told Naruto how Konoha, in its wars, devastated his country, his home, that Konoha treated him and his village the same way he treated Konoha. That his family, his village, and his friends were taken away from him by the larger countries. He asked Naruto what his goal was, and when Naruto yelled 'Peace in the Shinobi World!' he said that they have the same goal. He told Naruto that the Shinobi world was ruled by hate, a fact which Jiraiya himself said was true, and it goes into a short flashback that shows Jiraiya telling Naruto to solve that problem if he isn't able to. Naruto merely says that he doesn't know.

Pein tells him how he plans to do it, to use the nine Bijuu he gathered by founding Akatsuki to create a weapon strong enough to destroy a country, to make everyone feel the Pain of loss. By that logic, people would realize their actions were nothing but harmful and the hate would stop. However, in a few dozen years, the pain will fade away, and people would start fighting again, and then the Bijuu weapon would be used to renew the pain, only it would be people who used the weapon. By that logic, the pain would be renewed, and the fighting would stop again, until the next time the weapon had to be used.

People aren't that smart, aren't smart enough to realize these things on their own, and so they had to be showed to them.

Then, it actually shows us a view of Pein's real body, of Nagato.

He's in this kind of machine like thing, with a large number of those black piercings sticking out of his back and arms. Everything below his waist is completely inside of the thing, as are his arms, while those black metal rods are raising out of his back and the machine into the air, acting as a transmitter. The thing also has legs, which indicates that it can move upon Nagato's will, which also indicates that he can't get out of the thing either easily or quickly.

Apparently, Nagato is running out of chakra, according to Konan, we also see a bit of blood dribble out of his mouth, so apparently he's running close to his limit.

I was surprised that the real Pein body is that fragile looking, he looks emaciated, his ribs are showing clearly, it's like the entire machine apparatus doubles as a life support system almost. Now I see why he said that if Jiraiya figured out his secret earlier, he would have lost. By the looks of it, the main body is almost completely unable to defend itself. That would explain why Konan is there with him, guarding him.

So, this is a good chapter. Naruto is finally faced with the fact that his side isn't as bright and good as he thought it was, he is forced to realize that he has no real way of making his dream come true the way Pein does, and that maybe Pein is right. We also see the real body for the first time, and we realize that Pein isn't as invincible as we once thought he might have been, that if you go by looks, he's quite fragile.

By the looks of things, Pein's only real ability is to manipulate the six bodies to his will, using that machine apparatus which he apparently can't leave, and needs to be in a high place for the most efficient use. Using this machine apparatus means becoming attached to it, and if someone figures out the trick and finds the real body, he's screwed which is why he has Konan there to protect him. I doubt that it will as simple as that, doubtless the real Pein, Nagato, can defend himself, but not while he's inside that thing, and if he's not inside that thing, he can't use the Six Paths. So it's quite a gamble. Definitely worth reading this chapter, for both seeing Pein's methods and plans, and actually seeing the real body.

Oh, and I apparently made a bit of a mistake. Regarding the level of destruction caused by Pein's super-powered Shinra Tensei, it wasn't forty percent of the village that got destroyed. By the looks of things in one panel of this chapter, it was more like eighty to ninety percent. Yeah, I don't think that Konoha is rebuilding after this one like they did with the Sand/Sound invasion.

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Summary of last chapter

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The Konoha group gathered all the information that they could on Naruto and what he is doing and planning. They find out that Naruto is going to attend the Yakuza auction and with Makoto's contacts, they manage to get invitations to attend.

Naruto shows up at the auction with his entourage, and explains to Anko, Perona, and Haku, what the White Court are, how they operate and give what their strengths and weaknesses are. He also points out a few vampires in the crowd at the auction. The last revealed vampire being a dark haired man in the company of Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru and Jiraiya as the five of them notice Naruto's presence.

In Houfu, explosions rip through several buildings and cause chaos as Hidan and Kakuzu infiltrate the palace.

What will happen between Naruto and the Konoha group? What will Hidan and Kakuzu find in the Houfu palace? Read the chapter and find out!

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Nyuusatsu, Yakuza Auction, with the Konoha group

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The five of them stared in shock as they saw Naruto's entourage, headed up by the man himself. They didn't know what to expect, in their deepest thoughts, they didn't really expect him to show up. But now, he did show up, he was staring right at them. They had to ask themselves 'What do I do now?' Attack? Run? None of them really knew what to do. If it was somewhere more remote, they wouldn't have thought twice, but this was a public setting, among some very influential people. They couldn't afford to cause a commotion here. They went there searching for Naruto, and they found him, but they had no idea where to go from there.

They were a bit surprised when he simply began to walk up to them, calm as could be, casually moving through the crowd like someone who was used to such conditions, unlike the Konoha team. When they arrived, they had no idea what to do, not even Jiraiya, though Makoto had better fare. They were fighters and killers, they weren't used to formal settings except for Hinata, but she had never experienced anything of this scale before. Naruto looked like he went through such things every day. Smiling at the guests, shaking hands and quickly learning names as he eased his way through the assembled people and giving his name in return, a handshake here, a kiss upon one hand there, he was a complete gentleman as he moved through the crowd, before at last he and his group stood before the Konoha ninja, way out of their familiar element.

Naruto stood not two feet in front of them, and he did something completely unexpected. He took his hat in one hand and placed it over his heart as he made a small, shallow bow and said in his deep, cultured voice "Good evening, tell me, what are you all doing in a place like this?"

The lot of them were surprised by his entrance, they were expecting threats, maybe some kind of terse greeting, but hardly anything formal and civilized like this.

He rose and replaced his hat and said "First and foremost, I must apologize for my behavior yesterday, I shall endeavor to maintain better control over myself in the future. However, I must return to my original line of inquiry as to your presence here. What business do you even have in this city that Jiraiya of the Sannin, as well as Tsunade's apprentice, the heirs of the Nara and the Hyuuga clans, and Hatake Kakashi would make their way here? I highly doubt that it involves purchasing an item of worth, or perhaps it does. What is your purpose at this auction and in this city? Answer me."

The lot of them had the sudden urge to tell him what they knew. They saw his tongue flicker in his mouth, and his words flowed from that silver tongue around their heads, fogging their senses and for a moment, they simply wanted to listen to that voice, to do as it said and nothing more. Then, they reasserted themselves and their control over their own bodies and the urge to obey him vanished.

Naruto looked at them for a moment and said "Interesting, proof against the voice. It takes a stern will to defy me, I congratulate you on your fortitude. Very well, you refuse to tell me what you came here for. I do find it odd that you, Konoha Shinobi, seem to run into me quite often. What is your interest in me?"

Shikamaru grew angry and said "What is NOT our interest in you?! You forsook our village, your ran from your home, taking many secrets from us and making yourself a liability for our enemies. You destroyed an entire country for no reason other than your own gain, you murdered out personnel, including Asuma-sensei, you attempted to assassinate Tsunade-sama at least once, and you kidnapped the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage! What reason do we have NOT to hunt you down?"

Naruto smiled and said "Ah, so you are here to attempt to kill me, or prevent me from attaining my goals by some other method of action. I suppose that it was inevitable, but to be honest I was hoping to avoid hostilities between our forces. Such a shame. But if Konoha is actively looking to destroy what I have built, than I shall reciprocate."

Sakura ground her teeth and said "What do you mean by trying to avoid hostilities? That bastard just behind you murdered one of our best Jounin not even a month ago! You kidnapped the Sandaime's grandson and are doing who knows what with him! You've done nothing but attack and harm us!"

Naruto sighed and said "By 'us' I assume you mean Konoha, but that simply isn't true. Several years ago, I was wrathful and attacked others without real reason, I admit it. But alas I have grown up since then. I conquered Tsuchi no Kuni, but no I have put away the hammer of war, I have mellowed out quite a bit. I have forgiven Konoha the wrongs it did to me, and my agents have never gone into Hi no Kuni, or attacked Konoha ninja without good reason or inside Hi no Kuni. I've been a perfectly good neighbor."

Jiraiya spat "Bullshit, not even a month ago you attacked a caravan protected by Konoha ninja, killing one of them, and kidnapping another. What about that can you call peaceful?!"

Naruto sighed and said "I'm aware of the actions of General Sodom here, but keep in mind that although I said I forgive Konoha, that doesn't mean that I forgive the Sarutobi clan for what the Sandaime did to me. I can't take it out on him, so his family will have to do. And that entire mission wasn't even on my orders. I was asleep at the time and my second in command took care of things during that time. He ordered Asuma killed and the gold plundered, not me. Honestly, you Konoha ninja are always so self-righteous, always thinking that you are all bleeding hearts of generosity and fair play that you're the good guys and everyone else is a demon in disguise. Filthy hypocrites, all of you."

The girl in the blue dress on Naruto's left said quietly "What's the point in trying to explain things to them Naruto-kun? People believe what they want to believe. They believe that you crave nothing but destruction and will never give up that view of you no matter what you say or do. Leave them in their ignorance, let them do what they wish, and destroy them when they finally prove themselves deserving of that destruction."

Naruto looked at her, smiled and said "I believe that I have not yet introduced my vassal and consort, Haku."

He waited while Haku gave a slight curtsey and then said to the assembled Konoha forces "She is right you know Jiraiya. Do not think that these physical changes are the only thing different about me. I have grown in power substantially and will soon surpass the limits of humanity. I highly recommend that you and those you represent make peace with me before my power grows even more, some friendly advice from one being of power to another. I am offering Konoha a chance to wipe the slate clean, let me go without any further malice, take my name from your Bingo Book, and I will cease any hostile action against Konoha. I may even assist you against our mutual foes, such as Orochimaru. I am aware that Konoha still wishes to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke if possible, I could be of great help to that end. Honestly, I have nothing personal against any of you, I think I would even enjoy working with you all to the extent of allied nations. But do not mistake peaceable intent for weakness Jiraiya. If you and Konoha decide to throw down this generous offer, I will mow down Konoha along with the rest of my enemies and don't think I will hesitate for an instant to do anything I can to destroy everything Konoha holds dear if such events come to pass. Good day to you all."

Naruto made to move past them, but Jiraiya stepped in the way. He just said "Assuming we wanted your friendship and good will, what would we have to do to gain it?"

Naruto smiled a bit and said "First of all, withdraw from this field. Take your people and leave the city. If you do so, I will send a representative to Konoha to begin negotiations on some kind of treaty. Take my words at face value Jiraiya, I really have nothing against Konoha for what they did in my childhood, I told you before that I have nothing but gratitude to them for turning me into what I am now. I have nothing against Konoha as a whole, just against the Sarutobi clan, and there aren't many of them left. If you don't take this offer, than I will find allies elsewhere, and should Konoha ever anger me, I won't hold my punches."

Then Naruto pushed past Jiraiya and moved into the crowd of gangsters and vampires, his entourage following him.

Before he could vanish into the crowd though, Shikamaru moved up and grabbed Sodom's shoulder. When the General looked back at him, Shikamaru looked him dead in the eye and said "You killed my Sensei, and you hurt many people that I consider important to me. I don't care whether or not Konoha makes peace with your Master, regardless of their decision I will do everything in my power to see you dead, so enjoy what life you have left."

Sodom regarded the Nara heir dispassionately for a moment before he said "You're bluffing. If your village takes my Master's offer, you won't strike against me for fear of bringing my Master's rage upon your home, and your home's wrath upon yourself and your family. If your village doesn't take the offer, than you will simply be killed when your group of warriors faces myself and the other Generals working in tandem. Either way, whether your village takes the offer or not, whether you have the courage to actually attack me in either situation, you have neither a way to kill me, or the power to give me anything more than a paper cut. Your wrath is as insubstantial as your sensei's strength, and your intellect is in the same condition as your Sensei's heartbeat, i.e. nonexistent."

Before Shikamaru could do anything more Sodom put one hand against Shikamaru's sternum and pushed back once, sending him stumbling back a number of steps before almost falling over.

Shikamaru recovered himself, more angry than he ever had been before thanks to Sodom insulting Asuma's memory. But when he scanned the nearby crowd, the General was gone.

Jiraiya sighed and said "Let's go." and then started for the door.

Hinata gasped and said "But Jiraiya-san, we've just gotten here, why are we leaving?"

Jiraiya looked back and said "We came here to obtain information on Naruto and his movements. We won't be able to learn anything more about him right now, and if we stay we'll only end up giving up information on our goals here, which he already suspects. We're getting out while we're still ahead. Besides, I have to make a report to Tsunade on the more recent developments."

Sakura looked troubled and asked "Jiraiya-san, do you really think that Tsunade-sama will actually accept that bastard's offer? There's no way that he's sincere and he has Konohamaru-kun held hostage for God's sake."

Jiraiya frowned and said "I don't know if Tsunade and the Council will go with it, or toss it out the window without considering it, but either way I am obligated to tell them what I've learned tonight. Who knows, maybe by entering into some kind of alliance with Naruto we can get more information from him, we might even be able to negotiate Konohamaru's return to Konoha. As for his intention, I can't be sure but he didn't give any sign at all that he was lying while he told us all of this, which means he is either a liar of the highest caliber for me not to even doubt his sincerity, or the more likely option, he's actually on the level about his offer, which I think he is. There are a lot of possible reasons for this, but regardless of the reason, I'm fairly sure that he really wants to have peace between us. But all that is irrelevant, we need to go before Naruto can get anything out of us through our movements or behavior. Come on."

They walked maybe six inches before Shikamaru asked "Hey, what's eating you Makoto?"

The rest of the group looked to see what was going on and saw Makoto wide-eyed and beginning to sweat. He just stuttered "D-don't worry about me, I'm f-fine. I'm just a little overwhelmed by his presence that's all, his power is quite intimidating for those unused to it."

The rest of them shrugged and continued on, Makoto following them as thoughts raced through his head and panic started to make his heartbeat go faster. What was causing this reaction? The message Naruto gave him, the series of words communicated from Naruto using his mental capabilities. 'My offer extends to your kind too Vampire, you and your Court. Give my message to your uncle and you will live to see the dawn.'

Makoto was plagued with uncertainty as he followed Jiraiya out of the Yakuza den as the crowd settling into the table as the auction began. Thoughts of whether or not to give Naruto's deal to his uncle, whose reaction couldn't be foretold over such things. The reason it was so important to him was that Kirijo Makoto's vampire name, the name used only by his kin was Joshua Raith. His uncle was Jacque Raith. Jacque Raith was the Lord of House Raith, and also the King of the White Court of Vampires.

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With Naruto

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Naruto sat down at one of the tables as the auction began and the history was given on the first item up for sale, sacred scrolls stolen from the Fire Temple.

Perona, who had remained silent thus far, asked "Naruto-kun, are you serious about that offer? Why would you want to make peace with them?"

Naruto shrugged and said "Konoha's hostility would simply make things more difficult for me, Hi no Kuni is a very large place, and it is right in the middle of the continent. Having to go around it would be almost as big a pain as going through it watching over my shoulder for a patrol. In addition, if Konoha makes peace with me, I might be able to enter the village unchallenged. There are things that I could get in Konoha that I couldn't get as Konoha's enemy. Sure, I could use my Kage Houko to get into the village, but I wouldn't have the time I would need, and if I brought sufficient force to act as a distraction, it could damage industrial structures, libraries, and research centers, which I want to keep intact. There is also the fact that a good number of tracks are being laid through Hi no Kuni to get to other nations by train, and shipping goods through Hi no Kuni would be cheaper than sending them the long way around, and I would like to not worry about the possibility of shipments being destroyed or stolen by Konoha Ninja. There are other reasons, but all in all things would just be easier if Konoha didn't see me as an enemy. If one is on their guard, it becomes so much harder to seduce and deceive and backstab after all."

Naruto yawned as some gangster bought the scrolls for one billion, two hundred million Ryo and the next item was brought up, the sword of Kurosaki Ichigo, deceased member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, robbed from his grave. The bidding started at one hundred fifty million Ryo.

He continued "Also, if Konoha makes peace, I could use them to take out my enemies, such as Orochimaru or the Akatsuki. Sure, I could do those things myself with my resources, but why use my resources if I can use somebody else's and achieve the same goal? There isn't anything to gain by remaining Konoha's enemy except a pain in the neck, but there is a lot to gain by becoming their ally. Easier trade routes, using their resources to kill my enemies, I might be able to get into the village without being attacked. I could even get closer to Jiraiya, which would make it easier to capture him when the time is right. I could obtain a new market to sell my goods in, and perhaps even another chance at the Mangekyou Sharingan."

Anko looked back at that one. "What do you mean the Mangekyou Sharingan? I thought that only Itachi had that."

Naruto nodded at the snake mistress and said "You're right, only Itachi has it right now, but Sasuke has the potential to gain it. The strongest General Zombie, General 001, is still dormant. My plan is to obtain an Uchiha with the Mangekyou Sharingan and use their eyes in the Zombie, and then animate it using their shadow, which I intend to use Itachi for. However, there is a chance that Itachi would be killed by someone else before I get my chance. I haven't gotten this far by taking unnecessary risks, if Sasuke obtains the Mangekyou then he will be just as useful as Itachi for that purpose."

Perona put one finger to her chin as she thought about something and said "Wait, I thought you put a seal on Sasuke that would kill him if Orochimaru takes over his body. Couldn't he be killed by the seal at any moment?"

Naruto nodded and said "Yes, but keep in mind that the seal I used was incomplete at the time I put it on Sasuke during the Chuunin Exams. There is a very good chance that it has degraded over time due to it being incomplete, I wouldn't be surprised if a good portion of the functions it was capable of upon its application have worn out by now. However, its primary purpose is guaranteed to still be active, i.e. killing him should Orochimaru take control of his body which would kill both him and the snake."

Naruto leaned back in his chair and took a drink from a girl coming around, taking a sip of the cocktail as he said "Mind you, if Sasuke is still at the level where Orochimaru can overpower him, then he would have made a pathetic General regardless. Either way, I have nothing to lose."

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Houfu, the Palace

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Hidan and Kakuzu had jumped the wall, and had snuck through a window on the first floor, they were currently inside the palace looking for either their target or information on their target's location.

So far, they were running through the hallways, opening every door, but so far they hadn't found much. A kitchen, a few bedrooms, storerooms for cleaning equipment, a bathroom, nothing like paperwork or anything that could be used to track down Naruto.

Hidan sighed and said "Kakuzu, where the hell is everybody!? I haven't seen any guards, anything worth taking, nobody to sacrifice, this is boring as HELL!"

Kakuzu opened a door, a pantry, and then looked back and said "Shut up Hidan. We are here to obtain information and there are still two other floors to search. Let's head up to the second floor, we may find something there."

Hidan pouted but nodded and the two quickly returned to the main foyer, where a large staircase led up to the second floor of the palace.

They were stopped in their tracks the moment that they reached the place though. The reason for it was that as soon as they reached the foyer, a figure in medieval armor walked down the steps leading to the second floor and stood before them.

Hidan let out an excited yell and jumped back, bringing his scythe to bear at the sight of an enemy. "Hah, about time somebody showed up! This was way too boring, finally somebody to sacrifice to Jashin-sama!"

Kakuzu took a stance as he eyed the new foe. He said "Be careful not to underestimate your opponents Hidan, or you'll die."

Hidan looked at Kakuzu and spat out "Please, if he could kill me, I would let him, but that's not likely to happen now is it?" Then he took out one of his ceremonial spikes and jabbed himself in the arm, letting blood drop to the ground which he quickly spread with his foot into a circle with a triangle inside, the symbol of Jashin.

Hidan smiled as he brandished his scythe and said "Kakuzu, stand back. I'll take care of this heathen fuck."

Kakuzu stepped back and said "Be careful Hidan, one day you'll underestimate the wrong guy."

Hidan smirked and ignored the comment as the armored figure loomed before him.

The armored figure spoke then. "Under standing orders, I am to retreat rather than confront members of the group 'Akatsuki'. However, those orders are overridden by the Master's direct orders to protect this city, especially the treasure in the third floor of the palace. So, I will have to eliminate you both."

Hidan yelled "It doesn't matter what your orders are, you will still be judged by God!"

The Akatsuki member ran forward as the armored man drew his sword, which he recognized as the Raijin of the Niidaime Hokage, and struck. His scythe went through the air, attached by a long metal cord to its owner, and swung down at the figure's shoulder.

The armored figure blocked the strike with his sword, his arm standing firm against the strike. Electrical currents played around the scythe from the sword, but they did not travel down the cord into the Akatsuki member, obviously the cord was made of a non-conducting metal. Hidan pulled back on the scythe and it returned to his hand, the armored figure just stood there and watched.

The figure spoke again as Hidan began to move forward "I am General Samson, placed in charge of this city and of Tsuchi no Kuni overall by the Master. I will not be struck down by such pathetic attacks."

Hidan ground his teeth in anger at the insult and moved to the side, letting his scythe go and using the cord to extend the distance he swung he scythe at the joint between the helmet and breastplate. Again, Samson moved the Raijin in the way, the force of the blow not moving him.

Hidan let out a breath as he retracted the cord again. 'So, normal attacks won't get this guy, in that case, I'll have to be a little more creative.'

The Jashinist quickly closed the distance between the two, swinging his scythe with his hands at close range. Samson moved to block the strike, but he didn't expect Hidan to let go of his weapon, still moving through its intended path with the cord attached to it, and Samson was forced to move backward to avoid a kick from Hidan.

The Akatsuki member grabbed his scythe near the blade as Samson struck with the Raijin, Hidan blocking the attack and then forced to retreat to avoid the ensuing series of swipes with the electrified sword.

Hidan frowned in irritation. Samson slowly walked toward Hidan, sword in hand as the Akatsuki member got his scythe back in his usual grip. Then, Hidan noticed something that he didn't see before, some kind of cloud was coming out of the gaps in the armor. It wasn't vapor, it had some substance, like a cloud of extremely small particles, like a cloud of dust or ash. That cloud quickly spread, and enveloped the entire room in an amazingly short amount of time.

Kakuzu was not worried, his facemask would protect him if it was poisonous, and Hidan could not be killed by poison. Whatever this technique was, it wouldn't be of any use.

Samson didn't seem to hold this opinion however, because underneath his helm, his face cracked into a smile as Hidan charged again. The only thought that went through Samson's mind was 'There's no way you can beat me now.'

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Okay, and that is the chapter. What will Konoha do regarding Naruto's offer? What will Makoto do? Will he tell the White King? Will he not do so and chance Naruto's wrath? What will happen to Sasuke as Orochimaru's time in his current body draws to a close? What will happen to Hidan and Kakuzu? What is the cloud that surrounds Samson and what purpose does it serve? Find out next chapter, in the meantime tell me what you thought of this one.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	69. Chapter 69

I welcome you all to the thing that you have all been waiting for, Kage no Naruto chapter sixty nine! Yeah, yeah we all get the pun, ha-ha. Moving on, this chapter will be a little different. Normally I have a piece from each group's perspective, but for this chapter, the entire thing is going to be pretty much dedicated to the fight between Samson, Kakuzu and Hidan. There will be some other content near the end, but most of this chapter is going to be dedicated to the fight. So, without anything else, let the chapter begin! And don't forget to review at the end.

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto confronted the Konoha group at the Yakuza auction. There wasn't any fighting, any conflict. In fact, Naruto offered Konoha something completely unexpected, he offered to bury the hatchet, to let bygones be bygones and have all malice forgotten. He already said once that he held no malice toward Konoha for his childhood, and had nothing personal against anyone except the few in number Sarutobi clan. He offered his assistance to Konoha as an allied nation to assist them in destroying their mutual enemies such as Orochimaru.

Jiraiya asked more into the matter and found out that all they had to do to make it all possible was to withdraw from the field, to leave Nyuusatsu and after that Naruto would send a messenger to Konoha to begin negotiations.

Afterward, Shikamaru threatened Sodom, that no matter Konoha's decision regarding Naruto's offer, he was going to make Sodom die. Sodom simply replied that he didn't have the courage and even if he did than he would just be cut down by the Generals working together.

Finally, we found out that Naruto offered the same deal he offered to Konoha to Makoto. More accurately, Makoto was to act as a messenger to the one the message was meant for, his uncle Jacques Raith, Lord of House Raith and King of the White Court of Vampires.

After that, we returned to Nyuusatsu where Hidan and Kakuzu infiltrated the palace, looking for anything that they could use to track down Naruto, and finding nothing. Then, they went into the main foyer to move up the stairs to the second floor, where they hoped to have more luck, and encountered none other than General Samson.

Hidan declared that he would win the fight on his own, and Kakuzu stepped back and watched as Hidan's physical attacks were ineffective, and then as a mysterious cloud of some kind of particle emerged from the gaps between Samson's armor plates, quickly eveloping the whole room as Samson went on the attack.

What is the purpose of Samson's cloud? Will Hidan and Kakuzu survive? What will Konoha do regarding Naruto's offer? Read the chapter, find out, and then review and tell me what you liked.

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Houfu, Palace, Main Foyer

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Hidan faced down Samson as that cloud of particles drifted through the room. He wasn't worried about breathing it in. If it was poisonous, it wouldn't kill him. As far as Hidan was concerned, this guy was just wasting chakra in using the stuff. As the armor clad General walked closer, his sword in hand, Hidan struck with his scythe.

Samson only had to take one step to the side to avoid the blade and have it crash into the floor, but that was all Hidan needed as he was pulled through the air by the cord, as he reached Samson's position as he was pulled along, he lashed out with a vicious kick which connected with the General's breastplate, but barely dented the metal. Hidan landed and quickly pulled his scythe from the ground as he faced his opponent again.

Kakuzu looked over and asked "Are you sure you don't want me to help?"

Hidan looked over to his partner and shouted "Shut the fuck up Kakuzu!"

It was a mistake to look over and respond to Kakuzu. Samson struck with lightning speed the instant Hidan's attention was elsewhere and the Akatsuki member quickly found himself on the defensive from an onslaught of slashes and stabs from the armored General as he was slowly backed up against a wall.

Hidan was in trouble and he knew it as he was forced to block strike after strike with his scythe, a weapon not meant for close range combat, but he had little choice since if he touched the blade then he would receive a debilitating electrical shock enough to stun him long enough for Samson to chop off his head or otherwise disable him.

Hidan blocked an overhead strike with his scythe's handle and his arms were jarred by the impact. 'Damn it all! This bastard is way stronger than a human should be. My arms are starting to go numb from this pounding. What the hell is he?!' Hidan furiously thought to himself. But his thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that Samson only had one hand on his sword, he made this realization a moment before a gauntleted fist struck his midsection.

Hidan was pushed against the wall by the force of the blow and the stone wall cracked under the force of the General's punch. The Akatsuki member retched and coughed up blood from the internal wounds caused by the inhuman attack. He struck with his left leg, landing a powerful kick to the knee joint in his armor, but his attack barely marked the metal at all.

Samson made to punch him again, but Hidan abandoned his guard against Samson's sword, allowing it to come down into the ground as he moved sideways and rushed for the middle of the foyer where he wouldn't be stuck in a closed space against his amazingly strong opponent.

Then Samson appeared right in front of him and Hidan couldn't do anything except watch in stunned horror as the General rained punches upon his body before landing a strike with a little more force than the others which sent him skidding across the ground, blood spewing from his mouth and from a few places in his abdomen where his own ribs broke the skin.

The General looked on dispassionately as he moved over to the wall where he picked up his sword from where he left it embedded in the ground. Then he turned fully to face his opponent and was surprised to see him getting up. He remarked "I'm quite surprised that you are able to stand. That series of attacks should have liquefied your bones, at least in the immediate strike area, yet you are still getting up. Now I see why Akatsuki is feared by so many, if you are able to take that level of attack and still keep going."

Hidan spat out a dollop of blood and shouted "I'LL ALWAYS GET UP YOU PIECE OF SHIT! NOTHING YOU DO CAN EVER HURT ME!"

Samson moved with blinding speed and kicked Hidan's teeth in, sending him skidding across the ground until he finally stopped at Kakuzu's feet. The elder Akatsuki member looked down and asked "Are you sure you don't want me to help? You're getting a bit beaten up out there Hidan."

Hidan grimaced and spat out a tooth before he pushed himself up off the ground and said "Shut the hell up Kakuzu, I can handle this bastard the moment I get a bit of blood out of him."

Kakuzu sighed at the obstinacy of his partner and said "Fine, but if you get knocked around like that again then I'm stepping in regardless. Our mission here is to gain information, not pad your pride."

Hidan spat out a bit of blood at the man's feet and stalked forward to confront Samson again.

While the two were arguing amongst themselves, Samson was thinking to himself. 'The white haired one, blood lust, arrogance, and a beginning of wariness, yet a complete lack of fear, a blend of 7X27X9. He may not be joking about not being able to kill him, I have heard of an immortal Akatsuki member, maybe this is him. The other one, vigilance, preparation, and confidence, a blend of 2X3X5. A somewhat diluted sense of vigilance due to the manifestation of confidence, in other words a strong personality. He is definitely the more dangerous of the two.'

Before he could think over his findings any more than he already had, Hidan had lashed out with his scythe and he was forced into battle again.

The entire analysis was Samson's main unique ability. Under his armor, he had a set of completely functional wings, moth wings to be precise. The wings of a moth are covered with a kind of dust that spreads around when they are flapped, also known as moth scales, and these scales were what were being spread around the area as Samson moved them with some difficulty inside of his armor. The first effect of them was a slight hypnotic effect when they come in contact with a target that would allow him to manipulate them to his will, but that effect couldn't be used against more powerful opponents whose own strength would overwhelm the feeble hypnosis. The secondary effect though, was the more important one.

The second effect was that the moth scales were extremely sensitive to chakra. By surrounding his opponent with them, he could feel his opponents' chakra flow, the aura of chakra around their bodies. From this information, he could accurately interpret the chakra aura into about thirty strong emotions that are revealed by certain patterns and fluctuations in the chakra aura. These fluctuations couldn't be hidden, mainly because the chakra aura was so subtle that most people didn't even realize that it existed. The fact was that all ninja gave off this emission of chakra at all times due to it actively flowing through their body, civilians didn't so it was also an excellent way for Samson to root out a ninja spy. Very few ninja realized that this emission existed and even those who did realize its existence couldn't do anything about it. The aura reacted to their thoughts and emotional state and it couldn't be consciously altered. So Samson could read this chakra aura using his scales and from that information he could accurately interpret his opponent's state of mind, and from there he could decode their thoughts with a ninety five percent accuracy rate. Now that Hidan and Kakuzu were surrounded by Samson's scales, he could read them like an open book and there wasn't anything that they could do to stop him even if they realized what he was doing.

So, when Hidan began to attack with his scythe, no matter how much he tried, he was caught in Samson's scales and every blow was easily avoided.

'Damn it all! Is this guy reading my mind of something!? Why can't I hit him?' Hidan furiously thought to himself as he continued to attack the armor-clad General without results. He struck with his scythe, cleaving the air as Samson ducked, and the General jumped back as Hidan drew a stake from his robe with his free hand and stabbed at the gap underneath his helmet. He was then forced on the defensive as the General slashed at his neck with the Raijin, but Hidan was also forced to endure a further barrage of bone crushing punches from Samson's armor clad fist. He managed to get the ceremonial stake in the way of a few of the attacks, but it didn't last long before it was snapped like a twig. Afterward the Akatsuki member was batted down by the General like a fly, and sent skidding across the floor with several more broken bones.

Hidan flipped to his feet, panting loudly as he felt his abdomen and flinched when he realized that several of his ribs were breaking the skin. If he weren't immortal, he would have been dead long ago, probably after that first barrage. He quickly jumped back which caused even more pain as it stressed his broken bones, but he had no choice as Samson went on the offensive again.

Hidan attacked with his scythe, but Samson batted it aside with his armored forearm and Hidan couldn't do anything but watch as the Raijin's edge came closer and closer to his neck.

Then Samson abandoned the offensive and jumped back. The reason was clear an instant later when Kakuzu appeared in the space the General just occupied, his black fist thrusting through the space which was occupied by the General's elbow joint. If he had hit he would have smashed it in.

Hidan was pissed as he shouted "What the hell are you doing Kakuzu!? I told you not to get involved!"

Kakuzu remained indifferent as he said "Shut up. I told you that if you got knocked down like that again then I would get involved as well. You had your chance to take him down alone and you screwed it up, so shut it and work together with me to take this guy down. You don't have a chance against him alone anyway, you're out of your league."

Hidan was angry as a hornet after hearing that, but at the same time he was humiliated. He was an S-class ninja, a member of Akatsuki. He couldn't remember the last time that anyone had the balls to tell him that he was out of his league.

Hidan exploded in rage as he shouted "What the hell are you saying!? How can I be out of my league!? We're members of Akatsuki for crying out loud! All nine of us are Kage level ninja, there's no such thing as a higher league than that!"

Kakuzu didn't spare a glance at his partner as he kept his entire attention on the armored foe across the room. He did say however "Stop being so naïve, boy. You think that you are as strong as a Kage? Don't make me laugh. S-class Nuke-nin you might be, but in all honesty that classification is more often applying to people of ANBU captain rank rather than a Kage. The leader, Itachi, Sasori, myself, and maybe Zetsu, WE'RE Kage level. You, Deidara, and Konan are on par with ANBU Captains. Kisame is somewhere between the two. After watching this man fight, it's obvious that you don't have a chance against him alone so shut up and wait for an opening to get some blood. I'll handle him."

Samson was thinking as Kakuzu got Hidan to back down. 'From that one, Hidan, anger, determination on the level of fanaticism, and humiliation, a mix of 4X17X20. He'll stay back and wait for an opportunity while the other one fights me. That one, Kakuzu, judging on this information is much more powerful than his partner, and judging from the information I'm receiving from his aura, he's much more skilled and has much more experience than the other one.'

Samson realized the increase in danger to himself and switched to a stance more suited to defense than offense as opposed to the pure offensive stance he used against Hidan. He realized that Kakuzu was a much more challenging opponent and reacted appropriately, going on the defensive in preparation for a counter-attacking strategy. Kakuzu in turn realized this and made a decision to use as little movement as possible so as to conceal his abilities as long as possible and deny his opponent the information he required to put together an effective strategy.

Kakuzu waited and analyzed his opponent's style and current stance for any weaknesses. 'He's got power in spades from the way he crushed Hidan. He's also got a lot of experience to dodge every last one of Hidan's attacks the way he did. He's recognized that I am a more dangerous enemy than Hidan is and as such he has changed his stance to a more defensive one in reaction to the higher level of threat. This guy is definitely as strong and smart as a Kage. If guys like this are working for the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, I have to wonder if we could hope to gain victory over him. However skilled he is though, his defensive stance has a weak point.'

Kakuzu analyzed his opponent's stance and he indeed found a weak point in the defense. It was an opening in the stance just to the left of his spine. Kakuzu realized that if he moved fast enough and struck at that spot with his hardened fist, he could probably break through the armor and do some damage to the enemy, but now Kakuzu had to deal with another dilemma. The dilemma was 'Is the opening a mistake, in which case I can and should take advantage of it, or is it a trap, a deliberate opening intended to draw me into a predictable attack, in which case I would be exposed to a counterattack should I take it.'

Samson was thinking as he faced his opponent 'A slight drain in confidence immediately after I altered my stance, along with indecision over a core of determination. Obviously there is a flaw in my stance and he is undecided over whether or not it is intentional. Indeed, he is a truly splendid warrior. I am sincerely impressed. Now, I must find the weakness in my stance before he decides whether or not to attack.'

Such was a fight between two Kage level warriors, each such a master of battle that the conflict was more in the mind than in the body. Such skill and experience form shackles of their own, shackles of indecision as each one goes through strategy and counter-strategy, looking for possible flaws in a course of action, followed by predictions of possible reactions by the enemy and the formation of reaction to those reactions and possible strategies for the new situation. Such was a conflict where a mistake meant a wound and a wound led to death. This was also a reason why it was sometimes a lower-level opponent who ended up killing a Kage level ninja, simply due to the unpredictability caused by lack of experience, that along with the element of surprise caused by such a foolish action together causing enough of an opening to strike a fatal blow.

Before Samson could find the opening in his own stance, Kakuzu made his choice, and attacked. He decided that if it was an intentional mistake made to lure him in, he could afford to take a hit in order to deal one out in return, and to make absolutely sure that he had the advantage he also hardened his skin using his Doton affinity the moment that he appeared in the air behind the General and slammed his fist down toward the metal armor.

Samson was not able to locate the weakness in his stance before Kakuzu made his choice, but he was not entirely without a defense. His scales still filled the room and through them he could follow Kakuzu's movements, even though the Akatsuki member was the faster of the two. From his movements, Samson could deduce that the weakness in his stance was upon his back and as he drew closer he was able to shift his body and take the incoming attack upon his arm rather than his back.

Kakuzu's hardened fist smashed into Samson's armored upper left arm, denting the metal and causing several small cracks to appear. Almost simultaneously, the Raijin held in Samson's right hand went straight at Kakuzu's eye.

Kakuzu reacted on instinct and moved down and out of the way, doing his best to stay behind his enemy. In reaction, Samson kicked back like a mule, connecting with Kakuzu's shoulder, but not doing any damage due to his skin's density.

Kakuzu held his arms in front of him and the stitches connecting his forearms to his upper arms undid themselves, causing the appendages to move forward and grab his opponent by the upper arm, forcing him into a crucifix-like position. Tendrils from his upper arms and forearms quickly wound through the gaps of his opponent's armor and tangled amongst themselves and the armor plates, doing his best to immobilize his foe and pull his upper body back into an arch. He shouted "HIDAN NOW!"

The Jashinist was already on the move, drawing his last stake from inside his robe, he ran as fast as he could with broken ribs toward the temporarily immobilized opponent, and stabbed the stake through the gap between the bottom of the breastplate and the armor of his lower body, maneuvering it upward in hopes of hitting his opponent's internal organs.

The moment before the stake went in between the plates, Samson muttered something under his breath and the armor that Kakuzu held on to suddenly went slack, the force struggling to move simply giving up. Then Hidan struck with his stake, but hit nothing. The point passed in between the two plates and continued on before hitting the armor that would shield the wearer's upper back. The point of the stake penetrated the metal, peeking out just barely through the steel, but the tip of the stake was not covered in blood, and as Hidan drew the stake out of the armor, not a drop of blood was upon it. He yelled in frustration "WHAT THE HELL!?"

Kakuzu was extremely wary as he released his hold on the General and jumped back to avoid any kind of counter-attack. The entire thing was for nothing though. The armor fell to the ground and the various plates separated as they hit the ground, the helmet rolled away across the floor, and no matter where you looked, the inside of the armor looked the same, empty.

Kakuzu remained on guard as he neared the armor, ready for any kind of attack as he nudged the plates of metal with one toe. Getting no reaction, he quickly moved over to the right gauntlet and pried the Raijin loose from the metal fingers.

Hidan watched as a slight shimmer appeared in Kakuzu's left hand and left knee, and as he held the lightning charged sword horizontally in front of him in his right hand he smashed the blade between his left elbow and left knee, sending electrified shards flying in several directions before they lost their charge and vanished. He crushed the hilt in his hand using the strength granted by his Earth Affinity and said "That's one less weapon for the enemy to use against us." and then tossed the remains of the Niidaime Hokage's sword to the ground.

Hidan shouldered his scythe and looked around "So, where the hell is he?"

Kakuzu stayed vigilant and shrugged "Not sure, but he's somewhere close, otherwise this dust would have gone away by now. He got out of the armor just before your stake would have impaled him, I'm not sure how or where he vanished to, but he's definitely close by and preparing to go for round two. How are your ribs?"

Hidan grimaced and tried to press one back into place with excruciating results. "They're extremely painful. I swear, when I get my hands on that bastard, I'm repaying this a hundred fold."

Kakuzu looked back and said "That's assuming you ever get your hands on- HIDAN LOOK OUT!"

Kakuzu saw a shimmer in the dust behind his fellow Akatsuki but wasn't in time, he put Hidan on his guard but that accounted for less than nothing as a figure appeared out of the cloud of particles just behind and to the left of Hidan and rushed past the Akatsuki member.

Hidan was exactly the same as he was beforehand, standing there with his scythe over his shoulder. The only difference was that he didn't have a head anymore. The neck stump spouted blood in a sick fountain before it collapsed to the ground. Hidan's voice sounded an instant later "FUUUCK! That fucking hurts! I'll get you back for this you son of a bitch, I swear it on Jashin-sama!"

Kakuzu didn't take his eyes off of the figure that held Hidan's head in his left hand, having wrenched it from Hidan's neck by main strength and nothing more.

He stood about six feet, two inches tall, and was dressed in black pants that looked rather expensive. On his chest he wore a puffy, long sleeved shirt of the kind you would expect from a Florentine during the Renaissance. Black loafers covered his feet. He was of normal build, though a bit thin, and looked rather young for someone with such experience in battle. His face was almost feminine, Kakuzu believed that the common term was 'Bishounen'. He had mousy brown hair that wasn't kept in any particular style, but covered his forehead and ears and almost reached to his neck. There were only a few stitches across his hands and one just under his chin that marked him as a Zombie.

The most interesting thing was that he had what seemed to be antennae sticking out from his forehead, bending at a one hundred and ten degree angle in front of his face. He also had what looked to be a black swallow-tailed cape attached to his shoulders by some unknown method that reached almost to his ankles. He held Hidan's cursing head in his left hand.

Kakuzu wasn't put off by his appearance at all. He could feel the power that he held, despite his appearance he could sense the loads of power packed inside his body, and knew that underestimating him was the last thing someone could do.

The figure looked disdainfully at the head in his left hand and said "Shut up already, your part in this is done." before dropping it like so much garbage and turning his attention back to Kakuzu.

He said "That is one annoyance out of the way, and with a minimum of damage to the building. I am annoyed however that you destroyed the Raijin. Such artifacts are one of a kind, irreplaceable, you have become quite an annoyance already. This only adds to my determination to kill you, you know. Now in addition to the Master's orders, I have my personal reasons as well."

Hidan's head kept shouting "Fuck you! Don't think I'm out of this yet you girly fuck! I'll kill you even if I have to bite you to death! DO YOU HEAR ME!?"

The figure looked down at the head in disdain before turning his full attention to the calculating Kakuzu once more and putting the fallen Akatsuki member out of mind.

Kakuzu's mind was racing as he sifted through the series of events in his mind and worked on what to do next. 'He appeared quickly and ripped Hidan's head off by main strength alone. Taking a strike from him is the last thing I want to do right now. In addition, I can't rely on Hidan's ritual for taking him out, I have to do it myself. I can't release the masks here, with an opponent this fast they would only be an easily overcome target. No, I should keep them inside so that I can use all elemental affinities as I see fit. What I need in this fight is not numbers but options, so I have to keep calm and wait for my chance. Odds are I won't be able to help Hidan until after this battle is over, it's just me and him.'

Samson looked at Kakuzu and said "You don't have to do this you know. Walk away, I'll let you leave the city in peace. You will have to leave your foul-mouthed partner behind of course, but you will be able to escape with your life. What do you say?"

Kakuzu didn't even have to think about it. "Samson's offer was a bunch of bullshit and the Akatsuki member knew it. If he accepted it than he would be slitting his own throat. He would let him leave the city alright, just before they let loose a volley of arrows from the top of the wall. Kakuzu knew that the only way out of this alive was to take this guy down. He didn't spare any words, he didn't move a muscle as he stayed in perfect readiness for whatever his opponent was about to throw at him.

Samson waited a moment and said "No? Very well then, but be aware that I gave you a chance."

The General formed spread his hands to his sides and he saw that what he took for a cape wasn't a cape. This fact made itself apparent as the black material attached to his shoulders unfurled themselves and spread into a gigantic pair of moth wings that were about ten feet wide and quite tall. The tips of the wings almost touched the floor and the tops rose about a foot over his head. Those gigantic wings flapped once and sent a gigantic gust of wind straight at the Akatsuki member.

Kakuzu quickly moved to one side, always keeping his eyes on his opponent as he prepared a real attack after that minor distraction. Samson quickly began doing one handed seals. Now, Kakuzu knew that it was possible to use one hand to perform handseals if you were proficient enough in the jutsu to be used. What he DIDN'T know was that you could use two Ninjutsu at the same time, or at least Samson could.

Samson did two sets of one handed seals using both hands simultaneously. He shouted "Doton: Doryuheki" as he slammed his left hand into the ground.

As you would expect, it caused a wall of earth to form. The major difference from the normal technique was that it formed THREE of said walls in front of, behind, and to the left of Kakuzu, leaving him only with space on his right side, where Samson was waiting with the Ninjutsu he had prepared in his right hand.

Samson just pointed his hand at Kakuzu and said "Fuuton: Kazeryuu no Jutsu" **(1)** and Kakuzu did his best to get out of the way as a small tornado formed in Samson's palm before it took the shape of a dragon's head and flew straight at him followed by a sinuous body.

Kakuzu dodged to the side as soon as he got out of the surrounding rock walls and expected to hear the sound of the walls being smashed as the wind dragon crashed into them. Kakuzu looked back but saw the dragon change directions to come straight at him!

Kakuzu immediately started evasive maneuvers to escape the pursuing dragon of wind, thinking furiously upon how his enemy made a technique so sophisticated that he could get it to follow a target. Then, he found his answer when he looked at Samson.

The dragon was still attached to his hand! Samson watched Kakuzu's movements and moved his hand in order to control the wind dragon's movements to hit the Akatsuki member. Kakuzu also saw his other hand move through one handed seals, most likely another Ninjutsu to slow him down or limit his movements so that the dragon could hit him.

His guess proved right when he completed the seals and he said "Katon: Gofurea!" and a blast of flame came from his palm, a column several feet thick that smashed into the wall in front of Kakuzu and exploded, sending the Akatsuki member flying back and straight into the waiting jaws of the Wind Dragon.

The dragon immediately collapsed into a whirlwind of slicing wind blades upon coming into contact with a target, and Samson let go of his control over it as he watched the show. Before long, the whirlwind stopped and the dust began to settle form the explosion and whirlwind of blades.

Out of the dust walked Kakuzu, his skin black and hardened, his Akatsuki robe shredded by the amount of blades that he was almost cut by. He tore off what remained of the robe as he said "To be able to perform one handed seals, you are truly skilled. To be able to perform multiple Ninjutsu simultaneously using one handed seals is nothing short of ingenious. This will not be easy."

Samson only smiled as his wings beat slowly, dispersing a massive amount of moth scales throughout the air. Now that his armor was off, he could beat his wings fully and fill the room even more. This would allow him even more information on his enemies' chakra aura, as well as making it more and more likely that the hypnotic effect would take place, which would signal his victory more than anything else.

Kakuzu was going through strategy after strategy in his head as he kept his full attention on his opponent. 'I am facing an opponent who has more than super-human strength, speed approaching my own, and can use multiple ninjutsu of different elements simultaneously. My vision is clouded by a haze of fine dust which could be poisonous if inhaled. If I release my masks now, they would only serve as targets. They could serve as a distraction but they probably wouldn't do any good at this point. In addition, my foe is one of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's Zombies, and can only be slain by complete annihilation or the forced ingestion of salt, neither or which is easily done. Hidan is down, and his skill level rivals my own. This is hardly an ideal situation.'

They waited a moment, studying each other, each thinking of how to turn the battle in his favor. Kakuzu thought 'My best bet would be to grab Hidan and get out of here, but we're deep in enemy territory and such a course of action isn't possible right now. My best bet, therefore, would be to create a few clones and hope that they can distract him long enough to get Hidan back together, then maybe we can use his abilities to get out of here.'

Kakuzu had come to a simple truth in his cogitation: Victory was impossible. It might be possible to kill his opponent, but in this situation, he would still have to deal with who knew how many enemies afterward, both Akatsuki members would be killed by the end of the day. Drawing out the battle was unwise either, Zombies didn't know fatigue or pain, so his opponent could last a lot longer than he could. In addition to all of that, both possible methods of killing the enemy were nigh impossible right now. Long story short, they couldn't possibly win in this situation, they had to do what any smart predator does when a stalk goes sour, bug out.

Kakuzu immediately went through handseals and formed four Tsuchi Bunshin which assaulted the General. 'Between the four of them, they should hold him off for a little while.' The Akatsuki member's hopes on time went down a bit after seeing one of his clones get torn apart with a swipe of one hand from the extremely nimble Zombie. Kakuzu didn't waste any time and rushed for Hidan's head.

He had just gotten in sight of the fallen Akatsuki member, who was sitting bored in the smoke and dust, not able to see anything, and suddenly the albino head shouted "LOOK OUT!"

Kakuzu attempted to turn but wasn't fast enough as he felt four rigid fingers enter his back, his skin unhardened so the hand easily penetrated. They went through one of the four masks on his back and pierced the heart in his chest before withdrawing swiftly, then he felt a vicious kick fling him across the ground near Hidan's head.

Kakuzu struggled to move his head in order to see what had happened. He saw none other than Samson standing just behind where he was, one hand covered in blood, his blood. Then he managed to shift his view a bit to the right, and saw Samson fighting with the two remaining Tsuchi Bunshin. 'A clone?' Kakuzu thought to himself as another of the four masks broke as its heart took its place in his chest, letting him move again.

Kakuzu didn't move even though he was able to. He whispered "Hidan, what happened just now? Where did that second one come from?"

Hidan, in a rare moment of wisdom, whispered back "A bunch of shapes in the smoke just came together and formed that body, it happened real quickly and by the time I told you, you were already hit. The other one didn't do any seals or anything, it just happened."

Kakuzu frowned under his mask, there wasn't any way that they could win in this situation, there was simply too much that they didn't know about how the enemy's abilities worked. They had to get out of there.

The elder Akatsuki member moved swiftly, getting to one knee and already forming handseals, he slammed his hands against the ground and shouted "Doton: Doryuheki!"

As an extremely large wall of mud and earth split the room in two, Kakuzu quickly grabbed the head of Hidan and moved quickly for his body. He kept his eyes on the wall as he kneeled down and used the strings from his body to sew Hidan's head on as quickly as he could, ignoring his cries of discomfort.

After a moment, Hidan got to his feet under his own power and cricked his neck. "That took you long enough Kakuzu. So, what do you think? What's the plan?"

Kakuzu looked over at his partner and said "The plan is to get the hell out of here immediately. We can't win under these conditions. Even if we kill him, we'll be exhausted from doing it and we'll be swarmed by everyone else around here. We're in enemy territory and we can't stay here for much longer. There's too much we don't understand about the enemy."

Hidan gritted his teeth at the answer that he expected to receive. He may have been a hot-head and a fanatic, but he knew a bad situation when he saw one. This Samson guy had them dead to rights and Hidan knew it. It was only a matter of time before he finally overwhelmed Kakuzu and Hidan knew he wouldn't last long against the Zombie.

Hidan nodded as he watched a large hole being punched through the thick wall of rock and asked "Okay, so how do you plan on getting out of here?"

Kakuzu said "I get out of here underground and escape the palace immediately. Afterwards, you use THAT technique. I know for sure that it won't kill him, but it will give you an opening to join me outside. After that, we escape the city."

Hidan groaned and said "Oh man, that's a drag. You know how much I hate using that technique. Are you sure it's the only way?"

Kakuzu looked at him once and nodded. The younger Akatsuki groaned again and said "Okay, then you had better get out of here immediately. If you're caught in this, there's nothing that I can do. You had better get some real distance too, I can tell right now that it's going to be a big one."

Kakuzu nodded and made a single handseal before vanishing.

Hidan shouldered his scythe as the wall finally crumbled, revealing a single General Samson as he calmly stepped through the hole. "So," he said "you're partner deserted you here as he made his escape. I knew that he was an impressive fighter and this only proves it more."

The fanatic Akatsuki put his scythe into its normal spot on his back, freeing his hands. He started doing handseals as he said "Oh yeah, he left alright. He didn't want to be anywhere close when I finish this, and trust me pretty soon you'll be regretting being anywhere near me."

Hidan finished the handseals and cried out as his skin changed to how it looked when he was performing the ritual, black with white lines like bone. The only difference was that this time there were a few flames playing along the bone-like markings.

Hidan smiled and said "I really hate using this technique, since it hurts like a bitch, but it really helps when I need a lot of destruction done quickly, and trust me when I say that this is only a taste compared to what I'll do to you next time."

Hidan formed another seal and Samson readied his guard, prepared for anything.

The Akatsuki member smiled as he said "You really caused me some pain, and now you'll regret it. After all, DIVINE JUDGEMENT AWAITS THOSE WHO CARE NOT FOR THE PAIN OF OTHERS!"

Samson was not expecting what happened next as the Akatsuki member literally burst into flames. Hidan laughed as he said "The strength of this attack depends solely on how much damage you've dealt to me so far, if you hadn't scratched me, this wouldn't do anything, but you really hurt me, and you REAP WHAT YOU SOW!" Hidan made one last handseal and shouted "IN THE NAME OF JASHIN! MOTOSEIREI-SARUSHA: RAIJINMUSAN!" **(2)**

That was that last thing Samson saw before the flames engulfing Hidan spread, and consumed everything around him.

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Outside the Palace

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Kakuzu watched as the entire first floor of the palace went up in fire. The Akatsuki member held up one hand to his eyes at the searing heat of the flames. The stone that made of the palace actually began to melt under the intense heat, the flames reaching over fifty feet in the air as they began to lick out from the windows along the floor. Kakuzu could see and hear the inhabitants of the city preparing something of a fire brigade to put out the flames.

Hidan jumped out of a window on the first floor, his skin hideously burnt from the intense flames of his own techniques. "Ow,ow,ow!" He cried as he rolled along the grass as he landed. "I fucking HATE using that technique! I have to get hurt to use it, and I get the living shit burned out of me for using it. This will take fucking MONTHS to heal! You owe me Kakuzu, you fucking owe me!"

Kakuzu didn't say a word, he just grabbed Hidan's hand and pulled him up, maybe putting a little more force than was absolutely necessary into the grip on the immortal's severely burned hand.

After a moment of Hidan howling in pain, the two quickly took off as best as they were able. They had also gotten information on a way out from their source, the mission was a bust, but they would escape with their lives.

But both of them had the same thought on their mind. 'The next time we meet Samson, we'll finish this.'

But alas these thoughts of vengeance were pushed aside in favor of more important ones, like immediate survival.

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Inside the Palace

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Inside of the palace, the charred body of Samson stirred for a moment, and then stood despite the raging flames around him.

His skin was horribly burnt, and his wings were completely gone thanks to the inferno that still raged around him, catching his clothes and burning him still more. Normally the flame-proof seals Naruto placed upon all Zombies prevented fire damage, but the way it worked was for the seals to absorb heat energy into itself, preventing the Zombie from being burned. However, these seals did have a limit to how much energy they could store, and Hidan's technique shorted out his seal temporarily.

The General didn't waste any time in getting to the stairs to the second floor. Upon reaching the fire-less landing, he quickly grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher mounted to a wall and sprayed himself down before he was severely injured.

After the freezing foam had done its work, Samson frowned as he looked at his horribly damaged body and roasted skin. Then he did a single handseal and performed the second technique that only he could perform. "BEELZEBUB!"

Anyone who watched would have seen the General split and divide, into hundreds or thousands of tiny replicas of himself, not even an inch in height. Then, the bodies flew together and rejoined into the original, the only difference being that he was completely healed of all damage. His clothes immaculate, his skin pale, and his wings rose magnificently behind him as he audibly said "I will not take this lightly, Hidan. I will repay this insult."

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Nyuusatsu, Konoha Group's Safe-house, Midnight

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Kirijo Makoto was inside of his room, feverishly going through his belongings before finally pulling out a specific object.

The item was a wooden plaque, with a ring of copper metal set into it. Close examination would show a few lines of writing done in the center of the circle.

The hidden vampire pushed one perfectly manicured nail against his gums, drawing forth a bead of blood that was several shades too pale to be human, almost pink, which he dabbed upon the copper circle as he muttered a few words under his breath along with an exertion of energy.

A few moments passed before a ghostly wind gathered around the room, forming a small whirlwind inside of the circle before a figure appeared inside of it, miniature and transparent. The figure was of a rather handsome middle-aged man who looked tired and bored.

The figure looked up and said "Ugh, what do you want Joshua? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Makoto nodded, but quickly delivered the message that he had been giving, stressing who it was from and its importance.

The man looked up at the hidden vampire and asked "Are you serious?"

Makoto nodded and the illusory man sighed and said "Okay, if you're serious about this then it definitely cannot wait. I will bear the message to the King."

Without another word, the figure vanished, and Kirijo Makoto, AKA Joshua Raith, was alone in his room once more.

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Fuuton: Kazeryuu no Jutsu- Wind Release: Wind Dragon Technique

(2)Motoseirei-Sarusha: Raijinmusha- Unforgiven: Rising Sun.- Technique used by Hidan that creates an immense blast of flames equal in intensity to the amount of damage he has suffered in battle. The explosion of fire cannot tell friend from foe and will destroy anything in the blast radius, which is quite large. The flames also severely burn Hidan himself upon use, one of the reasons why he hates using the technique.

Okay, that's the chapter. I hope you all enjoyed the massive fight between Samson and the two Akatsuki members, along with Samson's real abilities and techniques. For those who know who I based Samson off of, congratulations keep it under your hat. I long ago said that I don't own ANYTHING I use. The same goes for the motivation for Hidan's technique. It's mainly a shout out to those who recognize them, I'm not claiming ownership or anything like that.

All of that besides, review and tell me what you thought of the fight and of the piece afterwards. Did I do it believably? Did I portray the characters in their styles well? Is there anything that I did wrong? Anything that I did particularly well? Give me INFORMATION people!

With that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I will leave you looking forward to the next chapter, which is a tenth chapter and shall therefore have an Omake as well as the usual content. With that, good night.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	70. Chapter 70

Welcome all, to the seventieth chapter of Kage no Naruto. Dear god, this thing is fucking enormous. Three hundred and fifty THOUSAND words and counting! Anyway, before we get started, I'm going to address a few things that were recently mentioned in a review last chapter.

Regarding the clothing, Samson's Florentine shirt, Naruto's hat, and similar such things. I was told that it was overly posh and my writing suffers from it. THAT'S THE POINT! It's MEANT to be overly posh and high class. It's a clear statement in the subtext that he believes himself superior. As for those who might recall that he's had the hat for almost the entire story, at first it was meant to hide the bright color of his hair, so it served a practical purpose and though it was not the best choice, he was a child at the time and quite short so it could be attributed to a bit of a Napoleon Complex. The fact that he has kept it since would be a combination of feelings of superiority, habit, and a lingering Napoleon Complex from his childhood even though he is quite tall now.

Another thing was that they were sick of the cross-over characters and couldn't I do anything original. My response to that is that I have trouble coming up with original things, hence why I am writing for a fanfiction website as opposed to writing an actual book. As for why I have characters like that, the fact is that it's simply so that people could more easily bring a visual of the character to their minds, while not actually crossing over. For those who want a story where such characters simply pop out of a portal without decent explanation, feel free to read one. Same goes for stories that have hordes of badly described OC's.

There was also a gripe about the word 'Zombie'. That it was cliché and that it puts a bad taste in the mouth. If anyone has a better term for an animated corpse, a dead body given life, feel free to tell me.

There was a complaint about how the Generals are numerous and over-powered. First of all, while there are seven of them, and yes five of them are Kage-level, the other three, Grievous, Zabuza, and Sakumo, are only High Jounin level. As for why they are so strong and numerous, that's the POINT of their creation. Naruto created them to be unstoppable, a hammer that could crush any foe that they were wielded against. He gave them the shadows of the extremely talented and bodies that were strengthened by himself and Hogback to be better than human in every way. In addition to that, they are doing everything they can to become stronger, and Naruto only helps them along. Add three years of constantly refining their skills, and it should be obvious why Sakumo and Grievous are so strong. Add a few more and it should be obvious why the other five are Kage level. And just to be clear, they AREN'T unbeatable as was proven when Kisame killed Zodd and Jiraiya destroyed the Niidaime Hokage. Long story short, they were meant to be unstoppable, Naruto meant for them to be un-killable, and able to defeat any enemy he told them to, and he has had YEARS to improve on their original designs, and for them to hone their skills and abilities. Something like that is not going to be easy to take down by any means.

Finally, the last complaint was that Naruto is unbeatable, that he's been Super this whole story, and can beat anyone. That's simply not true. He is strong, that's true, but he's not unbeatable. Fire and Lightning can pierce his shield, and he can be hurt like anyone else. It takes that little something extra, sure, but he can definitely be killed. He's got the strength of Kyuubi behind him, along with a few abilities of his own. Kyuubi was beaten, he can be too. As for the statement that he can beat anyone, that's untrue as well. Why do you all think that he's doing things slowly and carefully? Not going on the warpath anymore, trying to make allies, and staying hidden? It's because he CAN'T beat anyone that comes after him! Madara, Pein, Jiraiya, the Kages of the villages, even Orochimaru, they would all have a fair chance to take him down, especially if they worked together toward that end. Naruto KNOWS he's not invincible, despite how much he makes it seem that way, and so he stays out of the way of those who might beat him. He doesn't go looking for opponents and do things himself, he arranges peoples' deaths. He avoids fights that he isn't sure he could win, and he does his best to prevent himself from coming to harm. The seal-strengthened coat, the Shadow Shield, the defensive powers in his right bracelet, all of his defensive techniques, all of that is simply good thinking on his part, mixed in with paranoia. The last time we saw him fight was when he fought Barragan, and he was reluctant to do that, and if he didn't absolutely have to, he wouldn't have. Aside from Barragan, he hasn't voluntarily gotten into any fight that is close to what one could call 'fair' and he never fought fair in any of them. In his fight with Lee, he took him down before he could open the gates, with Gaara he froze his chakra and beat the hell out of him, with Tsunade, he waited for Orochimaru to weaken her. Is it cowardice? Yes, but it keeps him alive and that's his highest priority.

There was also a complaint over what he'll do after he obtains the book, and what he would do if he becomes a junior league god. Here's the thing, the knowledge in that book would make it possible for him to gain immense power, but there's a lot more to it than anyone most likely expects. If he can do it without interruption, then nobody mortal would be able to hope for victory, but that's only IF he can go through with it without a hitch.

Grand summary, everything mentioned has a logical explanation behind it. From one point of view, I as the author am making him unbeatable. But from another point of view, Naruto is doing his best to stay alive and make himself stronger and harder to kill, to make himself unbeatable. Follow the logic of Naruto's twisted mind, and you'll see that everything makes sense when you think about it logically.

Anyway, with those questions/criticisms out of the way, let the chapter begin. Sorry that took so long, but there were a lot of complaints that had to be answered to prevent anyone else asking the same questions.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Ladies and Gentlemen, this chapter was the greatest, and the worst chapter in the history of Naruto. And I will tell you why near the end of this review.

The thing started off with Pein impaling Naruto on more of those swords, preventing him from moving at all. Then Pein told Naruto that no matter his resolve, all he could do was talk about how people will eventually understand eachother, that he can't do anything to actually achieve that goal. He said that the only thing that Naruto could give him was the Kyuubi's chakra.

Then Shima told him not to give in, that he was the child of the prophecy and all that, then Pein blasted her with the Shinra Tensei.

Elsewhere, Team Gai are getting close to Konoha, and Neji spotted Gamabunta's broken form, I think Gai has a good idea of what happened now, or will soon.

At the same time, Shikamaru's team break up to start searching, and they are using Katsuyu in order to spread the word about what they've learned about Pein's real body.

Now back to the situation at hand. Pein was just about to start moving Naruto, when somebody came and saved him. Hinata.

Naruto shouted at her to get away, that she wasn't any match for him, but she just replied that she knew that, she was just being selfish. She told him how she wanted to be like him, wanted to be with him, that she was always running away, but she eventually learned the right way to get over such things by watching him.

She told him that she couldn't let him come to harm while she was around, and then she finally said it. She said to Naruto "I love you." THAT'S RIGHT, HINATA ADMITTED HER FEELINGS TO NARUTO! ABOUT TIME! Naruto at this point looks like he couldn't be more shocked if you hooked him up to a power grid.

Then comes the sad part. She attacks Pein, using some jutsu whose name I can't remember. Pein just uses the Shinra Tensei and sends her straight back, he quickly closed the distance and looked Naruto right in the eye, as he did something horrible. Pein murdered Hinata. This is just multiple levels of fucked up. After the deed, he said that this was just how his parents were murdered by Konoha ninja, and then another excellent quote 'Love breeds sacrifice…which breeds hatred.'

Then, Naruto went insane with rage and exploded in Kyuubi's chakra, and when the smoke was cleared, Naruto was revealed but with SIX TAILS of Kyuubi's chakra surrounding him. Pein merely asks if he thinks that a world like this can people truly understand it? Then he says that his pain is greater than Naruto's before the chapter ends.

A few changes happened to Naruto when he used six tails. In addition to the fox cloak from the fourth tail, a SKELETON of Kyuubi started to form around him! The jaw started to enclose his head, but the chakra ears and tails are left alone. That could lead to a theory that the Kyuubi would be free if Naruto used all nine tails, but there is a lot to debate on that point.

So, now you understand why a NaruHina fan like myself both loves and hates this chapter so much. At the same time, Hinata finally admitted her feelings for Naruto, right before she was cut down by Pein. I would like all of you who are wearing hats to remove them for a moment of silence in the memory of Hinata Hyuuga.

Thank you all, now please enjoy the chapter.

Sakura: NOW NARUTO IS MINE!

Oh God, the bear-traps didn't work

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Summary of last chapter

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Basically, Samson fought Kakuzu and Hidan. The fight was long and hard, but Kakuzu and Hidan were eventually forced to escape by using one of Hidan's jutsu as a distraction and then running for it. Now Samson prepares himself to pursue them.

Elsewhere, Makoto sent Naruto's message to the White King. What shall become of the message? What shall become of Hidan and Kakuzu? Read the chapter and find out and don't forget to review to tell me what I did right and what I did wrong.

Oh, sorry about the short summary, but in all honesty, not a whole lot happened last chapter that needs elaborating upon.

Oh, by the way I am aware that this is a tenth chapter and by my system would normally have an Omake at the end, but after seeing the latest chapter, I can't bring myself to write anything humorous, sorry. There will be one next chapter, but not this one.

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Konoha, Hokage's office, first day of the Southern Peace Auction

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Tsunade was in another information gathering session with Shiroku, the ANBU who gathered information on Naruto, as well as the two Elder Toads who she managed to summon thanks to a scroll given to her by Jiraiya. In front of her was an open scroll that held the latest report from Jiraiya, concerning Naruto's forces at Nyuusatsu, as well as Naruto's offer of a deal.

Tsunade read the scroll aloud to the three assembled. 'We investigated an auction held by the local Yakuza upon suspicion of finding Naruto there. Unexpectedly, our information was correct and we confronted the man at the auction. With him were three women, Mitarashi Anko, the Ghost Woman now identified as Perona, and a girl he identified as Haku, as well as the General Zombie, Sodom. He approached us calmly and without making a stir in the crowd, he made us a clear offer. The offer was an alliance between his forces and Konoha against their mutual foes, such as Orochimaru.'

At this point she was interrupted as all three members of her audience shouted "WHAT!?" or "You're kidding me!" respectively.

Tsunade put down the scroll and said "This is Jiraiya's latest intelligence report from Nyuusatsu, sent by his usual method of sending in reports. It's definitely accurate information. If Jiraiya's telling the truth in this, then that bastard actually made this offer. There's no mistake."

Fukusaku rubbed his chin with one hand, or whatever you call an anthropomorphic toad's appendage, as he thought before he said "What's the rest of the scroll say? We can't make any kind of decision without knowing everything."

Tsunade nodded and picked up the scroll again, there wasn't much to read. 'His conditions weren't unreasonable by a normal person's standards. He asked that myself as well as my team leave the city. Then he would send an emissary to Konoha in order to negotiate a treaty between us. After that, Nara Shikamaru threatened the General but wasn't taken anywhere near seriously. Then we retreated from the auction before anything could be slipped. One note however is that before he offered the treaty, he spoke to us and asked us what we were doing here. Afterwards we were all struck with an odd compulsion, a feeling of WANTING to tell him what he asked, which we all fought off. Afterwards he said that it takes a considerable will to do so. It is possible that civilians are not able to shake off this compulsion. Be warned of this as it is possible that Gennin are also vulnerable. Obviously, he has not gone through merely physical changes since we last saw him.'

Tsunade put down the scroll and said "That's the end of the report."

Shima nodded and said "Well, it's clear what to do. We can't afford to retreat from Nyuusatsu, if we do that bastard won't have any trouble in gaining the Word of Kemmler, and if that happens it's all over. Taking this offer will be slitting our throats. What I'm interested in is what Jiraiya-chan meant by 'physical changes'."

Tsunade nodded and said "That's what I thought. As for those physical changes, they're listed in yesterday's report. Hold on."

Tsunade got up and quickly searched through a few books on the nearby shelves before she took one and brought it back to her desk. The cover was 'Intelligence on the Corpsetaker.'

Tsunade flipped open the book and quickly flipped through it. In that book was a copy of every intelligence report made on Naruto in that last four years, witness accounts, lists of allies and capabilities, pictures, maps, it was all extremely thorough. Finally, she flipped to the page that held Jiraiya's list of physical changes that he noted when he first saw him at Nyuusatsu before he went berserk.

Tsunade quickly read over the passage 'The Corpsetaker was very different than when I last saw him. He had grown about a foot, making him seven feet tall. In addition to this I could feel his chakra around him, a sickening cold, oily, greasy, foul energy that made a shiver go up my spine. It is noted that his tongue has changed to a bright silver color. His features have also changed somewhat and his fangs have disappeared, replaced with a perfect dental arrangement. Something big has happened to him, but I am not sure what it is.'

Tsunade looked up at the two toads and asked "Does this ring a bell to either of you? Have you heard of anything like this before?"

Shima nodded and said "Yeah that greasy, cold energy Jiraiya-chan mentioned was definitely the energy of Necromancy, the power of Death. It isn't something that anyone really sane can use. It's just wrong on a fundamental level. It's good for harm and nothing else. As for the growing, the silver tongue, and all the other stuff, I think Pa knows better than I do."

Fukusaku opened his eyes and said "It's obvious from what that report lists that his body is changing physically due to the amount of power he has. However, it isn't mortal power or it wouldn't have this kind of effect on him. No matter how much he doesn't want to admit it, that kid was born mortal, and when mortals use power that doesn't belong in mortal hands, it changes the user to reflect the ones who it DOES belong to. It's why humans who take in Natural Energy turn into Frogs and then statues. They turn into another part of nature. By the same token, Naruto is being changed as well. His mortal body is definitely assuming some kind of immortal form."

Shiroku sputtered out "W-wait, you mean it's impossible to kill him!?"

Shima looked over sharply and said "He didn't say that! Besides, there's no such thing as immortal. Everything, from insects to Gods can be killed, it's just more difficult. When someone says 'immortal' usually it refers to a being that won't die of age, there's no such thing as not being able to be killed."

Fukusaku nodded and said "Yeah, but the thing is that I highly doubt that it was Necromancy that changed him like this. No matter how talented he is, all it would do to a human is drive him insane, not change his body to this degree. I'm starting to think that he may have absorbed the Kyuubi, that's the only way I can think that he got this much inhuman power so quickly."

Tsunade's eyes widened as she shouted "YOU'RE TELLING ME HE'S AS STRONG AS KYUUBI!?"

Fukusaku shook his head and said "I doubt it. Kyuubi was a Demon Lord, so wasn't nearly as strong as it would have been in the Spirit Realm. When creatures of spirit cross over, it takes a LOT of power just to open the door. Then the being has to call ectoplasm, matter from the Nevernever, the Realm of Spirit, and then use even MORE power to charge it up and give itself a body. Kyuubi wasn't nearly as strong here as it is there, so I doubt that the kid got too much of its power, otherwise his body would have been destroyed by the overload."

Shiroku snorted and chuckled at that. "The Nevernever, what kind of name is that? Honestly, it's ridiculous."

Shima jumped over and swatted the ANBU over the head. "Shut up, we didn't name it! And trust me, it's not a laughing matter."

Tsunade was thinking though while the toad disciplined the ANBU. After a moment she said "Wait a minute, is that why summons vanish after they're beaten?"

Fukusaku nodded and said "That's right. For us to exist in this realm it we need to call ectoplasm to make a body. Myoubokuzan, our mountain, exists in the Nevernever, though it occasionally appears in this realm where the two worlds are close together. That's how Jiraiya-chan found us. It's possible to kill us in this world, but more often than not a fatal attack would just disperse the vessel, our real selves would still exist and could be called again. To kill us through a vessel like the one I'm in now takes that little something extra, something made special for that kind of thing or a weapon or technique with a LOT of power in it."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and said "Wait a second, how much energy does it take to open a door from the 'Nevernever' to this world anyway?"

Fukusaku grew serious and said "It takes a lot, something like a big Demon Lord like Kyuubi, or an Archangel or a God. It takes something really, REALLY big to rip open the barrier that separates our worlds."

Tsunade opened her mouth to ask another question but Shima interrupted "No, before you ask, we aren't that strong, none of us summons are. The only reason that we can cross over to this world is because someone summons us. Trust me, it takes WAY less power to open the door from this side, otherwise it wouldn't be possible."

Fukusaku shook his head and said "Anyway, we're getting off topic here. The main topic is that Naruto has definitely gotten stronger, but that doesn't change anything. He's taller and a bit more convincing. He's got more energy, so what, trust me that comes with more negatives than positives."

Shiroku finally stopped chuckling and asked "How so?"

Shima looked over and said "Idiot, if he absorbed the Kyuubi that means that its mind doesn't exist anymore, he's on his own in that body. That means that his Shadow Shield isn't automatic anymore, it also means that he won't heal automatically either. Both of those tasks were managed by the Kyuubi. He still has all of his powers, but he doesn't have it happen automatically. Sneak attacks won't be automatically blocked, poisons won't be automatically cured, his wounds won't heal on their own. He's way more vulnerable now that Kyuubi is gone. He has its power, but he doesn't have any of the perks except more strength."

Fukusaku nodded and said "Yeah, he fucked up. It will take him a while to realize it, but he'll eventually notice that his wounds don't heal automatically anymore, he could heal them on his own sure, but he doesn't know how to heal. All someone like him knows is how to destroy, not to create or repair. His shield works sure, but he has to make a conscious effort to use it, and he can't see a knife coming at the back of his head. He's stronger, but he can't defend himself as well. Until he finally DOES realize it, he'll believe himself to be just as well protected as always. We could take advantage of that."

Fukusaku waited a moment, thought for a long time and eventually said "Tsunade, you might want to take Naruto up on his offer."

Tsunade whirled around to face the toad and yelled "WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY?"

Shima joined in and said "Yeah, Pa, you just said that if he gets that book we wouldn't have a chance."

Fukusaku nodded and said "Yes, but I've done some research into the ritual that the book has inside it. That thing takes a lot of preparation to use, and a lot of time to pull it off. It's high profile, very hard to miss while it's happening, and better yet, it can only be used at a certain time on a certain day for maximum effect, which he will definitely want."

The old toad smiled and said "And here's the best part, as he's about to go through with it, he'll be vulnerable. Focusing all of that power to take it in, he'll need all his concentration. A single good hit will ruin it, and by extension ruin the ritual. All the power that he called up, the power of a lesser God, would go nuts and destroy the one who attempted to take it in. If we play our cards right, if we play nice, and work together with him, we could tip his arm while he's holding high explosives so to speak. Take him up on his offer Tsunade, let him get the book. He'll try to use it and we'll know when and where. All we have to do is screw it up and he will be destroyed."

Tsunade frowned and said "That's a big gamble you know. And even if there IS an opening, after he gets the book, he's sure to know about it as well. He'll be well defended, he's guaranteed to have all of his Generals there when this thing goes down. All of my Shinobi, plus Jiraiya and myself, couldn't take on all seven Generals working together as a team, and that's assuming that he doesn't make more in anticipation for the event."

The room was silent and then nodded to herself as she said "I have an idea. Why not call up those Akatsuki guys?"

Everyone looked wide eyed at her for a moment and she said "What?"

Fukusaku said "What on earth are you talking about Ma?"

Shima shrugged and said "Well, those guys are after the Bijuu. Konoha doesn't have a Bijuu, and Naruto is one of their targets. Offer them some of this information, tell them where he is and they'll go running after him. If you can find out where he'll pull off the Ritual, we can give them that information and they'll take down the Generals. You've got no reason to fight them, so why do so? The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that."

Tsunade looked shocked but said "We can't do that Shima. Nobody will allow it, and could lose my position for suggesting it. Against the Akatsuki, Konoha doesn't have anything, but Suna does and Suna is the only thing keeping us out of war with Kumo or Kiri while we finish rebuilding. Most of the buildings are repaired, but our ninja population took a nosedive during the invasion. It will be several years before we're close to our previous numbers, and we'll need Suna's friendship until then. In addition to that, Uchiha Itachi is a member of Akatsuki, and he murdered the Uchiha clan. Nobody in the village, from Council to civilian to Ninja will want to work with him or any ally of his. If Itachi wasn't a member of Akatsuki, it would be possible, however slightly, but with Itachi in Akatsuki the whole thing is impossible."

Fukusaku nodded, he understood the point. Then he said "Right, but it may still be a good idea to get Naruto's location to those guys. They don't know Naruto for all intents and purposes killed the Kyuubi, they'll go after him like a bloodhound. If they can kill Naruto, then everything is easy from there. There's no way to be sure, but it's possible that all of the Zombies will die if he dies and that will take care of most of the problem. There are still his human followers, but they aren't anything Konoha can't handle."

Tsunade nodded "Okay, so it's decided. I'm not sure how, but I'll try to get the information to Akatsuki any way I can."

Shima looked over and asked "What about his offer of alliance?"

Tsunade shook her head and said "No, I won't take it. I would rather work with Satan himself than work with the man who is responsible for Shizune's death."

Fukusaku looked over and exclaimed "But Tsunade…!"

Before either toad could argue, she made a seal and said "Kai"

The two Elder Toads vanished in bursts of smoke. She looked at the ANBU and said "You're dismissed, and you are not to say a word of what occurred here." Shiroku obediently got up, bowed and left the room.

Tsunade waited until the door was closed again before taking out a blank scroll, a brush, and a jar of ink, and began to write her message to the feared criminal group 'Akatsuki'.

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Outside Houfu

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Hidan and Kakuzu were just making their way out through an extremely narrow crack in one mountain wall. It was extremely hard to notice since the inside of the crack was pitch black and the crack laid in a spot where the shadows of the surrounding mountains would always conceal it. The way through wasn't nearly as dangerous as the way in, there were far fewer poisonous life forms, the path was much more stable and linear, and it was overall much more traversable. It was the only reason why the Akatsuki pair had managed to make it through as quickly as they did as opposed to the three day torture session that was the path in.

Finally, Hidan burst through the crack and fell onto his back in the sunlight of the early dawn that they had escaped into, ignoring the pain of his badly burned back.

Kakuzu eased out from between the two walls of rock and looked down at him for a moment before saying "Get up you big baby. We have to get out of here and report. The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki isn't here, though he controls the area. It means that his main base is somewhere else. We don't have time for you to take your sweet time resting."

Hidan glared at his partner and flipped him the bird before getting up with a large amount of pain due to his burns. Hidan cursed under his breath and shouted "I HATE that fucking technique! It's ONLY good point is that it heals all of my injuries, such as those broken bones, but it burns the living shit out of me immediately afterwards. THIS FUCKING HURTS!"

Kakuzu sighed and moved past him, heading south-west toward the border. "Shut up already you idiot and be happy that we managed to get out of there alive. That Samson guy had us whipped in a place like that. Now we need to get out of here before they wise up and realize that we've somehow gotten out of the city and start looking for us out here."

Hidan cursed again and started following the older ninja, both looking worse for wear. Hidan's Akatsuki robe was pretty much gone, though the lower section was more or less intact, but most of his skin was covered in hideous red and black second and third degree burns. Kakuzu was much better, his Akatsuki robe was missing and one of the four masks on his back was shattered. Regardless of the damage that they had both sustained, they moved as best they could away from the mountains and searched to get out of the country.

Far behind them, high up the slope of the mountain, a figure with antennae and moth wings watched them leave. Samson sighed as he turned and took flight, heading up to cross over the mountaintop. His mission was to oversee Houfu, that meant that he couldn't leave the city save for the most dire of circumstances. If his enemies had left the city, there was nothing that he could do. Samson's eyes narrowed as he thought 'Well, there's nothing that I can do in person at least.'

Samson couldn't go after them himself, but he could easily send word to the cities between Houfu and the border to keep an eye out and to beef up the border guard. He couldn't go hunting them himself, but he could definitely make it as hard as possible to escape the country.

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Nyuusatsu, with Naruto's group

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It was the morning of the Southern Peace Auction, the first of five days that would encompass the event. There was no hurry however, the book was scheduled to be up for sale on the fourth day of the sale, not the first, so it was another three days before they would have to attend. After that, assuming they succeded in buying the book, they would immediately retreat to Dark Heaven Castle to ensure the security of the book.

However, if they failed to purchase the book, they would have to take it from whoever purchased it. If it was some rich civilian antiques collector, that wasn't a problem, but if it turned out to be Jiraiya's faction, then things could get ugly.

Currently, everyone was still in bed, save for General Sodom who was standing guard.

Anko lied awake in her bed, naked as usual since she couldn't stand clothes constricting her as she slept, staring at the ceiling, not able to go back to sleep, yet unable to summon the will to get up. She was consumed in her thoughts, over what her life had become. 'I can't believe how much things have changed since then.'

She continued to think back, from her graduation from the Academy at the top of her class, ranking higher than Kakashi which was why she was taken under the tutelage of Orochimaru himself, one of the Sannin, rather than one of the Jounin sensei which were going to be choosing among the new Gennin. She remembered how happy she was, how overjoyed her mother was at the time, how proud her father was. She was the first ninja in the family, and to graduate at the top of her class, despite having the son of the White Fang for competition, was nothing short of spectacular. Having one of the Sannin, and the one commonly regarded as the strongest of the three no less, to take her as his personal apprentice was an immense honor. She remembered the envious eyes of everyone around her as he took her from the classroom, leaving everyone else to wait for their merely Jounin teachers. She smiled as she remembered the absolutely furious glare given to her by Hatake, his anger fueled by jealousy and his own shame to come in second place. 'I was so happy back then, but that didn't last long, only a few short years.'

Years had passed, and she passed from Gennin to Chuunin in only a few months, something that was almost unheard of before or after. She remembered the joys of her mother and father, how proud they were, she was Konoha's golden girl, a prodigy among prodigies they called her. The next Orochimaru, the one bound to become the Fifth Hokage, after Orochimaru retired from being the Fourth. She practically glowed after she had heard that. Her skills were flawless, the training was hard, the missions sometimes monstrous in difficulty, but she came out of them alive in part due to her own skill, in part due to Orochimaru's power, in part due to sheer luck. She could easily remember five different times when Orochimaru saved her life, twice taking injuries so that she didn't have to. 'I can't believe how different he was back then, kind, caring, strong but just. He had ambition, yes, but only so that he could better protect his home. That fool of a Sandaime thought that it was ambition for ambition's sake and forsook him because of it.'

Then, then came the Third Shinobi War. She remembered the long nights of guard duty, the dangerous missions as Konoha fought ruthlessly against Suna, Kumo, and Iwa. Kiri was the only one who was lucky enough to be geographically isolated and smart enough to stay out of the violence. If it wasn't for the civil war over whether or not to join the war, they would have come out of everything as the strongest of the five villages. The destruction of the Kekkei Genkai holders was only a cover. In reality it had been the large clans who wanted to go to war, whose taste for blood couldn't be sated. If they had remained calm, it would probably be Kiri instead of Konoha who everyone thought of as the most powerful ninja village. She remembered how scared she was of the major enemies of her home, the Sandaime Tsuchikage, the Niidaime Raikage, and the Sandaime Kazekage. Not to mention the other major threats such as Chiyo, Ebizou, and Sasori of Suna, and Barragan of Iwa. There were many others whose names had been made famous and infamous in that time, such was the nature of war.

She remembered how she had taken comfort in the thought that Konoha had its own 'Big-name' Shinobi, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the Sandaime Hokage, not to mention her own Sensei, she remembered how the thought that HE was protecting the village made it easier to sleep at night. Then came the horrible day, when Kumo ninja managed to get inside the village discreetly and planted large amounts of explosives.

If a Hyuuga hadn't accidentally spotted one of the caches, things could have been much worse than they were. Thanks to that Hyuuga though, people were able to locate and disarm several of the explosives caches and put people on alert. They evacuated as many people as they could in order to protect their lives, but it wasn't enough. Several explosives went off despite the efforts of Konoha ninja everywhere. One such cache detonated inside of a building flanking the procession of civilians heading for the Mountain shelter. The procession that her parents were a part of. She remembered getting the information the next morning, that a piece of shrapnel caught her father under the arm, tearing open a large artery and caused him to bleed to death in a few minutes in the confusion, that her mother was hit with a flying brick that broke her leg, leaving her disabled in the impending stampede of terrified people that trampled her to death. The very thought of it rekindled her hatred for Kumogakure.

She remembered how much she appreciated it when Orochimaru comforted her, how he provided a shoulder to cry on after her parents died. She was a ninja, a killer for hire, she had ended numerous lives since she became a Chuunin, but that made her loss no easier to bear. Death was death, but it always bit harder when it was somebody close to you, instead of some nameless, faceless enemy, or a comrade who you knew for only a day or so heading into a dangerous situation where death was likely. It was sudden, like a knife between the ribs when she learned of her parents deaths, and that only caused her to rely on her Sensei even more, her father in all but blood she thought of him back then.

Then, Namikaze Minato, the idiot among the Jounin of that time, he finally completed the Hiraishin no Jutsu. Using it, he slew the Sandaime Tsuchikage, and gained great fame among the populace. It was a clever trick she thought, but little else. 'Warp to another place where there is a marker. It's impressive, but almost useless in a one on one fight.' That was what Orochimaru told her of it, and after she learned the rough dynamics of it, she agreed. A bit of chakra made the delicate seal upon the kunai worthless, making the warp impossible. If the enemy was ready for it, the jutsu was dead weight at least, at worst a liability. The only redeeming feature was that it was good for laying ambushes, and large scale fights where nobody thought twice about a kunai thrown astray, not caring to see if there was a seal on it. It was this train of thought that led to the death of the Sandaime Tsuchikage.

Anko continued to reminisce over the past. How the war had ended a few years later with the death of the Niidaime Raikage and the Sandaime Kazekage making peace. After that, Iwa made a last stand, during which Barragan, the Yondaime Tsuchikage, defeated Minato, but his defeat was to be kept secret, the entire conflict was erased from the record books in order to preserve his reputation. A few days afterwards, the Sandaime Hokage finally got long enough in the tooth, and she remembered how Orochimaru waited with baited breath at the day of the Sandaime's resignation speech, where he would name his successor.

Then, she remembered the shock, disbelief, and pain of betrayal upon her sensei's face when Sarutobi Hiruzen announced that it would be Namikaze Minato, NOT Orochimaru, who would succeed him as the Yondaime Hokage. She remembered how the people applauded and cheered, and her own shock at the fact that the moron got the job instead of her sensei. She had worked with him once or twice before the war, and he was an incompetent ninja.

Later, she looked through her old mission records and found that Namikaze's name was removed from the records of the missions that failed because of him. She looked through the mission records of jobs that had been failed because of Namikaze's bungling and found his name missing from the list of personnel on those missions as well. She couldn't believe her outrage as she realized that his name had been removed from any failed missions, at either the orders of the Council or most likely Namikaze himself so to make himself seem even more perfect. She told Orochimaru and he was furious when he heard that.

Later, Orochimaru told him what he had learned from a contact inside the council. That Sarutobi was FORCED to make Namikaze the next Hokage! He was popular with the people thanks to his successes during the war, nobody wanted to hear about his numerous failures before that, and anybody who knew of them were forced to keep quiet. Anko remembered as an ANBU showed up at her window one night and told her to keep quiet about what she knew if she wanted to live. Before long, Tsunade left on her journey with her lover's niece Shizune. Not long after that, the Sannin were all but forgotten, as was every ninja that was famous before the war. She was Konoha's golden girl no more.

Then, a few weeks later, Orochimaru grew more distant, more cruel, and then that fateful day came. The day when Orochimaru fled the village when Sarutobi found Orochimaru's lab in the sewers where he was experimenting with Konoha ninja that were actually spies for other nations. Anko remembered how he attached the Curse Seal to her neck earlier that day after telling her that Namikaze knew what he was doing, that he leaked a lie to the council and his Sensei and he would have to leave. She knew that Namikaze spread a lie that Orochimaru was working on innocents instead of spies, and sent Sarutobi because he was Sarutobi's student officially, but the reality was less pleasant. The truth of it was that Sarutobi was sent to confront Orochimaru because Namikaze Minato knew that he wouldn't stand a chance against the Sannin. The only thing he had going for him was the Hiraishin and the Rasengan, and both of those were easily countered if the opponent knew what to expect, and beyond those two he had no ninjutsu that he could use in a fight save the basics. He was a coward and a pathetic Hokage who used his reputation gained at the expense of thousands of lives in order to seize political power.

Anko remembered how she hated the Yondaime Hokage, along with her sensei. She hated Orochimaru for tossing her aside, for cursing her and then leaving her behind in Konoha at the mercy of everyone around her. 'I wouldn't have cared if he had taken me with him, but instead he left me in that hell, alone and at the mercy of everyone who considered her an enemy.'

She used to be Konoha's golden girl, but now she was Konoha's 'Snake Slut' instead. She used to be looked up to, admired, envied, but now she was shamed, looked down upon, and hated. She was demoted from Jounin to Chuunin, and only managed to become a Tokubetsu Jounin after years of work. She was taken from her position of Head of Interrogation and put under Ibiki instead. Her life went to hell that lasted several years. She could remember that smug look on Hatake's face when she was demoted after Orochimaru's desertion.

Then, years later, her Sensei returned, but he was different. He didn't see her as a student or a daughter anymore, but as another enemy. She learned how far she had to go before she could make out on her own in the world. Then, another month passed and the day finally came when Sarutobi betrayed her as well. He sent ANBU to kill her and remove the last of Orochimaru's 'corruption' from Konoha's 'noble' history.

That was the day HE came, and saved her from her hell. The day that she finally gave in to the inevitable, the only one that was hated more than her slew the two ANBU, saved her from her fate of burning to death, and offered to take her away. He took that Temari girl from Suna with him as well. He saved them both from the unjust light of the pedestal Konoha put itself on, and showed them peace in the cold, forgiving darkness.

She couldn't help herself but feel gratitude to her savior. He took her from hell and brought her to heaven. Fine meals, money, plenty of satisfying work, all of this was hers along with the possibility of revenge upon the two that have ruined her life. Orochimaru in person for leaving her behind and at the mercy of those who would hate her for her connection with him, and upon the Namikaze Minato one who caused her sensei to become the cruel bastard that left her behind, by proxy by destroying the thing that he gave his life to protect, though in all honesty he only did it to increase his own fame. At the time, he didn't know that using the Shiki-Fuujin was fatal to its user. That was Orochimaru's revenge upon the man. It was Orochimaru's help who he forcefully enlisted to help him create the Shiki-Fuujin, and Orochimaru never told Minato that it was fatal to its user. If he knew, he never would have used it, Orochimaru got the last laugh in the end.

Anko sighed as she went over the events that turned her from girl to woman, from loyal ninja to outlaw, from perceived light to true darkness. She thought about the one that saved her from hell and the thought sent shivers down her spine. 'Honestly, handsome, kind, cruel to his enemies, and he has the same foes that I do. He's done so much for me, and asked almost nothing in return. He saved me from Orochimaru's curse, took me in, gave me my first real home in almost ten years, and gave me everything that I really wanted, how could I not fall in love? Listen to me, Mitarashi Anko, the perceived biggest nymphomaniac, most sadistic, and most evil bitch on the planet, thinking about love. Honestly, almost twenty five, and still a virgin, how sad am I? Even KURENAI, the Ice Queen of Konoha has gotten laid more than I have.'

Her attention was taken from her thoughts as she realized that everyone was starting to get up for a new day, and she sighed as she got up from the bed and started getting her clothes on. 'I just hope that I can get through those other two and get to Naruto-kun's heart. I don't care if I have to share, but just to have him, that's all I really want.'

She shook those thoughts from her head as she put on her usual coat and opened the door to begin a new day. A new day of obeying orders and competing with Perona and Haku for Naruto's recognition. She knew that to outsiders, it might seem sad, and maybe pathetic, but she was happy with her lot in life.

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Okay, and that's the end of the chapter, and quite a long one too. I hope you guys enjoyed the conversation between Tsunade and the two Elder Toads, along with Shiroku. Also, I hope you guys don't mind what I did with Anko In this chapter. I've been really ignoring some of the characters for a while now, so I think that it's about time that I delved into their minds and showed what they thought of everything, which is mainly what I'm going to use the three days before the big auction for. I mean, Haku's, Perona's, Hogback's, Absalom's, Temari, the Sound Four, all of them have been almost ignored for quite a bit chunk of the story, and I think that it was time that they got some time in the spotlight. I'm sorry if you guys don't like it instead of lots of action, but it's necessary for other characters to be known instead of just a few main ones. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say, so tell me what you thought of my interpretation of Anko's history and her personal thoughts in a review. I'm not a woman, so I'm not that great at imagining the thoughts of one, so I would really like input on that more than anything else. Thanks.

R.I.P. Hyuuga Hinata.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	71. Chapter 71

Knock knock. Who's there? KAGE NO NARUTO CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE THAT'S WHO! Just the thing that you have all been salivating about since I left you guys last chapter, don't worry, you can admit it, it's just an addiction, there's nothing you can do. Well, except to indulge your urge to leave a review but aside from that nothing. Long story short, enjoy the chapter.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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HINATA'S ALIVE HINATA'S ALIVE HINATA'S ALIVE! TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING HINATA HATERS! SHE TOLD NARUTO HER FEELINGS AND LIVED! THE PAIRING IS SECURED! LONG LIVE NARUHINA HAHAHA!!!

I'm so ecstatic right now that I don't have much time to right a long review, so I'll keep it short.

Naruto went Six Tails and is attacking Pein, shrugging off the Shinra Tensei, and he did one of those chakra blasts like he did in Four-Tails and blew up the Hokage Monument. Before he did that, a bunch of wood came out of nowhere and tried to ensnare him. When I first saw that I couldn't help but scream 'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YAMATO!?' but it turns out that it was just some sealing spell based around Tsunade's necklace, which Naruto took off and destroyed! THE FOX IS FREE! LONG LIVE THE FOX!

Hinata murmured Naruto's name as Pein took off running, with Naruto in hot pursuit. After that, Sakura is shown talking with that Hyuuga and she goes to rescue Hinata and heal her. Thanks to Katsuyu, everyone knows what's going on, and will get out of the way.

Then, it showed Yamato with Anko and Sai. Apparently Sai managed to track down Kabuto and they were about to move in, when a big circle appeared on Yamato's palm with a six in the middle of it. So Yamato knows the seal is broken and he's using Six Tails. Immediately after he saw that he started to haul ass back to the village.

Then, at the end of it all, God Realm, robe torn in two, got to a certain point in the forest, it showed Nagato's real body saying 'God Realm is close enough.'

The last bit of the chapter was God Realm putting his hands together and saying 'Chibaku Tensei'

What is the Chibaku Tensei? Will Yamato make it in time? Hell no of course not. Will Kabuto finally reappear, Orochimaru infested? Will Kishimoto give into his urges and somehow put Sasuke in this section? I don't know and I don't care. All I care about right now is HINTA IS ALIVE! If you'll excuse me, this is occasion enough to go pop the cork on a bottle of wine from 1895. If you'll excuse me.

Enjoy the chapter.

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Summary of last chapter

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Tsunade and the Elder Toads went over Jiraiya's most recent reports and managed to deduce some of what has happened to Naruto since eating the Kyuubi. He's gotten a lot stronger, but his Shadow Shield isn't automatic anymore, so surprise attacks are more effective, in addition to that his super-healing is a thing of the past, so he'll heal like a normal human being now.

Tsunade considered and discarded the idea of making an alliance with Naruto, because he was the cause of Shizune's death. She also sent a message in hopes of bringing Naruto's location to the Akatsuki without making it known that she was helping them.

Elsewhere, Hidan and Kakuzu escaped from Houfu, but Samson saw them leave and made sure that the cities between Houfu and the border would know to keep an eye out for the two Akatsuki members.

Finally, Anko had a gigantic recap of her life up until this point. It was all about her thoughts and feelings of events through her life, how she was outraged at Minato Namikaze's promotion to Yondaime Hokage over Orochimaru, how distant he became after that, how she went from celebrity to nobody after the war, and basically how her life went to hell mainly because of the Yondaime Hokage. It also revealed the fact that Minato didn't know that the Shiki-Fuujin was fatal to its user, otherwise he never would have used it. The reason he didn't know was because Orochimaru, who he forced to help him develop the jutsu, never told him in revenge for stealing his place as Yondaime Hokage unjustly. Finally it showed her hatred, toward Konoha in revenge against the Yondaime, and against Orochimaru for forsaking her in Konoha instead of taking her with him. It was mainly a gigantic soliloquy into her character in order to add depth to the story because I've been ignoring the minor characters lately.

For those who didn't like Anko's huge recollection, sorry for the bad news but there's going to be several more of them over the next few chapters, focusing on the characters whom we haven't seen that much, such as Temari, Haku, Hogback, Absalom, and the Sound Four. I might do a few on the Konoha side of things as well. This is mainly what I plan on using the three days before the auction for, character development, though there will be some other stuff.

So, with that in mind, enjoy the chapter.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Temari was inside of one of the towers at Dark Heaven Castle, the top area of which she had made her room. She was dressed in her usual attire, her fan out and open in her hand as she sliced through a set of targets she had set up but a few moments before. She put away the fan in a fluid, well-practiced movement and sighed at the monotony of it all.

She looked over at the scores of targets sliced apart and the pieces lying on the floor. Every one of them was cut at a different angle as she wanted them to be, everyone one of them showing a textbook perfect application of Ninjutsu technique.

Temari went and sat down in a nearby chair against the wall, taking the fan from her back and leaning against the wall beside her as she leaned back in the chair, pressing it against the wall.

Ever since her retreat at Kaze no Kuni, she had spent all her time in the tower training when she wasn't eating or sleeping, at least when she wasn't on an assignment. The problem was that the training wasn't doing much to help her anymore. She had her Fuuton Ninjutsu honed to perfection, each one taking a miniscule amount of chakra for maximum effect. The training that was meant to hone her wind abilities weren't helping her at this point, mainly because there was nothing to more in the area to learn, nothing to improve upon.

She had scoured the library for Fuuton Ninjutsu, and while she had found a few, the library was not made by or for Ninja purposes so it didn't have much of anything in the way of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu manuals. The ones she DID find were mainly there as archives, made for those with an interest in the Ninja arts than anything else. It was filled with many interesting texts, but none of them offered her useful knowledge that she could see, it didn't help that only a fraction of the books, scrolls, and other texts were in her language, a good many were in languages that she had never seen nor heard of.

Of the books she could read, there were a few books on tactics which she read through and though they gave valuable insight, they were only of so much use. There were guides on hand-to-hand fighting, but their use was mitigated by the fact that she fought at long range. Sure, one could argue that she should learn to fight just in case someone managed to get close, but that wouldn't do much good against someone who specialized in close combat. She had Ninjutsu and other techniques prepared in order to keep the distance between her and her opponent at satisfactory levels and others to open up that distance again should the enemy close with her. Anything else that didn't compound upon those techniques were pointless in her eyes.

Quite simply, she was bored out of her mind. Naruto could only take four people with him to the auction, and she wasn't among those four if for no other reason than the fact that she was a long-range fighter, and those weren't going to be much use in Nyuusatsu, given all the buildings, shadows, and other ways to break line of sight as well as provide loads of cover from her attacks. It simply wasn't her battlefield of choice, and though she knew the reasons, it didn't make the fact that she was left behind any easier to bear.

So, steeped in boredom, she turned her thoughts inward. 'Of course he didn't take me with him, but he took his two little sluts with him, that bloodthirsty twat Anko, and a General. God what I wouldn't give to take all of them down a peg or two, Perona acting all superior just because she was his first choice, and Haku always smiling like she does, flaunting her happiness at being his personal toy. I would love to go into a spar with the two of them, and show them what's what.'

After a moment however, her tactical and analytical mind worked past the anger and showed her what became of her the last time she tried sparring against either Haku or Perona. 'Ugh, those damn mirrors won the battle for her, I had her until then, and Perona.' She sighed and shook her head at the embarrassing thoughts of that humiliating battle. 'When she's in her body, she's a pushover, but given half a chance she becomes fucking unstoppable. If there's a way to harm her when she's out of her body, I would love to know what it is, I would have won if it wasn't for that stupid invulnerability.'

Her frustration was well-deserved, in that battle she threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Ghost Princess, but to no avail. Everything, from punches to high level Ninjutsu, passed right through her non-corporeal form. 'Though, even if I DID have a way to hurt her like that, it doesn't change the fact that she snared me with those ghosts. One touch from those things and it's all over.'

Temari did her best to mentally vent her rage at the pair who had claimed Naruto's bed for themselves, the two who managed to become closer to him than anyone else. She ranted and raved and complained about the two in her mind, and for one single reason. A reason that she knew but didn't want to say out loud since it would force her thoughts upon the matter that she was hoping to not think about. The matter being, the shadow master himself. A man who defeated her brother effortlessly, and saved her from the same when he had gone berserk, and continued on to lead her to a life of power and luxury. Why shouldn't she be happy?

She had asked herself this question numerous times over the past three years as she worked her skills to the highest levels she could. Then, one day, an odd question popped into her head. 'Why am I working so hard to become stronger?'

She had searched long and hard in her heart for that answer. 'Is it for survival? Am I afraid that he will kill me if I don't improve and make myself useful?' While she realized that if she became weak, being left behind was a very real possibility. Naruto was a man of power and ambition and he had no tolerance for fools or dead weight. If anyone became a liability, they would be dealt with swiftly and without remorse, and though this fact chilled her for its sheer callousness, she could not help but to agree with such a course of action. She found herself thinking that if she was in Naruto's position, she would most likely do the same, given the choice.

However, she didn't feel that survival was the answer she was looking for. Sure, it was high on her priority list, but it didn't strike her as the real reason for her want to become stronger. 'Is it so that I can prove something?' that was her second guess. She had grown up the eldest daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage, the eldest daughter to one of the five strongest men in the world, more or less. From a young age, she was made aware of the fact that she was a target for her father's enemies and that she had to be strong in order to survive. In addition to that, there was the social pressure of carrying on her father's name and image. If she was seen as weak, her father would have been seen as weak, and the Yondaime Kazekage made her very clear of the fact that such a thing was absolutely unacceptable, thus another reason her father and private tutors worked her to the bone to develop her abilities as quickly as they could, to make her as strong as possible to impress the villagers of her home country, as well as the Ninja Villages as a whole. That brutal training regimen was only increased when Kankuro was born, since it was her duty as the elder sister to protect her sibling until and after he could learn to defend himself.

At the same time, she was forced to go through numerous ceremonies and social graces, to be someone that everyone believed was perfect. It was a façade that she had to put up with due to the fact that the families of Kages were the closest thing to royalty you would find in the Elemental Counties outside of actual Nobility, and they had very similar duties and expectations thrust upon them. Between it all, she was little more than a painted doll molded to be the perfect daughter. She was going to be put through the usual ninja program until she reached Jounin, at which point her father intended to marry her off to some noble or maybe the son of another Kage in order to foster peace between the two villages. Regardless of who it was, it was still sickening in her eyes, but she didn't have a choice in the matter.

The only one who opposed her father was her mother. As well as being perhaps the best mother someone could ask for, very kind, always willing to help, she was somewhere between role model and best friend to Temari as she grew up. Her father was always busy or didn't care, so it fell to her mother to take care of family problems, which she did very well. That was up until Gaara was finally born and her mother died giving birth.

Temari frowned at the memory of her youngest brother, her ONLY brother now. Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage, the murderer of his elder brother Kankuro. Temari had always been afraid of Gaara, all his life he had been a terrifying presence. She tried to be kind to him, but his keepers prevented her from seeing him outside of a formal setting, and as such places they were all forbidden to talk. Children should be seen, not heard, the watchword of Sunagakure. As a result, Gaara's only real contact was with their uncle, Yashamaru, who was the first to attempt Gaara's assassination, and the one to drive him insane. After that, Gaara was completely unapproachable.

She felt a volatile mix of sadness and anger at the thought of her younger siblings. 'I was supposed to protect Kankuro and Gaara, that was what father always told me, but in the end I was unable to do either. I wasn't able to protect Kankuro from Gaara, and I was unable to protect Gaara from his demon, the villagers, my father, or himself. What a great big sister I turned out to be.'

She knew that Gaara became her father's successor to the throne of Sunagakure, and was running things practically laissez-faire. He didn't have much of an opinion on anything, and so he was reduced to the position of a figurehead not long after he took the job. The only good news that she heard was that he didn't threaten people unnecessarily or kill people without mercy like she knew him to. According to what she had heard, killing Kankuro really calmed him down, and losing Shukaku had only helped that along.

Eventually, she managed to sort out her emotions toward her siblings. She was shocked to find out that the sadness she felt was only toward Kankuro, while the anger was directed completely at Gaara. She tried to reason with herself that Gaara didn't deserve it, but after a while, she realized that Kankuro's death laid solely upon Gaara's hands. 'I thought at first that he wasn't to blame, that it was the demon manipulating him as it sometimes did, that he didn't have control over it and was unable to control it, but then I was proven wrong. Naruto-kun controlled his demon and it didn't make him do a thing, it didn't make him do anything because it COULDN'T make him do anything, he wouldn't LET it control him. That means that hosts have control, they have free will if they have the will to fight what was sealed inside of them. If they are manipulated by the demon, or made to do things, then it is the host's fault and the host's fault alone.' By that logic, Gaara was Kankuro's killer, in a similar way to how a sword is guilty for killing someone. The difference was that a kunai didn't HAVE a choice in the matter, while Gaara ALLOWED himself to be used. He was as much responsible for Kankuro's death as Shukaku for driving him insane, and her father for ordering her death.

After she realized that, Temari spent a long time brooding over that, over whether or not she actually wanted revenge, to kill Gaara in retaliation for murdering Kankuro. She had searched her heart, and found that such a thing appealed to some part of her immensely. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure of herself. She was always told that Gaara was a monster in human form who had to be put down, and now she saw that they were right. 'It isn't that he had a demon inside of him that Gaara was a monster though.' Temari thought to herself. 'He made himself into a monster, he allowed himself to become a killing machine, and allowed himself to enjoy it. Perhaps the hatred of others caused him to be that way, but that doesn't change the fact that he is a dangerous beast that has to be put down before he hurts anyone else.'

For almost a year and a half, she worked hard believing that she wanted only revenge against Gaara for Kankuro's murder. But after a time she realized that it wasn't the reason, or rather it wasn't the only reason. She was certain that she wanted Gaara dead, but she wanted something else in addition to that. And after a long time of thinking and searching her thoughts and soul she realized what that was. Recognition.

She wanted recognition for her strength, not from anyone, but from the one that she believed to be the strongest man in the world. Uzumaki Naruto, the man who saved her life from what she thought was a completely unstoppable monster. How was she supposed to feel towards such an individual? A charismatic leader, unstoppable in his goals and ambitions, immense power, known and feared across the world, he was everything she dreamed of in a potential husband when she was growing up, more or less, and such a person rescued her and saved her life, gave her a purpose again, saved her from her own home that wanted her dead.

'Is this love, or just an infatuation, or lust? I know that I like him in that way, not just as a friend or a commanding officer, but I have to know how far I'm willing to go regarding a relationship. Do I really want him, or is it just something that will pass in time? That's what I have to figure out for sure before I think about trying to trying to take him from Perona and Haku.' She knew that she had to be sure she wanted him badly, or if it was a passing thing that shouldn't even be bothered with. If it was the latter, she wouldn't have a chance of getting him because her entire heart wouldn't be in it.

Then her eyes narrowed as she thought even more. 'But if it turns out that I DO want him that badly, that I am willing to do anything and everything for him, to be close to him, then I'll do whatever I have to without regret. I guess I'll know one way or another, given time.'

Temari frowned as she returned to her original problem. She was bored out of her mind and didn't have any effective training to do. She got up and looked over the targets for a moment before she smiled. She murmured to herself "I need an instructor, someone capable and strong, and intelligent. Maybe this is what I need to know for sure how I feel about him. Either way, only one way to find out."

She put her fan back in its usual place and began to clean up the destroyed targets. When Naruto finally returned, he would have a surprising request to deal with.

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Nyuusatsu, With Naruto' group

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Everyone in Naruto's faction was up and about, and it was about an hour until noon.

Everyone was dressed and prepared for the day, but currently they were all watching Naruto in the main room of the suite at the moment.

He had taken a piece of black chalk and had drawn a large circle around him upon the marble floor. After he did so, he took out a compass and a small box meant to hold a single object.

Perona couldn't help but ask "Um, Naruto-kun, what are you doing?"

Naruto looked over and said "I believe that it is finally time we track down Itachi and Kisame. To that purpose, I am going to use Kisame's hair as a link to use in a tracking enchantment. Now stay quiet and don't enter the circle."

They all nodded as Naruto opened the box, revealing the lock of hair that he had taken from Kisame almost a month before. He took the lock of hair, and carefully took a piece of twine and wrapped one end around the lock and the other in the ring at the top of the compass. He closed his eyes, and after a moment muttered to himself "Verbindung, finden Sie, folgen Sie Leitung." Before reaching out and breaking the circle around him with one foot.

The moment the circle was broken, a spark jumped from the compass and the thing went wild, pointing in every direction. Eventually, it stopped and merely went in a steady circle, not stopping at any one point. Everyone noticed that Naruto looked at this with a good amount of concern.

Haku was the first to work up the courage and ask "Um, Naruto-kun, what's wrong? Didn't it work?"

Naruto frowned at the compass for a moment before waving one hand over it and the thing stopped moving. "It worked, but it didn't point at anything. This is very bad."

Anko asked "Could Kisame be dead?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment before he shook his head. "No, if he was dead, it would point to his body. There are only two things that could produce this reaction, neither or which are good. He's either been taken to the Nevernever, the world of Spirit, which would indicate that someone of great power from that side of things has taken an interest in stopping me. The second option is possibly even worse. The only other way that this wouldn't find Kisame is if he was behind a set of wards specifically meant to block this sort of tracking. That would mean that someone in Akatsuki has similar powers to my own, somehow figured out that I had taken hair from Kisame for the point of tracking him down, and had worked out how my abilities work in order to construct wards both powerful and sophisticated enough to block such an attempt this successfully. Either way, it means that we have a capable enemy. This definitely bears thinking upon."

After a moment, Naruto waved his hand at the four of them and said "Spend the day however you wish, just steer clear of Jiraiya and his contingent of Shinobi. I have to work on something."

The four looked at eachother for a moment, but then bowed and left the room. There was a gigantic festival on after all, there was plenty to do.

Naruto immediately stalked back into the main area of the hotel suite, thinking furiously. 'Who could do it? Who could be the one with such abilities to block my tracking spell? It's not Itachi or Kisame, neither of them are capable of such things. Those two that Samson mentioned in his report aren't the ones either, they're too far away from them to block such things. Although, Kakuzu could have some kind of talent since he's that old. And that other one, Hidan, that circle of his is a key part of a good many enchantments. He's definitely got some amount of talent at the Art, but most likely he's just a sorcerer, not capable of anything that isn't harmful. I know that Deidara isn't the one, and I'm almost as sure that Sasori isn't capable of it either. That only leaves three choices, none of which I have much information on.'

Indeed, Orochimaru gave him everything that he knew about the Akatsuki when Naruto cornered him outside of Tanzaku-Gai years ago, but that didn't mean that Orochimaru's information was perfect of complete. Of the nine members of Akatsuki, it listed only seven, there were two that Orochimaru didn't know anything about, not even a name or an origin, or anything, and of the Kusa ninja Zetsu, he only had his name, his homeland, and a grainy picture. That meant that an entire third of the Akatsuki organization was a complete mystery to him. And despite the never-ceasing work of Zombies like Hildon and the Midnight Visitors, he had not been able to obtain any information on the three mysterious Akatsuki. Either one of them could be the one to have the talent and power to set up the wards necessary to protect Kisame from Naruto's tracking enchantment.

'That's assuming of course that he wasn't simply taken into the Nevernever itself. Which could be a good or a bad thing depending on who took him.'

It was a fact that the Nevernever was a big place, in fact it was the biggest place. It made Australia look like Rhode Island. Every afterlife ever invented, Heaven, Hell, Tartarus, Gehenna, Paradise, all of them and more existed in the Nevernever somewhere, in addition to Gods, Goddesses, demons, spirits, and everything else that was either strong enough to have its own demesne or lived in another's . It was the entirety of the Realm of Spirit. Everything in fairy tales and folk songs either existed or have existed, and the Nevernever was where they all were, at least the ones that weren't close to the mortal world. Beings like Vampires, Ghouls, Trolls, and other such things that most people didn't' believe existed were closely linked to the mortal world and could cross over at will.

If something took Kisame to the Nevernever, it meant that he was either in the wrong place at the wrong time and grabbed to be eaten, or he was being protected by something big enough to overpower Kisame and still have enough strength left over to open a way back to the Nevernever, which wasn't an easy task. It wasn't complicated, but it wasn't easy. It was beyond a good number of Jounin to cast a summoning jutsu, it took a lot of chakra to do. To rip open the wall between the two worlds wide enough to let a mortal through would take a lot of metaphysical muscle.

All in all, the list of things that were strong enough to take Kisame through against his will and were close enough to the mortal world to have an interest in stopping Naruto's plans was fairly short. Kisame was stronger than a good number of things, it would take a pretty brawny entity, like one of the High Sidhe, or a big enforcer from one of the Courts, maybe even a Knight of the Sidhe to take him down.

This entire mess stank of interference from an unknown enemy and it made Naruto very irritable at that the thought that he didn't know who was trying to stop and kill him, but the list of things who could do it and would want to do it was fairly short. Odds were, it was a member of Akatsuki or a Sidhe of some form, a faerie noble. 'The list of things that could be behind it were therefore one of seven entities: Zetsu, one of the two mystery Akatsuki members, the Summer Lady, the Winter Lady, the Summer Queen, or the Winter Queen. If it was any one of the latter four then this is very bad.' Naruto thought to himself.

There were two Courts of the Sidhe, of Faerie which was the closest realm in the Nevernever to the mortal world. Each one had three Queens, the youngest was called the Lady, the middle one was called the Queen, and the Eldest was called the Mother. Naruto brought up everything he knew of Faerie as he tried to puzzle out who could be the one protecting Kisame 'The Ladies are closest to the mortal world, they could definitely do it. This could be bad, each one of the Ladies is about as strong as I am right now. This would be even worse if it was the Queens. If I obtain the Word and perform the Darkhallow correctly, then I would be lucky if I was able to be the equal of the Queens, they're Demi-Gods with power enough to rival Archangels and lesser Gods easily. Any one of them could rip me apart right now. I doubt it's the Mothers, they stay in Faerie and don't get involved in anything unless it's necessary and they wouldn't care about something like this.'

Naruto looked over at the calendar as he thought. 'Today is November twenty seventh, Summer is at the ebb of its strength right now and Winter is nearing its height of power. If the Winter Court is behind it, then it would most likely be Winter. Okay, I have to watch out for a while, play things under the radar. If Winter is actively against me, then the next few months are going to be really dangerous.'

Naruto nodded to himself as though to confirm his answer to the conundrum. He didn't know who it was that was protecting Kisame, but it was either Akatsuki or the Winter Court. Either way he had to be careful.

Naruto walked back toward the door as he thought to himself 'The Queens can't come after me themselves, they can't kill someone who isn't linked with either Court by birthright or bargain. But I still have to be careful, they could send something after me without any problems. Well, this is no different than how I've lived for the past five years or so. How hard can it be?'

Not a moment after Naruto thought that, something large broke through the window and landed on all fours in the middle of the floor and gave a loud, inhuman shriek before in lunged toward him.

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I leave you with yet another cliffhanger! What shall happen? Read the next chapter and find out. In the meantime, leave a review to tell me your thoughts on the chapter as a whole, particularly Temari's backstory. I said this last chapter, I'm not a woman, I'm not sure on how well I portray one, I NEED feedback on this. Anyway, have a nice day and LONG LIVE NARUHINA!

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger


	72. Chapter 72

Welcome, one and all, to Kage no Naruto chapter seventy two! Sorry about that huge cliffhanger I left you on last chapter. Oh, who am I kidding, I LOVED IT! Anyway, on to business. Regarding the Omake that I usually do every tenth chapter. In chapter seventy, I thought Hinata was dead so I was too depressed to do humor at the moment, as for chapter seventy one, I just forgot, so it will be in this chapter. Enjoy it at the end. Now then, let the chapter begin.

Sorry this update took longer than usual, the Omake was difficult to write and I have a new author that I'm beta-ing for. A guy by the name of XXXG-01D. So far he's working on a pair of interesting Bleach fics, so check them out if you want to. Sorry that the update took so long, but there's why.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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In the latest Naruto manga, Pein showed us just how fucking terrifying he can be. That Chibaku Tensei thing created this little sphere of darkness, like a black hole, that got launched into the air and drew up the surrounding earth toward it, including the Six Tailed Naruto. The grand result was, despite a good escape attempt by Naruto, a gigantic sphere of rock the size of a fucking mountain, with Naruto trapped inside. Also, Pein commented that according to legend, the Sage of the Six Paths created the damn _moon_ using that same technique.

Then we go into Naruto's mind, and see him holding his head asking for help, it flashes back to when Pein asked him how he would deal with the hatred he would have to deal with in order to create peace, and Naruto's lack of an answer. So he just kept asking for help, for someone to give him the answer, and then the Kyuubi spoke to him. He told Naruto to destroy everything that hurt him. He told Naruto to give his heart to him and he would save him from the pain.

Then the seal appeared on Naruto's stomach (This is in the mindscape by the way) and it sort of twisted together and changed, you have to see it for yourself. After that a large amount of some black substance came out of the seal and the Kyuubi seemed pleased. At this point, that number on Yamato's hand went from six to eight.

Then, at that gigantic sphere of rock, eight tails ripped through the stone and the eight tailed Kyuubi-Naruto broke out of Pein's trap. As for how the Eight Tailed Naruto looks like, think a full sized Kyuubi, only with eight tails and without skin, that's how he looks at this point.

Then the Kyuubi tells him to rip off the seal on his cage, and Naruto began to obey, and he didn't seem to coherent of his actions. He had his hand on the seal and was about to pull it off. Then, that number on Yamato's hand went from eight, to nine.

Just before he was about to pull off the seal and initiate perhaps the coolest thing we've seen in the series, someone grabbed Naruto's hand, pulled it away from the seal, and punched him, sending him away from the cage. Kyuubi got pissed at the person who did it, and then we see none other than the Yondaime Hokage.

Apparently he set up the seal so that he would appear in Naruto's consciousness should eight tails be released. He said that he never wanted that to happen, because he never wanted to see the Kyuubi again, and then he said that he DID want to see how his son turned out, so perhaps it was even. Naruot's just looking on in shock at this point.

Right, this chapter was good and bad, mostly bad. Sure, seeing Pein's ultimate attack, by the looks of it, is amazing, and so was Naruto using Eight Tails. That was something that I think everyone would love to see happen more often. The major bad part though, is the Yondaime's appearance. His SOUL was eaten by the fucking Shinigami, and now he appears because Eight Tails were released. He was supposed to be imprisoned and tortured inside of the Shinigami's stomach for all eternity, and now he appears just in time to prevent the most awesome thing in the history of the series!

There is also the returning issue that is brought up once again by Yamato's reaction to the eight and nine appearing on his hand. The issue being: Why can't Naruto use his Bijuu like every other fucking Jinchuuriki!? Seriously, Gaara used his more than anybody, and Yugito and Kirabi both went to the full forms of their Bijuu without harm coming to them! Why is it just NARUTO who gets the shaft?! Seriously, he gets incredibly fucked up by using the Kyuubi's chakra, what's more, he can't even use it without Kyuubi taking over and going berserk, and from Yamato's reaction and Yondaime's little failsafe, I think it's fair to assume that if all nine tails got released that the seal would be broken. WHY IS NARUTO THE MOST PATHETIC JINCHUURIKI!?

Honestly, even Kirabi, the HACHIBI Jinchuuriki, could use his demon to full effect, able to call up the Bijuu's chakra at will, and control it to maximum effect, even using the Hachibi to break out of the Tsukuyomi, which was supposedly impossible. He could even use the Bijuu's full form without consequence! Gaara and Yugito could do the same, and from what I've seen I think that it's fair to assume that all of the other Jinchuuriki could do the same, why is it that only Naruto who can't use the Bijuu's chakra to ANY effect? Two tails and he can barely tell friend from foe! Three and you'll be lucky if he recognizes you, four and you're a dead man, and when Naruto comes out of it he looks like a textbook on burns! Kirabi can use EIGHT without blinking, and without any negative side-effects that we've seen.

All of this being taken into consideration, I can only assume that either one tail makes a shitload of difference if Naruto can't use three effectively while Kirabi can use eight, or the more likely scenario being that the Yondaime fucked up on his choice of seal. Seriously, he's supposed to be the greatest master of seals in history, and both of Kumo's Jinchuuriki are better fighters than Naruto, despite the fact that they both have weaker demons. Hey, if Nine Tails is too much to use, I wouldn't mind, but you would think that the Yondaime would use the same seal that Kirabi has so that Naruto could use eight safely.

So overall, Naruto got fucked even more than we thought he did with the seal when you take other Jinchuuriki into account, the Yondaime can escape form Shinigami's stomach, and if all nine tails are used, Kyuubi will go free. Absolutely fucking amazing. Nice job Yondaime!

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Summary of last chapter

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Okay, basically last chapter, I put a lot of work into developing Temari's character. I have neglected her for quite a while, so I put a stop to that here and now. I decided that if I was going to do a harem pairing then I would do it WELL. I wouldn't give into pressure and just have five girls say 'I love you' and then decide to share him. This is going to be taken slowly, and realistically. In order for that to happen, I have to develop everyone's character, not just Naruto's. Most authors on this site neglect the minor characters in favor of one or two main characters taking all the screen-time. So when something regarding someone ELSE happens, it is completely out of left field. I will NOT let that happen here.

After the exposition, Naruto attempted to use the lock of Kisame's hair to find him and therefore Itachi. However, the enchantment didn't work, Kisame was protected from such divinations, and there were only a few possibilities were there as to how. Either someone was protecting him, or he was in the spirit world. While Naruto was puzzling over the various possibilities, an unknown creature burst into the room and attacked. Now, let the chapter begin!

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With Naruto

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It happened quickly, without warning or chance to either catch one's breath or prepare. One moment, there was peace, the next something crashed through the window, let out an ear-splitting shriek, and rushed toward Naruto's head.

He got the image of mottled, pale skin, claws, and fangs, along with knots of powerful muscle as the thing leapt straight at him.

Naruto acted purely on instinct. His staff appeared in his left hand, and as the thing closed with him he swung it like a bat, hitting it square in the jaw and sent it scrambling across the floor amid shards of yellow, broken teeth.

The creature got some distance before rising in a low crouch, standing on two legs as it stared at him. Naruto took in its form.

It was about five foot six, with lank, greasy hair. Pale, mottled skin covered knots of powerful muscle all over its body. It was mostly humanoid, but its eyes were black, its shoulders too wide, and it was altogether too inhuman to be of mortal blood. Its mouth extended into something resembling a muzzle, and its mouth was far wider than a human's and heavy with muscle. That mouth hung open, revealing yellow fangs as the stench of decay and rot issued forth upon its breath. Its forearms were much longer than a human's, and its fingers each ended in a long, dirty, sharp and pointy claw, and its hands, fingers spread, were as wide as a garden rake. Its feet were similar to its hands with the claws, though they were shaped differently, the creature was obviously a biped. Then Naruto realized what it was, it was a Ghoul.

Ghouls were creatures that were closer than most creatures of the realm of spirit to the mortal realm, and therefore didn't have nearly as difficult a time in crossing over as most beings did. Things like Faeries, Vampires, and other things close to the mortal world could usually cross the border more easily than anything else, most often not needing any kind of help.

Ghouls were carnivorous creatures that fed mainly on human flesh, cold, fresh, rotting, they didn't care as long as it got into their bellies. They were strong, incredibly quick, and harder to kill than a juicy rumor about an official. They were also very versatile and more or less intelligent as your average human. They weren't geniuses by any means, but they could work machinery, learn languages, and do most other things that a human could. It helped maintain their disguises as human beings, which they could change into at will. They were mainly used by others who did the heavy thinking, and used the Ghouls as their soldiers and pawns. They were however, more or less easy to find if they weren't very careful since they only fed on human meat if they had a choice and could go through forty or fifty pounds of meat a day.

But despite the fact that Ghouls would easily rip through any human and even most ninja since they would have surprise on their side, Naruto was neither in any real sense of the word. So, the shadows of the furniture rose from the wall and wrapped themselves around the limbs of the Ghoul, tying it to the wall more effectively than chains.

The creature instantly reacted with obvious fear, snarling and thrashing at the shadow bindings that held it in place. Naruto was surprised that he actually had to make a conscious effort to keep the Ghoul from breaking free. This thing was _strong_. Way stronger than any human, which were what his usual shadow bindings were made to hold.

Naruto immediately acted to prevent the escape of his captive. His flexed his right hand and Zanmato appeared from the shadow he held it in stuck to his right wrist. A moment to position the blade, and a second later that black sword sliced through one of the Ghoul's shoulders, cutting easily through dense muscle and thick black bone as watery, foul smelling, brown blood splashed to the floor, ruining the carpeting, while the Ghoul let out a piercing shriek of pain and terror.

Naruto proceeded the kick the thing between the legs, leading to an even more shrill scream. Then Naruto used his staff like a bat and smashed the creature across the face. The thing let out a sound as he did, not a shout of rage, but more like the sound a dog makes when it tried to yield to an attacker. It yelled in a raspy, slithering voice "Mercy, Great One, mercy!"

Naruto pressed his sword to the Ghoul's throat and said "Why would I show mercy to an attacker? However, if you answer my questions, you might convince me to allow you to live."

The Ghoul nodded desperately, so Naruto began "Who sent you? Why did you attack this place?"

The Ghoul looked around, terrified before it said "Nobody sent me, I came here of my own accord. I saw a tasty looking female, and followed her. She entered this room last night and I attacked now, when she would be dazed and confused, easily taken."

"How many other Ghouls are there in this city? I know your kind often works in packs."

The creature hesitated and said "My life Great One, promise me my life and I will answer your question."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and slammed his fist into its side, causing several cracking sounds to issue forth as the Ghoul gave another brassy wail of pain. "You will answer my questions or you will die immediately. Answer me quickly and satisfactorily and you may get a chance to live."

The Ghoul panted heavily, pained sounds coming from the badly wounded creature. Finally it said "There are many of my kind in this settlement, over a dozen. We work for the man who sells things to many once a year here. We must find food for ourselves, but he provides shelter as long as we protect his treasures."

'Hmm, he could mean any of the merchants around here, but odds are if they are regular merchants with the capability to hide a dozen Ghouls, they must be influential. Maybe one of the larger auction dealers.' Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto put away his sword and grabbed the Ghoul by the throat, releasing it from the binding. He said to it as it writhed in his grasp "Well, that's all I wanted to know. If you weren't sent here, then I have no use for you. So I will let you go."

The Ghoul looked almost happy for a moment, but that was when Naruto moved quickly and shoved it through a window, holding it by its neck four stories over the stone floor of the alley that one of the sides of the room looked out on. Naruto smiled and said "You can go freely. If you survive, tell your friends that if they ever show up coming after me or mine again, I will not be so kind."

The Ghoul went wild with fear "Wait Great One, please wait!"

Naruto's smile vanished and looked the Ghoul straight in the eye as he let it go, and listened to its scream as it fell four stories and landed on concrete. It sounded not entirely unlike a cockroach being crushed underfoot. Despite the sound, Naruto knew that the Ghoul probably survived.

Naruto walked away from the window and then sat and thought about the new developments. 'So, a dozen or so Ghouls are in town, well that would certainly explain the number of people that go missing around this time of year, but the main question is 'who around here has the knowledge and power to force Ghouls under his command?''

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With the Konoha Group

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The Konoha group was holding, more or less, a war council in the main room of their shelter. The purpose of the war council was to decide upon what to do in the event that they received no orders from Tsunade to either continue the mission or retreat.

Shikamaru started off by saying "We have to consider what we'll be up against assuming we stay, that's the most important thing. We'll be going up against one of his strongest Generals, the Nuke-nin Mitarashi Anko, the 'Ghost Woman' recently identified as Perona, that other girl that we have nothing on, as well as Naruto himself, at least. There is a very real possibility that he has a number of his other Generals waiting nearby or inside the city. We can't confront them lightly."

Sakura nodded and said "That's true, but if we DON'T fight them and keep them from getting this book, Naruto will become more or less unstoppable right? We can't afford NOT to fight him."

Shikamaru immediately shot back "Okay, how do you plan of fighting them? We know that Anko is about as strong as your average Jounin, and in addition to that we have two women whose abilities are a virtual unknown, as well as that bastard Sodom, not to mention Naruto himself. We only have three Chuunin, one Jounin, and a Sannin here Sakura, those are hardly winning odds. Jiraiya-san can only be in one place at a time, so he can only hold off one opponent. Either he takes Sodom or Naruto himself, that will leave the other one to assist the others. Kakashi-san wouldn't stand much of a chance against either of those two, no offense Kakashi-san."

Kakashi waved his hand and said "None taken, I am aware that at my current capabilities I wouldn't have much hope of defeating Sodom one-on-one, and I wouldn't have a chance in hell against Naruto himself. The thing that's bothering me right now is that I can't hel but think that I've seen that girl before, the other one I think he called Haku. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm almost certain I've seen her before."

Jiraiya leaned forward and said "That's all very interesting, but it doesn't answer the question we need to answer, which is how to get the book out of the city and into Konoha once we obtain it. If Naruto gets the book, we will have to fight him and do our best to take the book from him. If we get it, Naruto and his contingent are guaranteed to hunt us down in hopes of obtaining it for themselves. If someone other than the two of us gets the book, we'll have to do our best to find it before he does. Regardless of all this information, we still have at best sketchy plans of how to defeat him. We need something concrete here before we do anything risky."

Kakashi closed his eye for a moment and said "Okay then, let's start off with everything we know about the combat capabilities of the individuals Naruto has with him, as well as Naruto himself. Forget about any other help he might have waiting in the wings, we'll cover that later."

Shikamaru nodded in acceptance. "A good idea, Kakashi-san. Well, I know the most about General Sodom, though that isn't much. He has two blades attached to a mechanism under his bracers. This mechanism can extend and retract the blades at will. Beyond that, he's incredibly strong, as most of Naruto's Zombies are, but above all else, Sodom is extremely fast." Shikamaru paused for a moment, before quietly adding "I can't be entirely sure, but I think that he may be faster than Maito Gai."

That of course got a reaction out of everyone. Gai was, if not the fastest, one of the top five speed demons of Konoha, even the world. Hinata was obviously worried about that possibility and she asked "Are you absolutely sure Nara-san?"

Shikamaru waited a moment before begrudgingly nodding. "Yeah, he was much faster than myself or Asuma-sensei. He cut down a Colonel that would have beaten our entire squad if Sodom didn't show up. When the Colonel actively disobeyed him, Sodom simply vanished for a moment before the Colonel fell to pieces. In addition to that, Sodom is also skilled with Fuuton Ninjutsu as is evidenced by the fact that he obliterated the remains of that Colonel with a single jutsu. If Asuma-sensei hadn't-" Shikamaru stopped for a moment, his words caught in his throat. Then, after a moment, he said, his voice so low he was almost whispering "If Asuma-sensei hadn't locked him in with that monster, he would have killed us all."

Kakashi waited for a moment before saying "In addition to that threat are the other three, not to mention Naruto himself. I know, well knew, Mitarashi Anko, and she's only as dangerous as you let her be. She can do some potent Ninjutsu such as summoning snakes, and she's quite skilled at close range, but if you can keep your distance and not get entangled in serpents, she isn't that hard to take down. I've fought her several times in the past, mostly sparring, but I know enough about her that I shouldn't have too much trouble. That leaves the other two, that Haku girl, and Perona, which are a bit more of a challenge since we don't know nearly as much about either of them,"

They all nodded at that statement. It was true, aside from Kakashi's eerie sense of having seen her before, they had nothing on Haku. Sakura said "You're right, we don't know anything about that Haku girl, but we know at least something about Perona. She's in the Bingo Book after all. According to our information, she uses mainly explosive attacks, and has some technique which removes a persons' want to live and confidence. Also, according to that spy's report, she ranks right under Naruto, so we should capture her if we can. Either way we can't let her stay active during the fight, she has to be taken out as soon as any battle starts."

After that little plan of action was decided upon, they were all silent. They all knew why they were silent, but none of them wanted to be the one to say it. If the enemy obtained the book, Naruto was going to be holding it, guaranteed, and Naruto was by far the most dangerous of them all.

Eventually, Sakura said "It doesn't matter how much we plan, does it? We're all going to lose, and we're all going to die if we attempt to take the book. We'll all die if we win the book and they come after us. If HE wasn't with them, we would have a chance, but his presence makes all the difference."

Kakashi looked over and said "Sakura, don't talk like that. There's no way to be sure that we won't win. He can be killed like anyone else, it's just more difficult to put a knife in his heart than most other people. He can be beaten, we just have to work hard enough to do it."

Sakura just looked at him and said "This man, by himself, created an army of undead with which he brought an entire COUNTRY to its knees, and destroyed one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. According to our information, Naruto himself created every single Zombie. How can we stop someone like that, who can make such an overwhelming force from nothing?" Sakura's voice started to rise in pitch, her fear evident in her voice.

She continued on "He can block almost any attack without effort, he can heal any wound almost immediately, he can stop people from moving by stepping on their shadows, completely stop someone's chakra just by TOUCHING them, move extremely quickly, punch through a brick wall, cause blades from nothing just by kicking at the air, walk on air, avoid any attack that he can't block, he can destroy everything around him, make others take his injuries for him, kill someone after just hearing their name, and cut us all to pieces, HE IS INVINCIBLE! We should take him up on that offer and hope that he is merciful when he obtains the book, HOW CAN WE FIGHT THAT!?"

By this time, Sakura was in near hysteria, her voice shrill and her fear evident. Jiraiya realized that this is truly what she thought of Naruto now. She must have been keeping these fears and feelings bottled up ever since Naruto stopped her just by muttering her name a few days before. 'This has to be dealt with immediately or she'll be useless during the operation.'

Jiraiya moved to get up, but before he could do anything, the sound of palm hitting cheek was heard throughout the room.

Everyone watched in pure surprise as HINATA lowered her hand from where it was after she slapped Sakura. She just said "I understand that you're scared, but you are a Kunoichi of Konoha. Carry yourself with dignity, and hide your fear if it exists at all. There is no way to know for certain who will win or lose a battle. Title and supposed ability means little in the heat of combat, you should know that by now. So Sakura-san, _get a grip."_

Sakura merely watched and stared in stunned silence as Hinata sat down again and said "So, Jiraiya-sama, given what we know about Naruto-san's abilities, what do you think is the best course of action regarding him?"

Jiraiya let a quiet smile through before he said "It's hard to plan for Naruto, since he's obviously changed a lot since I've last seen him. But, odds are, he's going to be well protected during battle, and doing his best to remain unharmed while he fights from a distance, letting his shadow do most of the fighting. That's his preferred method of combat after all, and it suits him. Let someone else do the work while he helps from the sidelines, out of danger. The entire thing makes it dangerous to fight him, since the shadow can change shape and size at will, is extremely strong, can move quickly, and from what I've seen and heard it's completely invulnerable. In addition to that, he can switch places with the shadow at will, almost instantaneously, so in order to stand a real chance you have to have two people working together to defeat him, one to keep the shadow busy and be ready to fight Naruto should he switch with it, while the other takes on Naruto himself. That isn't someone easily defeated, since he can fight at close range as well and has several moves to get away from an opponent, not to mention any number of dirty tricks or secret moves he's saved as a trump card, and if he thinks he might be outclassed, he'll run away and get help before coming back for round two. I'm not sure that we'll be able to beat him. I actually don't think that we can beat him as we are right now."

Everyone was disturbed by that. When Jiraiya was saying something couldn't be done, it wasn't something to be taken lightly. Jiraiya was the strongest ninja Konoha had to its name, the only one in Konoha who might, MIGHT, be able to defeat him would be Tsunade unless the two advisors worked together. Koharu and Homura were the teammates of the Sandaime after all, they were anything but weak and even Jiraiya paled in comparison when it came to experience. But for one on one fights, Jiraiya was the best. If he couldn't beat someone one on one, odds are that nobody in Konoha could.

After a moment had passed, Jiraiya got up and walked away. Before he could leave, Kakashi asked "Jiraiya-sama, where are you going?"

Jiraiya stopped in the doorway and looked back. He said "Isn't it obvious? We can't really hope to win with our current resources, so I'm going to call up Tsunade and call for backup." Then he turned and walked out the door without another look back, leaving the remaining Konoha ninja sitting there in confusion and doubt.

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Otogakure no Sato

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Otogakure no Sato existed as a large network of bunkers and bases scattered throughout the Elemental Countries. There was no 'main base' that acted as a headquarters. Instead, the main headquarters was located wherever Orochimaru happened to be at the time. The current whereabouts of Orochimaru and his most important staff was currently in a base in Southern Kaminari no Kuni, hidden in the grassy plains that marked the border region between Kaminari no Kuni and Hi no Kuni.

The base was a complex of stone rooms, spreading over about an eighth of a mile diameter. The main purpose of this particular base was to be a stockpile of medical supplies, which was why it was chosen by Orochimaru at this time.

The Snake Sannin was badly ill, bedridden and weary, and constantly in pain. His current body was rejecting him, and it was finally time for the Snake to take up a new physical form.

With Kabuto gone, Orochimaru has had to rely on his other, less skilled medical personnel to keep him in good condition, his body deteriorating at a slow rate due to the constant care, but at a cost. The drugs and medicines that they had to use to keep Orochimaru from dying long enough to switch into a new body had very serious side effects that, while non-fatal, were extremely unpleasant.

However, Orochimaru's patience was paying off. He had long ago discovered the true purpose of Sasuke's seal. He realized that it was meant to kill him almost immediately. However, Orochimaru's analysis of the seal revealed that it was incomplete, lacking several fundamental parts that would lead to the seal slowly deteriorating before collapsing completely, even its most basic and critical functions becoming impossible to perform.

Orochimaru had been able to switch bodies for almost two months now, but he had waited, playing a deadly dangerous game with time in order to achieve what he wanted, but finally Orochimaru came out on top of the struggle. Twenty four hours ago, the medical ninja that he had ordered to monitor Uchiha Sasuke's seal reported that it had vanished completely, collapsing entirely due to its instability. He was forced to wait an entire day more however, to make absolutely sure that the seal didn't have any lingering power even if the mark was gone.

That twenty four hours had been long, gruesome, and miserable to the old snake, but finally his patience had paid off.

In his sickbed, Orochimaru leaned to the side and beckoned the medic forward. When the man was close enough, Orochimaru muttered to him "B-bring him to me. Bring me Sasuke."

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OMAKE – Zombie training

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A large number of Zombies were in a large room, on both walls of the room were rows double bunk beds, one on top of the other. Rows upon rows of uniformed zombies were standing by the bunks, two to a bunk, as a single zombie with a hat walked among them.

The zombie said "I am Sergeant Hartman, your senior Drill Instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be 'sir' do you maggots understand that?"

Every Zombie yelled "Sir, yes sir!"

The Sergeant said "Bullshit I can't hear you, sound off like you've got a pair!"

Everyone there yelled "SIR YES SIR!"

"If you ladies leave my camp, if you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon, you will be a minister of death, praying for war. But until that day you are shit, you are the lowest form of life on earth. You're not even human fucking beings! You are not anything but unorganized grabasstic pieces of amphibian shit! Because I am hard you will not like me, but the more you hate me the more you will learn, I am hard but I am fair. There is no racial bigotry here, I do not look down on niggers, kikes, whaps or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless. And my orders are to weed out every piece of undead flesh that do not deserve to serve in my beloved corp. Do you maggots understand that?

"SIR YES SIR!"

"Bullshit I can't hear you."

"SIR YES SIR!"

The sergeant stopped in front of one black zombie and said "What's your name scumbag?"

"SIR, PRIVATE BROWN SIR!"

"Bullshit, from now on you are Private Snowball. Do you like that name?"

The Soldier to be yelled "SIR YES SIR!"

"Well there's one thing that you won't like Private Snowball, they don't serve fried chicken and watermelon on a daily basis in my Mess Hall."

"SIR YES SIR!"

At that point, a Zombie on the other side of the room said, in a deep voice "Is that you John Wayne? Is this me?"

The Sergeant immediately swiftly walked over and said "Who said that? Who the fuck said that!? Who's the slimy little Konoha shit, twinkle toed cocksucker down here who just signed his own death warrant?!"

The Sergeant walked around the section the voice came from "Nobody huh? The Fairy fucking Godmother said it! I'll fucking stab you, I'll PT you until you fucking DIE! I'll PT you until your assholes are sucking buttermilk!"

The Sergeant grabbed one Soldier by the throat and yelled "Was it YOU, you scroungy little fuck, huh!?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"You look like a fucking worm! I'll bet it was you!"

"Sir no sir!"

The Zombie next to him said "Sir, I said it sir!"

The Sergeant looked over and said "Well, no shit. What do we have here a fucking comedian, Private Joker. Hell I like you, you can come over to my house and fuck my sister." Then the Sergeant punched the Soldier in the balls.

"You little scumbag! I've got your name, I've got your ass! You will not laugh, you will not cry! You will learn by the numbers, I will teach you, now get up, get on your feet!"

The Soldier hurried to obey and he said "You had best un-fuck yourself or I will unscrew your head and shit down your neck!"

"SIR YES SIR!"

The Sergeant walked down to the private next to Joker and said "What's your excuse?"

"Sir, excuse for what sir!"

"I'm asking the fucking questions around here Private do you understand?"

"SIR YES SIR!"

"Well thank you very much can I be in charge for a while?"

"SIR YES SIR"

"Are you shook up? Are you nervous?"

"SIR YES SIR!"

"Do I make you nervous?"

"SIR-"

"Sir what? ARE YOU ABOUT TO CALL ME AN ASSHOLE!?"

"SIR NO SIR!"

"Private how tall are you?"

"SIR, five foot nine sir!"

"Five foot nine, I didn't know they stacked shit that high! You trying to squeeze an inch-shit on me somewhere, HUH?"

"SIR NO SIR!"

"Bullshit, looks like the best part of you ran down the crack of your mama's ass and ended up as a brown stain on the mattress! I think you've been cheated! Where in hell are you from anyway private?"

"SIR, IWA SIR!"

"HOLY DOG SHIT! Iwa, only steers and queers come from Iwa private Cowboy! And you don't look much like a steer to me so I guess that narrows it down! Do you suck dicks!?"

"SIR NO SIR!"

"Are you a PETER-PEPPER!?"

"SIR NO SIR!"

"I'll bet you're the kind of guy that would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the common courtesy to give him a reach-around! I'll be watching you!"

The Sergeant walked back up to the head of the room next to the door and yelled "You will head out to the field in five minutes for morning exercises, and you had all better be perfect or I will rip out your eyes and SKULL FUCK YOU! DISMISSED!"

Every Soldier in the room hurried to get to the door, none of them wanted to be on the bad side of the Sergeant. After all, three of them already had nicknames, and since they were all undead, the Sergeant could definitely go through with his threats.

PT- Physical Training

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I don't use any of the racial names used in the Omake, just making that clear, so don't think I'm a racist or anything.

Hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter and the Omake, and I will leave you all wondering who Tsunade will send for back up. That's all I've got to say so I will see you guys next chapter.

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger

PS- I loved that movie


	73. Chapter 73

Not much to say, I hope I haven't left you all waiting for a chapter for too long, let the chapter begin, and the usual greetings. I got a whole lot of feedback last chapter mainly about my views on Naruto as opposed to the chapter itself, which kind of disturbs me, but aside from that, nothing really to mention except that I still say that the Yondaime fucked Naruto over, and one other question. If Kyuubi's Yang chakra is inside of Naruto, where the hell is the Yin chakra?

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, this answered next to NOTHING about what the fuck was going on. The Yondaime took Naruto from the seal to this great white abyss of sorts and there he had a conversation with Naruto. He told Naruto that he was his son. Naruto started crying, punched the bastard, and then shouted that he didn't know whether to be happy or pissed off. Quite frankly, I would go with the latter of the two, but that's beside the point.

The entire chapter was basically Minato explaining to Naruto that Kyuubi was being controlled by the member of Akatsuki in the mask, and that he's sure the man will attack Konoha again, so he needed someone with some kind of special power to beat him. Then it goes on about how in the current ninja system, there is no way for peace to be obtained. Protecting the things you love breeds hatred, and hatred breeds war. As long as the current system exists, peace is impossible, which lends credit to Pein's methods somewhat. He ALSO said that he gave Naruto the power of the Fox because he said that he would be able to use it to defeat the one who controlled the Fox. So that completely shuts down those doubters who said that he was never supposed to use the Fox, but rather just hold it. HA!

Then Minato says that he believes in Naruto and other such encouraging things like Konoha can be rebuilt and such before restoring the seal on his stomach and vanishing.

The last scene we see is the Eight Tailed Fox vanishing and being replaced with a Sage Mode Naruto, God Realm watching nearby.

Okay, I have one major complaint with this chapter. YONDAIME'S SOUL WAS EATEN BY THE SHINIGAMI! How the hell is Yondaime inside of Naruto?! I've gotten some arguments that the Yondaime's seal is more complex than the one Sarutobi used on Orochimaru, so maybe his soul was sealed inside of Naruto too. I highly doubt that. Regardless of its complexity, or what it is asked to do, the Shinigami has the same price, he gets to devour the users soul. Hell, we SAW the Shinigami eat the souls of the Shodaime and Niidaime Hokage for God's sake! How is the Yondaime there if the Shinigami ate him? I ask you!

The only possibility that makes sense is that the Yondaime we saw was some kind of semi-sentient fail-safe program ,for lack of a better word, that was integrated into the seal to prevent all nine tails from being released that would react to what information it would glean from Naruto's senses and memories, using them to develop a way to prevent Naruto from fully releasing the Fox if Eight Tails were released already. Notice that the first thing he does is get Naruto away from the cage? Then all he does is give a bit of an explanation in order to get his attention away from the Fox, followed by a few encouraging and hopeful words before restoring the seal and sending Naruto back into the world.

In my opinion, that's either the Yondaime, which would suck because it goes against already set parameters of the Shiki Fuuin used to seal Kyuubi, or it's an extremely intelligently designed and subtle fail-safe program with a single objective in mind. If it's the first, it sucks, if it's the second, its ingenious. But I doubt that we'll ever know which one since I highly doubt that this phenomenon will come to light or be mentioned ever again aside from a possible conversation about it with Tsunade or someone close to him in the next two to five chapters.

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Summary of last chapter

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A Ghoul showed up and Naruto kicked its ass.

The Konoha group had a strategy meeting over what they were going to do after the auction was over, regardless of who won the book. At the end, Jiraiya admitted that they didn't have much chance with their current resources and went to get backup.

Orochimaru is finally about to take over Sasuke's body, Naruto's seal being completely destabilized and vanishing due to its own instability and incompletion.

Finally, I made a gigantic Full Metal Jacket reference. If anyone reading this has NOT watched that movie, watch it NOW, its way better than anything in the theatres nowadays.

Beyond that, enjoy the chapter.

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Otogakure no Sato

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Three years had passed since Uchiha Sasuke defeated by Uzumaki Naruto at the Chuunin Exam arena. Three years had passed since he was branded with an incomplete form of the Shikeishuu no Fuuin, Naruto's Seal of the Condemned. Sasuke had been tormented by the mark every night since, his mind filled with nightmares, his body filled with pain at random, all of it centered around a little geometric mark of cold-seared flesh. The scars still remained of the mark, the geometric design was still there on his right shoulder, his Curse Seal on his left. The scar remained, but it was only that, a scar, the mark had no potency any longer, its own incomplete nature caused it to collapse and wither. The mark held no power anymore, it was just an unpleasant reminder of great shame, and the calling card of a deadly enemy.

Sasuke kept his basic looks, still having the cold heartless eyes and the permanent scowl that for some reason caused women to flock to him. His clothes had changed to a battle kimono with an open front, along with a thick purple rope belt tied in a knot rather than the usual bow. A sword imbued with the same elements as Orochimaru's Kusanagi no Tsurugi was attached to the small of his back, looking unlike a sword due to the fact that it had to guard and the hilt blended perfectly with the sheathe. Both the hilt of the sword and the back of Sasuke's garment showed the crest of the Uchiha Clan.

He had been training relentlessly for three years after his defection with only three purposes in mind. Sasuke's first goal was to defeat and kill Itachi to gain vengeance for his fallen family. The second goal was to defeat and kill Uzumaki Naruto for scarring him, and dishonoring him the way that he did. The final goal was to restart the Uchiha clan and make it the most powerful in the world. He knew that none of these goals would be easy, but he was willing to work for years more if he had to in order to accomplish his goals, and he would do anything that he had to in order to accomplish them.

Currently, the Uchiha was meditating before a fire in his room, clearing his mind and preparing for what was to come later. He knew that today Orochimaru was going to attempt to take his body for his own. It had been a week since the medical staff had declared the seal defunct of purpose and they had only waited a week so that any residual energy from the seal could run its course and not offer any harm. It had been an actual happy moment in Sasuke's life. For the first time in years he could walk knowing that he was free of the pain of the seal, from the horrifying nightmares that caused the Uchiha to wake himself with his own screaming. He was at peace for the first time since he left Konohagakure. Now, Orochimaru would make his move.

Sasuke's prediction came true several minutes later when a gentle knock came from the door, and a quiet voice told him that Orochimaru requested his presence in his bedroom. Sasuke smiled mirthlessly as he murmured his reply before standing, staring into the fire for a moment, and walking out the door.

As he walked out the door and down the hall, he thought to himself 'I will not fall to this snake. Not with these eyes and my power.'

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With Orochimaru

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Orochimaru was lying in his bed, sweating profusely and panting due to his illness. 'Damn it, I won't last much longer in this body. Where is Sasuke-kun!?'

That's when a blade made of lightning shot through the door.

Even weakened and sick, Orochimaru still had the reflexes to make an attempt at blocking the attack. The result was the blade going through his arms before lodging in his stomach. Orochimaru breathed hard and thought quickly. His arms were pinned, but if he hadn't blocked it, the blade of lightning would have gone through his heart.

Then the door swung open, revealing none other than Uchiha Sasuke, his Sharingan blazing as he held his Kusanagi no Tsurugi in one hand, and the other outstretched in front of him holding the other end of that blade of lightning that was pinning Orochimaru down.

Orochimaru looked at the Uchiha in shock, not believing that something like this could happen, not now. Orochimaru's worst fears were confirmed when Sasuke said "Orochimaru, you are weaker than I am. There is no point to sacrificing my body to you."

Orochimaru snarled in hate and defiance as he hissed "Those are pretty big words coming from the leftover Uchiha."

Sasuke moved the sword a bit, causing it to dig a bit deeper into Orochimaru's stomach, making him hiss in pain as he smiled and said "Yes, I was weak at one point, that was why I sought you out in the beginning, but that isn't the case anymore. The only reason you wanted me in the first place was because you couldn't defeat Itachi, am I right mister 'Bit Sannin Genius'?"

Orochimaru glared at him as Sasuke continued "Perhaps the world at large would consider you talented, but you don't come close to comparing to an Uchiha. Compared to one of us, the greatest genius in the universe barely comes off as average. From my point of view, coming from that great name, your ambition to take over my body is nothing short of disgusting."

He looked over at the numerous bottles on the bedside table as he said "Saturating yourself with drugs and medicines? Transferring bodies? Your methods are pointless, do you even have a goal anymore?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and said "You claim to be seeking the reason behind existence, but all you do is make petty excuses for playing God with people's lives."

Sasuke opened his eyes and narrowed them at the cornered snake before him and said "You sicken me." Then he drove the lightning sword deeper and lunged forward with the Kusanagi in hand.

Before Sasuke could shove the sword into Orochimaru's head, the snake opened his mouth and something burst out, going over Sasuke's head to the space behind him. Immediately afterward Orochimaru's body went limp.

Sasuke looked back and said "So, your real form is a scaly white serpent."

It was true. Behind Sasuke rose an enormous snake, its head brushing the ceiling. It seemed to be made of snakes itself, every scale the head of a snake, all of them leading up to a large human-like head with dirty hair, and Orochimaru's eyes. The mouth was open showing fangs and three sets of teeth.

Sasuke's Curse Mark flowed over his body as he activated the first stage. "You wanted to take other peoples' bodies so badly that you experimented on your own. Now you're just a pathetic shell of your former self."

The snake hissed and said "Come Sasuke-kun." Then it lunged forward and Orochimaru's voice could be heard "Give me your body!"

Sasuke jumped over and past the gigantic snake, his face remaining unattached, showing nothing even as two of the snakes that made up Orochimaru's body slithered forward in an attempt to bite him. A quick flash of steel, and the heads of the snakes went flying from their bodies as Sasuke landed on the ground and turned to face his enemy.

Orochimaru turned and hissed as many more of the snakes moved forward to capture the Uchiha. Sasuke faced them down without flinching as he took the Kusanagi and set the blade in it's sheathe. He quickly moved his arms to get out of top of the kimono.

The snakes coiled around him as the marks of the Curse Seal spread more, and Sasuke turned to Level two of the Curse Mark.

As the snakes concealed him from view, Sasuke said "'Although the snakes dreams of soaring through the sky….'"

The snakes coiled tighter and concealed him completely as his voice continued "…'it is forever doomed to crawl on its belly." Then the numerous snakes were sliced and pieces went flying, revealing Sasuke once more.

Sasuke stood with his 'wings' spread as he spoke "You'll get your chance to fly snake, in the talons of a hawk."

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With Tayuya

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Tayuya was taking a break from her training with the other members of the Sound Four. All of them had worked their hardest to become strong over the past three years. They had all improved both their close range abilities as well as their personal Ninjutsu, all to impress one man to keep from being killed.

A grimace adorned Tayuya's face when she thought of the master of Dark Heaven Castle. She had been trying to keep her thoughts off of him for a while now, but ever since he left on his most recent mission, it's gotten worse. It wasn't even that bad until he got back from Iwagakure, drastically changed. He was taller, more handsome, more majestic and powerful than ever before after that, and she had a harder and harder time trying to focus on something else.

She kept asking herself why she had these thoughts, those images in her mind that gave her no rest, but only a strange sense of emptiness. 'Why do I keep thinking of him?' she asked herself as she stared at the stone ceiling above her. 'Why is that bastard always at the front of my thoughts and more importantly why can't I keep him from getting there!?'

She sighed as she gave up on attempting to answer the question, she was never one for thoughts, feelings, and other such garbage. She was familiar with lust, she wasn't a virgin by any means, but most of those had just been a night of fun with a particularly strong and impressive Oto ninja or a particularly deadly or beautiful kunoichi between missions. After all, with the job she had, death could come at any time, so she got her kicks as much as she could, and had no problem playing for both teams. But none of those moments of lust amounted to this strange… fire that she kept feeling when she thought about the man who ordered her kidnapped from Orochimaru.

She didn't have much of a childhood. Her parents were killed in the aftermath of the Third Ninja War, and she was stuck on her own out on the street. Barely old enough to speak, she did her best to carve a groove out of the world for herself, stealing meals and living in absolute poverty and squalor. She was about nine when a band of slavers came to the quaint little rural town where she eked out a living.

There was chaos, people were being rounded up like cattle, especially the women and the strong young men. There was fire everywhere, and nobody knew what to do or what was happening. In all the confusion, nobody noticed a small little redhead get snatched away and thrown into a cart, chains on her wrists and ankles.

She grimaced at the memory of what happened the night she was captured. The night she unwillingly lost her virginity. A shudder went down her back at the memory of how every part of her body was used against her will, and she had no choice but to not fight back, not to bite as a piece of male anatomy was shoved into her mouth, not to claw with her nails when they forced her hand to massage them, not to crush when one of those sick bastards used the soles of her feet to pleasure himself, and not to cry when they took the one thing that mattered to a young girl most, ravishing every orifice they saw fit to use. She had no choice, if she resisted, she would have been killed, and despite all her disgust, her fear of death at that young age terrified her into obedience, no matter how horrible the act.

It was almost three years later, and she had been sold and working for some wealthy noble in the eastern countries, she couldn't remember exactly where, all she knew was that it was east of Hi no Kuni, probably Ame or Kusa no Kuni, judging by all the plant life she remembered. In those three years, she had gone from a seedy, hungry looking orphan, to a seedy, hungry looking orphan enslaved to a pompous asshole. The only difference was about a foot and a half in height, slightly better clothes so that she didn't look unseemly and the beginnings of breasts. Aside from that, she had changed little.

Her job was mainly cleaning places that were too small for the other servants to get to, as well as cleaning everything that the others either forgot to or neglected to clean. She was the low man on the totem pole, and she realized that the phrase 'the abused kick downwards' was not false by any means. Her mouth curled up in a sad smile as she remembered one night, the head butler was in a foul mood and he kicked a cat. Then the cat pounced on a mouse, and having escaped with a bit less tail, the mouse scurried up and bit her on the ankle. She on the other hand was left with nothing. As far as everybody was concerned, she was last in God's great chain.

That was until the day Orochimaru passed through the area and paid the lord a visit. She remembered how Orochimaru grilled the lord for some money he owed, and the lord, while wealthy, was slow to pay his debts. She gritted her teeth as she remembered how the man offered her up to Orochimaru, a practical virgin sacrifice. Apparently whatever she was at that point was enough for Orochimaru to come back another day.

She was used as a lab rat, an experiment. She was given the Curse Seal to see if she would survive it. This was back in the days when the Seal was still being toyed with, close to completion but not quite there. She didn't know how she survived those pain filled days, and agony filled nights as the Curse Seal sought to kill her. All she could conclude was that maybe her parents' genes made her a bit tougher than the others, and she survived because of it, and for the first time, a young, violated, hateful, desperate young woman felt the taste of real power. Apparently, when used in a civilian, the Curse Seal had a side effect of opening up the chakra points that would usually be permanently shut off from conscious control, making it possible to become a ninja at a usually impossible age. This of course had the side effect of killing most of the civilians who survived the Curse Seal, murdered by the fact that they couldn't control their chakra and weren't used to it. But apparently her parents came through for their little girl, even if they were never there. Maybe their being ninja gave her some kind of defense against the destructive, uncontrolled energies surging through her body, maybe it was plain dumb luck, she wasn't the only one to survive those experiments after all, but she liked to think that it was the former. A young girl had to have hope of some kind after all, and she clung to that hope with all the intensity she could muster.

After that, she was drafted into the Oto ninja program and given a month long crash course on how to defend herself, which mainly boiled down to putting a bunch of people in a room, giving them weapons, and seeing who walked out alive and mostly intact..

That was how things went for a long time, until one day Orochimaru gave her the Second Stage of the Curse Seal, and one year later pressed her into service as one of his elite guard, the Sound Four.

After that, things were easy. All she had to do was obey orders, and stay out of Orochimaru's way, and she was left alone. It was simple. She was taught Ninjutsu and other skills that most other Oto ninja were denied, and she was introduced to her teammates, with whom she was stuck with from that day forward. Eat together, sleep together, bathe together, that was the only bit that sucked about being one of the Sound Four. That arrangement lasted until the mission to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke, where she was beaten by that shadow freak and rescued by General Sakumo, under orders of Naruto.

She sighed and thought 'And ever since, I've been working for Naruto-kun. Wait, Naruto-kun? Since when have I been thinking about him using that honorific? Ugh, this is just getting worse, damn it. The question remains though, what do I do about these sensations? I can't get him out of my head, I highly doubt I'd be able to get him in the sack, not with how those two police him twenty four seven. What do I do?'

Tayuya sat there for a while, just thinking about this conundrum that she had never been faced with before. After a while, she came to a conclusion. 'There's nothing about it I can do. All I can do is try to understand these thoughts, and act on them. I doubt this is love, there's no way it can be that, is there? ' She smiled in amusement as she thought 'Well, he's definitely handsome enough, smart enough, and powerful enough to catch my eye. I guess all I can do is wait until he gets back and then see what I can do.'

At that moment a kunai hit the wall beside her head and bounced to the floor. She looked up in surprise to see Sakon holding another kunai as he said "Wake up goldy-locks, we don't have all day for you to be staring off into space. Get your ass up and get back into the training. I don't want to be seen as weak around here."

Tayuya snarled in response and quickly got up, taking the kunai into one hand as she said "Please, you can't HELP but be seen as weak you hunk of shit!"

Sakon was quickly on guard as Tayuya threw herself at him, venting all of her pent up frustration on the poor former Oto ninja.

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With the Konoha group

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The Konoha group was sitting in the main room, mapping out their exit strategy in the event that they win the book, and they were also planning an attack strategy in the event that Naruto should obtain the book. This was going to be the last one of these planning meetings. The fourth day of the Southern Peace Auction, the day the Word of Kemmler would be sold, was tomorrow. One way or another, the final confrontation with Naruto and his entourage was at hand.

Jiraiya had a large map of the area surrounding the city in front of him where everyone could see it, and he tapped a small area about a half of a mile outside the city limits. "This spot is the closest spot from where I can use a reverse summoning to get the book to Myobokuzan, the Toad Mountain. If we can get the book there, we'll never have to worry about Naruto getting his hands on it."

Hinata looked up and asked "Jiraiya-sama, why is it that far away? Sure, it may not be much for us, but if we're going that distance with Naruto chasing us, it will be hard to get there unharmed. Why didn't you put it closer? For that matter, why can't you use the jutsu the moment you get the book?"

Jiraiya smiled at the girl and said "A reverse summoning to send something away isn't as simple as a summoning. First off, it can't be done on the spur of the moment, they take some preparation to pull it off successfully. Luckily these preparations can be done way in advance, but it has to be a set location, hence why I have to get there as soon as we get the book. As for why it isn't closer, a site like that is easily detectable. If it wasn't set at least that far, Naruto would have spotted it in an instant, and destroyed it. If I put it in here, he would have found where we're hiding out. That was the closest I could make it without him getting suspicious."

Kakashi asked "I take it that we'll be travelling in a square formation, with you at the center, to provide maximum protection of the book as we make our way to the extraction point?"

Jiraiya smirked and nodded. "Yeah, that would be best. Also, after we get the book, don't stand and fight if you get cornered by Naruto or any of his personnel. If you're forced into a confrontation, take the better part of valor pronto. There a chance you could kill one of them, yes, but you're guaranteed to get killed if you're not with the group when we escape. Naruto will go nuts and kill you for sure. Use delaying tactics only."

Shikamaru just said "I think we have a good grasp on what to do in the event of us making an escape Jiraiya. What do we do if we're forced to take the book from them before THEY escape?"

Jiraiya frowned and said "It's a lot harder to plan for something like that. The best bet would be to follow Narut from the Auction House as discreetly as possible, and then jumping him at the first chance we get. Taking the book from Naruto won't be easy, so it's best if we simply avoid that scenario completely. The less fighting we have to do here the better. But if it does come to that, Kakashi, myself, and our backup will be handling Naruto. All of you will be on the job of keeping them off of us while we take him down. Any questions?"

Kakashi just asked "Who's our backup going to be and when are they arriving?"

Just as Jiraiya opened his mouth to answer, the door burst in revealing five figures. One of them was a quadruped, one of them had hair in two buns, and two looked almost alike while the fourth couldn't be immediately distinguished.

The only thing that was heard was a loud "YOSH! Kakashi-kun! You called me to help you my Eternal Rival!?"

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With Naruto

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Far away, Perona told Naruto everything that was being said in the Konoha meeting. She knew where they were hiding and had bugged the room one day while they were out.

Naruto smiled as he heard their plan to Reverse-Summon the book to Myobokuzan. It would be effective though, finding Myobokuzan could take decades, maybe centuries. It would be a good hiding place for anything.

Naruto's group had already taken care of their escape plans. If they won the book, Kage Hokou out of there immediately. If they had to chase down the Konoha team, kill everyone but Jiraiya, he was to be taken alive. Naruto had everything planned out already.

Naruto's smile vanished when he heard that last voice before he ordered the end of the report. Perona immediately fell silent, knowing that Naruto was now in a bad mood.

Naruto got up and said "I'm going to bed, I recommend you do the same, we have an auction to prepare for in the morning after all."

Perona hopped up and wrapped herself around one arm as she smiled and agreed. The two walked off toward one of the bedrooms, Perona looking extremely happy.

Just before they walked through the door, Naruto stopped and said seemingly into thin air "Sodom, before tomorrow morning, hunt down that summoning point Jiraiya set up, and get rid of it."

Then he walked into the bedroom, laid down with Perona nearby, and went to sleep.

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Otogakure

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Inside of Orochimaru's room lay a dead snake, its head cut off. Sasuke walked out of the room without a scratch on him. He had stood in the room without moving for almost six hours. A doctor looked in and saw the dead snake. Shocked, he looked at Sasuke and exclaimed "W-which one are you?"

Sasuke looked over and said "Which one do you think?" Then he walked off into the hallways.

At Sasuke's beckon, the doctor followed him. Sasuke only asked one question "Which way is Suigetsu's holding cell?"

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Okay, that's another chapter done with. I'm sorry if it's a bit shorter than usual, but what can I say, it's a setup chapter. Sasuke makes his reappearance and Tayuya has her backstory. Next chapter, the Auction for the Word of Kemmler begins. Again, tell me what you all thought of the chapter.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	74. Chapter 74

Welcome one, welcome all to the seventy fourth chapter of Kage no Naruto! Ahh, plot. Anyway, the several filler chapters/setup chapters are over and done with and the remaining female characters on Naruto's side have gotten their backstories in, so now we can finally start with the auction! Yes, the chapter that has long been looked forward to as the Word of Kemmler finally makes its appearance. What shall happen? Who shall win the book? Who showed up last chapter? Read the damn chapter, find out, and then review at the end!

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Not much to say here, the Chibaku Tensei collapsed, Naruto realized what he did when he was Kyuubi-fied and put it aside after hearing from Katsuyu, who was apparently in his pocket this whole time, somehow not getting destroyed when he was in the Kyuubi state, that he didn't kill anyone.

Naruto asks to be taken to talk to the real Pein, but gets told to fuck off. Pein attacks with one of those swords, but Naruto breaks off the tip of the sword and using the chakra sensing abilities of Sage Mode, he traced the chakra signal back to the real Pein, but isn't going to find him until after God Realm is taken care of. Oh, and you see Hinata getting taken care of by some medics and Team Gai showing up in Konoha in all their impotence.

Naruto prepares a Rasenshuriken and uses smoke cover to throw it at him, getting nowhere once Shinra Tensei got rid of it. But then a SECOND Rasenshuriken came out of the smoke! I have a feeling that Pein just fell to an incredibly simple strategy, which sucks.

Long story short, nothing to really criticize, but nothing to really acclaim either. The only thing I have to say is that Naruto is fucked no matter what he does. Mainly because he's going after the real Pein after he takes care of God Realm. Keep in mind that Konan is guarding him, and his Sage Mode is going to be gone very soon. He can only use two Rasenshurikens in each Sage Mode before he runs out of Sage Chakra. And before you all say that there's still that one Kage Bunshin, that's not there anymore. The Kyuubi chakra threw the clone out of balance and dispelled it, so Naruto will be stuck fighting Konan at usual strength, hence fucked since she's a member of Akatsuki as well as fresh and well rested. Naruto is screwed unless he decides not to go after Pein and let him escape.

Oh, and Kubo made a big mistake, that freaking Deux ex Machina out of nowhere transformation not only BEAT Ulquiorra, he blocked his STRONGEST attack BAREHANDED, and then proceeded to slice him more or less in two, and then blast him to hell with a Cero, killing him. Seriously, what the fuck! I wouldn't mind if it was a fight like with Grimmjow or Byakuya, but what he did was poorly executed and lazy, and it was not a worthy end to a character like Ulquiorra.

With all of that out of the way, enjoy the chapter.

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Summary of last chapter

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Tayuya got in her backstory about how she was forced into Orochimaru's service, and then put through the Curse Seal. Sorry it took so long. Also, some people said that it was predictable, an orphan who got taken advantage of before being sold as a slave before being sold to Orochimaru. Tell me what you all think of Tayuya's backstory, I could use the feedback.

Then, the Konoha group were planning their exit strategy on how to GTFO when they got the book. At the same time, they prepared a half-assed attack strategy. Then backup from Konoha showed up, including but not limited to everyone's favorite psycho, Maito Gai.

Then it turns out that Naruto was using Perona's abilities to listen in on the conversation, and then stopped listening after hearing Gai's voice. The last thing we saw was him ordering Sodom to sabotage their plans.

Oh, and Sasuke made his comeback to the story, yippee-ki-yay. He killed Orochimaru, and now he's going to put together his personal pride parade, I mean elite ninja team. Some people have said that Sasuke is arrogant, or that I pulled a Kishimoto with that scene, and you are correct on both counts. Hell, I ripped that scene straight from the Manga after all. For those who have already seen it, sorry to put you through that hell again, for those who haven't, congratulations you've been exposed to Kishimoto by proxy.

Now, with all of that out of the way, let the chapter begin!

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Southern Peace Auction house, 9:00 AM

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Naruto and his group were gathered in front of the Auction House an hour after it opened for the day. The items were sold in a certain order, and given how long it took for the average item to be sold, the book would be on sale somewhere between nine and ten in the morning. At least, that's what Naruto's projections told them.

Naruto, Haku, and Perona were all in formal wear as they walked into the massive building. It was a building only used once a year for this specific event, though they sold out time slots for the wealthy to use the building as they wished. Usually a few companies occupied the structure throughout the year until the big auction, where they would have to clear out for a few weeks before coming back after everything was done and continue the cycle.

They walked in through the massive double doors, Perona on his left, Haku on his right, each one with an arm intertwined with his own. They were the only two he was actually bringing inside the auction. Anko and Sodom were outside on stakeout looking for the Konoha squad. Naruto thought it best that those two didn't come inside, Sodom could get restless and while he would obey Naruto's orders to stay low profile, he would have a lot of built up excitement to vent that could give away their position. Anko was in more or less the same category though slightly more under control. They were both perched on the tops of nearby buildings, very difficult to spot and searching the crowd below them for any of the Konoha squad. The moment they made an appearance, Naruto would know.

They asked for directions to the correct room from the front desk, and after verifying that their ticket was valid, they were directed to the second floor, to a specific room where the auction was already in progress.

As the three walked through the building, they could not help but notice the numerous guards. Each of them looked dangerous in their own right. It wasn't obvious, to most they looked like normal hired hands, they didn't wear headbands or other ninja attire, but Naruto, Perona, and Haku all got the same feeling off of them. That these men and women were _dangerous_. It wasn't the same as when facing a ninja, it was far more subtle than that. With a legendary ninja or someone in the Bingo Book, you usually know what the person can do, what they are generally like and capable of. It was known what they could do, how much harm they could cause, but these people were different. They didn't get in the way, didn't bother anybody, didn't speak, but there was no mistaking the aura of confidence around them, the grace in their movements, the strength that was obvious as they moved. They might not have been ninja, but it was obvious to those of experience that they were not to be toyed with lightly.

Naruto couldn't get his head around it, until finally he realized what it was. A normal person, hired and trained security or not, was not that dangerous when confronted with a ninja, regardless of rank. No matter how you looked at it, based on their movements, mannerisms, and several other factors, they were not ninja. Then Naruto put together several bits of information that he had gathered over the last few days and finally came to a reasonable conclusion. Naruto thought to himself 'I think I know now where that Ghoul came from.'

The three continued through the building until they came to the appropriate room. The door was like all the others that were being used. A grand, double door of finely polished wood, probably Mahogany or Oak, with highly polished brass latches and hinges, watched over by two men in casual business attire. One of them held a clipboard, and the other stood near a table with a large metal box upon it labeled 'possessions'

When the three stopped in front of the door, the security man with the clipboard walked up and curtly said. "Ticket and name"

Naruto got the ticket, a small black card with a serial number labeled in gold ink on the back bearing the symbol of the Southern Peace Auction, a golden triangle around a large silver calligraphic 'S'. Naruto handed over the card and said "Uzumaki Naruto and guests."

The man took the card, and looked at it very carefully. He took in the shape of the card, looked closely at the symbol, before flipping and looking at the number there. Then he quickly flipped through a number of papers on his clipboard before stopping on one. He looked closely at the number before looking at the card once more, then he nodded and handed the ticket back, apparently satisfied.

The man said "My apologies for the inconvenience Uzumaki-sama, but these are regular security protocols for the auction. My associate here will have to do a quick check to make sure you are who you say you are, as well as take into custody any unusual items. Weapons are not allowed inside of the auction room, nor are any items that have been enhanced beyond their normal capabilities."

The second man walked up as his coworker stepped back and put on a pair of thick leather gloves before he said "First off, I must make sure that you are who you are, so wait a moment if you would."

Naruto nodded and the man quickly walked off and down a nearby hallway. A few moments later he reappeared, holding something in a cage.

Naruto… wasn't really sure what it was. If he had to guess, he would have said that it was the snout of a dog, without the rest of the animal, with a set of insectoid legs that looked like they came from some kind of giant cricket. It was quite odd looking.

The man brought the cage up to about eye level, for him at least, and said "This thing was specifically created to sniff out any kind of the magic that ninja do. They call it ninjuito or something like that, but it's magic as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, I'll just open up this little door here-" At this he flipped open a small latch through which the creature quickly stuck its 'head' through, but it was unable to get out of the cage as the man continued "-and just give him a chance to smell you all. If there's something amiss, he'll let me know. He'll also tell me if there's something funny about any of your possessions, if so I'll have to put 'em in me box there."

Without preamble, the man quickly shoved the cage near Perona's face. She flinched backward at it slightly, with a repulsed look, but stayed still as the man quickly moved the cage over her body, making sure that the snout of the creature inside the cage was near her skin. He paid special attention to her earrings and the bracelet on her left wrist, but Perona was clean as far as the thing was concerned. Haku was next, and with similar results. Apparently the thing didn't react to special bloodlines, only to active powers.

Finally, the thing was shoved at Naruto. He smiled a bit as the security man actually jumped once or twice to attempt to get the cage up to his face, Naruto dwarfing the man. Then again, at almost eight feet in height, he dwarfed just about everyone.

Eventually, the man gave up, ran off, and brought back a chair for Naruto to sit in during the check. Naruto didn't object, he sat down calmly and folded his hands to wait.

The thing was put right in front of his face, and after a moment, it was clear that Naruto was who he said he was. Then the guard moved it carefully down, but he stopped when he reached the hem of Naruto's jacket. The thing inside of the cage sniffed at the jacket for a moment before letting out a shrill hiss.

The man nodded and said "I'm sorry, but I'll have to take your jacket sir."

Naruto sighed and nodded as he stood up, quickly unbuttoning the thing and handing it to the man, who put it in a tray on the table. Then he turned back to Naruto and continued his search. He reached similar results when he ran the cage over Naruto's hands, specifically his wrists and fingers. "I'm sorry sir, but it appears that I will have to take your bracelets and rings."

Naruto sighed and took off the bracelets, which were put into the tray with the jacket, but he hesitated with the rings. He slowly took them off, one by one, looking almost pained as he did so.

The rings were important to Naruto. They were gold, they were wealth. Naruto's own greed wouldn't allow him to go anywhere without some of the precious metal upon his person, hence why he wore them in the first place. He was fighting a desperate inner battle between his most powerful urges: the urge to have gold, and the urge to obtain the book and obtain absolute power.

Finally, Naruto only wore a single ring, solid gold, heavy, and set with a very large diamond that sat on his right index finger. He had his left hand upon it, slowly twisting it around his finger, hesitating. Finally, he took a deep breath and thought 'Think of the book. It will only be a little while, I will get them back from this commoner. Just a little while, just a little while.' Finally, with a sharp motion, Naruto stripped off the ring and handed it to the man.

The security man quickly took the last ring, putting in the tray with all the others, before taking up the cage once more and giving Naruto one final sweep, finding nothing. Normally, Zanmato and the sealing shadows he had under his wrists would probably set the thing off, but he left the scissors and sword back at Dark Heaven for now. His staff was being held in a sealing shadow stuck to the lining of the coat he usually wore.

The security man quickly took a key from his pocket and unlocked the box, putting the tray with all of Naruto's belongings upon it and scribbling something down on a piece of paper which he handed to Naruto. "This will let you get your stuff back on your way out sir." The man said as he locked the box and stood to the side, nodding to his companion.

The man nodded back and walked over to the table, writing something down on his clipboard when he got there, and when he turned back to them, he was holding three pins. They were large, white, circular, and had the numbers '345, 346, and 347' upon them. He handed the pins to them and said "These are to be worn in the auction hall at all times. They are to be returned upon your exit from the auction house. They will be used to identify you when you make your bids."

The man walked over to the door and opened it, letting noise filter through as he said "You may now enter the auction hall. Spend wisely and may you enjoy your purchases."

The three of them nodded and walked through the unlocked door, entering into a large amphitheatre filled with the obviously rich. Upon the stadium was a woman with a microphone and a pedestal with an old, elegant looking vase who was calling out numbers as she pointed to various people in the seats.

They had entered the Southern Peace Auction.

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With the Konoha Group

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Only three of the Konoha group were at the Auction. The other two were preparing the way back, making sure certain routes were open, preparing supplies for the quick exit, etc. They had been there from the start of the auction, and so had been sitting there for several hours.

Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Sakura were sitting in the middle back, Jiraiya and Kakashi wearing tuxedos, while Sakura wore the evening gown that Makoto got for her. They had the numbers '45', '46', and '47' pinned to the front of their clothes, easily visible to the auctioneer. While they were there, Hinata and Shikamaru were preparing for the exit, hoping for good news.

The three of them were on the edge of their seats. They had been waiting for hours for the book to go up for sale, but so far it hasn't gone up yet. It wasn't surprising given that it was about half way down the list of the items to be sold that day, but it was still nerve-wracking, simply waiting for the thing they had been searching for. Jiraiya was especially nervous, he had been searching for the book for three years, ever since Fukusaku and Shima told them all what was at stake should Naruto obtain it. It was only circumstantial evidence that led to him believing that the book was going to be sold here. Inferences and some hard data along with a few well-timed tips from trusted contacts. Even with all that, when he bought the catalogue, all it was listed as was a mysterious book of unknown language. It was guaranteed to be genuine, but it was possible that it wasn't the Word of Kemmler. If he was wrong, then he would have not only wasted twelve million Ryo for the ticket, but he would have caused Konoha to go into such an extreme financial situation for nothing.

Every clan and individual had donated every spare bit of money they could to the Auction budget, that backed by Tsunade's absolute control over the Konoha Treasury made for quite a nest egg. To go over that by even one Ryo would put Konoha into a huge crisis. Every egg Konoha had was put into this basket.

'Eighty seven billion Ryo' Jiraiya thought. 'The complete total of the wealth of every citizen and organization Konoha has combined with all of my life's savings. I'm not confident that I could outbid many people here, our only real hope is that nobody will really want the book.'

Jiraiya was extremely worried. Sure, he had a huge fund, absolutely gigantic, but would that be enough to outmatch the money that Naruto has amassed over three years of conquest and all of the gold mining and production that Tsuchi no Kuni was going through, fueled by his own greed? It had only been a month or so since Tsuchi no Kuni was put under its new government, and it was still getting everything organized, but even the preliminary operations had reaped massive profits. Would that be enough? Jiraiya could only allow himself a single thought on that score 'It has to be.'

The Sannin had to hold his hands so not to make any stupid gestures. The bids at the Southern Peace Auction were made by hand gestures. If the auctioneer saw a hand gesture from him and interpreted it as a bid, he would be in trouble if the bid was too high. The system was based upon three denominations, tens, hundreds, and thousands, based on the number of fingers held up and in which direction the hand was turned. One finger, palm showing was ten, two was one hundred, three was one thousand. With the back of the hand showing it was fifty, five hundred, and five thousand. These denominations changed depending on the size of the price. Those denominations were only theory, in reality nothing the Southern Peace sold was worth that little. The lowest anyone had ever seen was ten thousand, one hundred thousand, and one million increments. Usually it was in the millions or more often billions that the hand gestures were used. Nobody had a name, nobody spoke, the auctioneer would call out the highest bid and the number of the bidder. In addition to those six signs, an open hand or a thumbs up would indicate doubling the last bid. With a sign like that two or three times, the bidding could easily go over a hundred billion. That was how Jiraiya almost bankrupted the Sarutobi clan years ago. He gave Tsunade a thumbs up the promise of a good time on a date, and the auctioneer called it, doubling the last bid, winning them a geological marvel, but losing them the mission.

What was really scary was that there were several individuals who had already purchased items when the price was over one hundred billion, and didn't even look like they minded the amount that much. Sakura was the one who noticed that more than anyone else, and it really shocked her. 'Eighty seven billion almost breaks Konoha, yet there are at least five men here who have spent over a hundred billion, and a dozen others who had gone almost as high. It's really scary just how much money these people have.'

That was when they walked in.

Jiraiya noticed it almost immediately and tapped the other two on the shoulder to get their attention, directing it to the door. He saw Kakashi tense up, and he saw Sakura's eyes widen in the expected fear. Naruto had walked into the room.

He was much different than normal. His coat and hat were gone, letting his face and body be seen clearly, and showing classically handsome features that had a few women looking over coyly and rearranging their hair. He was wearing a silk shirt of a dark blue color, and black pants that probably could pay several months rent at a high end apartment, fine patent leather shoes covered his feet as he walked down the aisle between the sections with a woman on each arm. The two women were quickly identified as Haku and Perona, the two women Naruto had with him at the Yakuza Auction. Anko and Sodom were suspiciously absent.

Jiraiya sensed something that was off about Naruto as he walked past. He was more on guard than usual, more nervous. He was looking around quickly, almost like looking for an escape route, and he gently stroked the arms of the two next to him, to their obvious enjoyment going by their smiles, but it looked more like a gesture of comfort to himself rather than affection for them. Like he was reassuring himself that they were there. Jiraiya knew that something was definitely odd about him, something had him feeling extremely nervous, and Jiraiya would pay a King's ransom to find out what.

Naruto didn't even spare them a glance as he walked past the row they were in, seating himself further down where he miraculously found three side-by-side empty seats. Jiraiya ground his teeth at that. They had been searching for almost fifteen minutes before they found the seats they had and they were among the first in! But his attention was drawn back to the auctioneer, a moderately pretty woman with short, mousy brown hair and glasses, as she pointed into the crowd and said "Sold, to number 89 for twenty three billion Ryo!"

The crowd gave some polite applause as the item, a baton made of ivory with gold and silver leaves around the base, was taken off by two work men. Then a man with a case walked onto the stage and placed it upon the central pedestal.

The auctioneer walked up to the box and said "Now then, the auction continues with this-" She opened the box to reveal a small book not much thicker than a pocket calendar "-a mysterious book of unknown origin, written in an ancient, unknown language!"

Jiraiya sat up in his seat immediately, paying extremely close attention as the auctioneer went on, giving a little back story on the item. "This book was given to us by a man by the name of Koromaru, who had obtained it from his grandfather. The book's origins, language, and title are unknown since we have no idea what it says, but you will see a little of what I mean if you would shift your attention to the center screen."

The wall behind the auctioneer came up in a gigantic picture of a page of the open book. "As you can see, it doesn't look remotely like any dialect of our language, how old this book is, and what it says are completely unknown, but it is guaranteed to be extremely old since the symbols here are similar to characters we have seen on other ancient artifacts, though there are several key differences."

Jiraiya couldn't help but agree with the auctioneer as he looked at the enlarged page. It looked something like 'Leben hat viele Wahrheiten, besonders für diejenigen wie wir. Wir, die nach der wahren Macht der Magie suchen. Ich schreibe dem in den Hoffnungen, dass diejenigen, die nach mir kommen, von mir lernen, von meinem Genie lernen und verwenden können, wozu ich in meiner langen Forschung weiter sich selbst in unserer Kunst gelernt habe. Was wir nennen, ist Magie nur ein Erdhügel von Wohnzimmer-Tricks bis auf die Macht, Leben und Tod selbst zu meistern, das ist eine Wahrheit, die ich ausfindig gemacht habe, und es sich zu mir offenbart hat, wie ich es jetzt Ihnen offenbaren werde. Auf eine Reise zur wahren Größe gefasst, und kann machen Sie nichts, sich im Weg sein, es jämmerliche Menschen, erbärmliche Geister, oder arrogante Götter sein. Bevor Sie, damit, sie den ganzen Herbst.' **(1)**

Jiraiya shook his head, it was complete gibberish. Jiraiya focused his eyes on the auctioneer once more however as he thought 'It may be gibberish to me, and everyone else, but Naruto can understand it. He can read what it has to say and use it against us. I cannot let him have it!'

Meanwhile, Naruto was star struck. He looked at the symbols, the words, the sentences. The meaning of them all, the context, and voice in which it was spoken. It was nothing on its own, it was merely a foreword, an introduction, but everything that was said made perfect sense given what it was.

'I've found it, this is it, The Word of Kemmler.'

The auctioneer shouted "Okay then, with that out of the way, given the age and unknown nature of the item, the auction shall begin at ten billion Ryo!"

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Life has many truths, especially for those like us. We who search for the true power of magic. I am writing this in the hopes that those who come after me may learn from me, learn of my genius and use what I have learned in my long research to further themselves in our art. What we call magic is but a mound of parlor tricks save for the power to master life and death itself, this is a truth that I have searched out, and it has revealed itself to me as I will now reveal it to you. Prepare yourself for a journey to true greatness, and may nothing stand in your way, be it miserable humans, pathetic spirits, or arrogant Gods. Before you, with this, they will all fall.

Yes, I am that much of a prick. I will leave you all salivating with that.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	75. Chapter 75

People of Earth, I bring you what you have been wanting above all else. No, not world peace, no not a cure for AIDS or Ebola, the government has those already they just don't want you to know it. No, it is not a cure for world hunger or poverty, again the government has those already. No, what you truly want, I shall give you, and here it is! Kage no Naruto chapter seventy five!

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto and Co. showed up at the auction, and went through security procedures, then we went to the Konoha group for some information and personal insight, then the book was shown, and Naruto confirmed it as the Word of Kemmler. Then the auction started and I left you on a cliffhanger like a complete douchebag. With that, enjoy!

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Southern Peace Auction

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The auctioneer called out "Given the obvious age of this item, and its unknown origins, our appraisers have marked the worth of this item at ten billion Ryo! Do I have an opening bid?"

Someone near the back raised his hand, one finger, the back of his hand facing the stage. The auctioneer pointed to the man and called out "Ten point five billion!"

Another man raised his hand, same signal, the auctioneer pointed to him and said "Eleven billion from number 17!"

Then Jiraiya watched in horror as Naruto raised his thumb into the air. The auctioneer immediately pointed to him and said "Number 345 doubles the price! Twenty two billion!"

Sakura and Kakashi waited for Jiraiya to make his move. They were little more than tag-a-longs here. They sighed in relief as he raised hand into the air, three fingers, the back of his hand facing the stage. The auctioneer immediately pointed him out and said "Number 46 bids seventy two billion!"

Then another man raised his hand. Two fingers, back of his hand facing the stage. The auctioneer called out "Number 17 bids seventy seven billion!"

Kakashi focused his attention on the man, wondering why he would bid so much. He quickly took in his features. He was an ageless man that could be somewhere between thirty and fifty, with dark hair at a normal cut upon his head. He wore a tuxedo like everyone else there, and had a cigarette in one hand. Kakashi could not help but wonder why the man had bid so much when he had not purchased any other items so far. 'Is it possible that he's here for the book as well? But why? Nobody outside of Konoha's inner circle knows what that book is, or its significance. Sure, almost everyone puts in a bid in the early stages of an auction, when the price is low enough that anyone would pay for it, or at least cheap for the people here, but to bid that much means he really wants it, he's not just in it for kicks. Who is this man and what is his motivation. That's the most important thing.' Then the man blew out a breath of smoke and looked at Kakashi once, showing eyes so dark of a blue that they were almost black, and Kakashi had the feeling that he was looking into a deep hole.

Then the man looked back at the stage and the sensation was gone. Kakashi was a bit shaken, but not enough to not notice something. 'His cigarette isn't lit. He blew smoke just a minute ago, but his cigarette isn't lit….'

Then Kakashi's attention was torn back to the front of the auditorium when Naruto raised two fingers into the air, back of his hand forward and the auctioneer called out "Number 345 bids eighty two billion Ryo!"

Jiraiya's face grew a bit pale, and everyone else saw why as he made the same sign that Naruto did. The auctioneer called out "Number 46 bids eighty seven billion!"

Kakashi and Sakura each realized what this meant. Eighty seven billion was the most that Jiraiya could spend. If anyone else bid anything higher, they would be out of the bidding war and the book would go to someone else.

Then something more disconcerting than being outbid happened. Nothing. Nobody did anything. The auctioneer looked around for a moment before saying "Eighty seven billion, going once."

Jiraiya kept looking around the auditorium, wondering what was going on. 'Nobody is going to bid higher? What's going on?'

"Going twice"

Kakashi looked up at number 17. He was watching the auctioneer as he blew a smoke ring, his cigarette between his lips, still unlit. He made no movements or gestures that would constitute a bid.

"Going three times"

Jiraiya looked at Naruto, wondering what was going on in his head. 'Why isn't he making a bid? He knows that this might be his only chance to ever get the book, why isn't he taking it? What is going on in your head Naruto?'

Then Naruto looked back and met Jiraiya's eyes, just for an instant. He smiled a cold, calculating smile, like a tiger with a full belly watching baby deer play, before he turned his attention back to the auctioneer.

Everyone's attention went back to the auctioneer as the woman said "Sold! To number 46 for eighty seven billion Ryo!"

She waited for a moment for some people to take the book off of the stage and bring something else in. An old, extremely old, suit of armor. "Our next piece is…."

Jiraiya tuned the woman out, as did Sakura and Kakashi. They were having near identical thoughts at that moment. 'That was too easy, something is wrong. What is Naruto thinking? What is his objective?' Such were the thoughts of the three Konoha ninja as the bidding started up for the next item.

Sakura's blood ran cold when Naruto got up and started to walk over to them. She started to panic 'No, is he going to kill us? What's he planning? What's he going to do to me? How can I stay alive against this madman?'

NAruto walked over to the three of them, a small smile on his face as he stopped directly beside Sakura, looking to Jiraiya who was seated on her right. He simply said "Congratulations on your purchase. Was it really worth it?" Then, without waiting to hear a reply, he quickly walked up the aisle and out the door, Perona and Haku beside him.

At this point, alarms were going off like Klaxons in Jiraiya's brain. 'What did he mean by that? What is he planning? He obviously gave up the auction on purpose, but for what reason? What is he planning to gain?' Then a horrible thought struck the old man, he realized that he wasn't asking himself the right question. 'The question isn't what he's gaining by this, but what he isn't LOSING! He coaxed us up to an enormous price and then let us pay it! He's got to know that Konoha won't be brimming with riches after that sort of expenditure, an attack upon Konoha right now would be crippling!'

Jiraiya quickly spoke to Kakashi and Sakura "We have to go, now." Then he got up and hurried toward the door.

As Kakashi left the building, he looked to where the man was before. The man with the unlit cigarette. He wasn't there. Kakashi frowned in consternation. He didn't see or sense him leave, and there was no indication of his presence. He simply vanished into thin air. Indecision and a vague hint of fear filled the Copy Ninja as he hurried after his leader and semi-student.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was walking among the streets of the city, heading to where he had planned to meet Anko and Sodom after they left. His coat and rings were back, and Perona and Haku were at his side. Perona asked "Naruto-kun, you could have gone higher than that if you wanted to, why did you let them have it? Was it not the real Word of Kemmler?"

Naruto smiled a little and said "Oh, it was genuine, I'm sure of it. But you are correct, I could have outbid them if I wanted to, though it wouldn't be by much. Even after all this time, my grand total of the worth of my hoard doesn't amount to much higher than a hundred and forty billion Ryo or so. Losing more than fifty percent of it would be quite a blow."

Haku asked the question again "So why didn't you take the book when you had the chance?"

Naruto's smile turned wolfish as he said "I warned Konoha a few days ago when I gave them my offer of friendship. I told them that I was willing to be their ally, but I also said that if they turned my offer down, I would cut them down like everyone else. They chose not to heed my warning, they spurned my offer, and now they will pay the consequences."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a small silver mirror. He quickly said to the zombie inside of it "Tell number 86 that he has final confirmation to begin." The zombie immediately bowed and vanished, leaving Haku and Perona with nothing but more questions.

Naruto started talking before they could ask "I have been keeping track of Konoha's fiscal situation for years now. Eighty seven billion Ryo had to come from somewhere, and in all honesty, with eighty seven billion Ryo gone, Konoha is going to be extremely strapped for cash. A lot of property damage would leave quite a mark, wouldn't you say?"

Naruto sped up his walking pace a bit as he said "Know thy enemy. Why spend my own money, when I can simply have someone else empty their pockets for it, not spend a fig, and then steal it from them for free? I told Konoha that they would be smart to take my offer, they did not and now they will pay for it."

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In Konoha, the Hokage Monument, top of the Shodaime's head

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Naruto's forces had not been idle during the days when he was waiting for the auction to begin. He had ordered a single agent into Konoha in disguise. A single Midnight Visitor. That Zombie had infiltrated Konoha and had spent the last several days carefully infiltrating various structures, and all of this was for a single purpose. The discreet planting of high powered explosives.

Naruto had paid careful attention to Konoha's money situation, very careful attention. Before he left years ago, he had stolen copies of bank records, showing how much Konoha had to offer, how much it could afford to spend, he paid attention to budgets, daily mission incomes, everything that could be of assistance, and it had paid off. Since then, he had been able to accurately graph how much money Konoha made each day, had in reserve, and needed to spend daily for efficient operation. After that, things had been easy. He had taken all of that information and had come to the grand total of what Konoha could afford to spend and not go completely bankrupt. That amount was exactly eighty seven billion Ryo. To spend anything more than that would put Konoha in an unprecedented crisis so bad that even the Fire Daimyo would not be able to pull them out of the metaphorical yet somehow ironic fire.

He knew that the absolute maximum that Jiraiya could possibly bid was eighty seven billion, the moment he heard that figure, he let Jiraiya have the book, he let him dig Konoha's grave and prepare the coffin. All that was needed now was a large debt to be paid and Konoha would be in dire straits.

Hence, the mission of number 86, Midnight Visitor. He had spend the last several days planting explosives, and rigging them all to a remote detonator. He had just received the final clearance to complete his mission, one that he oh so eagerly accepted.

The Midnight Visitor walked to the front of the Shodaime's head, where he could see the entire village clearly in the noon sunlight. He was in his natural form, clothed in black, looking like a Victorian dandy, coat, waistcoat, tie, patent leather shoes, top-hat, all of them black. Black gloves upon his hands, a whip at his side, black wings furled behind him and a small metal cylinder in his right hand.

He watched for a moment. He saw the people go about their business. He saw an old woman doing her shopping, he saw young children playing in a park, he saw a couple of ninja having lunch, he saw students answering questions in the Academy. He saw people moving around with armfuls of paperwork around the Hokage Tower. He saw a woman in a wheelchair leave the hospital, a happy looking man pushing her, and a bundle of cloth in her arms which she paid utmost attention to.

He flicked the plastic cap off of the top of the cylinder, revealing a small red button which he quickly pressed.

The pressed switch sent a signal to the detonators planted in the soft surfaces of strategically places bricks of C4. Some were merely everyday charges that were hidden in the infrastructure of a building. Others were shaped charges that had been stuck to the walls in specific places for maximum effect. The result was catastrophic no matter how you looked at it.

Buildings went up in flames, bits of stone, wood, and glass went everywhere from where they were blown out of their rightful place on a building. Broken glass showered the people in the marketplace, killing some, wounding almost everyone else. Houses and apartment buildings simply collapsed, the charges placed with the precision of a professional demolitionist, annihilating the structure so completely that they simply fell in place, leaving nothing but rubble, and destroyed possessions. That wasn't always the case however. He didn't have as many shaped charges as he like so in some cases he had to use regular bricks instead of shaped ones. The result was that several of the buildings went to the side of the front instead of straight down, crushing dozens of people and damaging many other buildings that he hadn't bombed.

Several banks were so heavily rigged with explosives that they simply exploded into pieces of stone and glass, and wood, showering everyone remotely close to them in the deadly shrapnel, killing many before burned notes and white hot coins pelted them all in a vicious hailstorm from hell.

The most impressive buildings had to be the Academy and the hospital. He had been sure to plant a brick in every classroom, as well as the teacher's lounge and meeting rooms. The result was complete chaos as children and teachers burned to death or were hit by shrapnel. Others simply died due to the shock of the explosion. He saw a few figures covered in flame simply jump out windows and go flying down like a firefly in the night before they hit the ground. That was before the building fell on its side and everything went silent except for the crackling of the flames.

The hospital went roughly the same way as the Academy, fire, the collapse of support, the screams of the people as everything went from peaceful to pure hell in an instant. He had been sure to leave the major sick wards alone, there was no reason to waste a bomb on the dying. He had targeted the rooms where the expensive medical equipment was kept, the rooms where they stored medicines, the offices of the doctors, and the most efficient surgery wards. He had planted a charge in the lobby, and the intense care wards as well, and he placed at least have a dozen charges in the maternity ward. His job was to destabilize Konoha, and the way he saw it he was only thinning the herd, eliminating those with the potential to produce more ninja, and wiping out the next generation of pests. He smiled a bit as he saw the woman in the wheelchair from before weeping uncontrollably, the bundle in her arms stained with red as the man behind her panicked. It looked like a stray piece of glass hit the mark more effectively than a professional sniper. Then the hospital groaned like an injured beast, and the two looked behind them in horror as the building shifted before crumbling forward, enveloping them both in an impromptu tsunami of stone and metal.

The power plant was rather pretty. It went up in a storm of fire, and a wave of sparks before the entire city was swathed in darkness. They were lucky it was only noon, but things would get really bad during the night.

The only major buildings that were untouched were the Hokage Tower and the Hyuuga Compound. The Tower was simply too well defended by too many competent ninja. He didn't want to risk himself by entering the building with explosives, and even if he planted bombs there, odds were that they would be found and that would only put everyone on alert. The Hyuuga Compound was even more of the same risk. That many people with the Byakugan, the odds of explosives going unremarked was astronomical. So Tsunade and her staff got a perfect view as Konoha was struck without the slightest remorse, Hiashi was given a similar view.

The Midnight Visitor's smile vanished as the Hokage Monument beneath him shifted a bit under his feet. He had planted every explosive he had to spare inside of the Monument Shelter, doing his best to destroy the hiding place of the enemy. 'Looks like I might have overdone it.'

The Zombie quickly took to the air just moments before the Shodaime's head fell off of the mountain, bouncing down the slope of the monument before hitting at an angle and going flying into the city, crushing a building that had been mostly intact before bouncing and crashing into the marketplace, where a rescue effort had begun to be put together for the poor bastards trapped in the rubble.

It wasn't much longer before the heads of the other four Hokage followed the first, each of them rolling through the city as a good portion of the mountain near the top simply collapsed in on itself. Then it hit the Zombie what had caused the reaction. 'Of course, the Master's base was once nestled inside of the Hokage Monument. When he left, taking his base with him, it must have taken a large amount of stone from inside of the mountain, leaving a gigantic cavity inside of the structure. By some miracle it must have been able to stabilize itself, but that cavity combined with the explosives completely crushed the thing.'

The airborne Zombie looked over the area beneath him, the flames, the destruction, the death, the panic, the fear. He murmured to himself "I think it's safe to say 'mission complete'." Then he quickly flew toward the North. He had to report his mission's success.

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With Tsunade

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Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, watched in horror at the carnage below her. She gasped as she saw the hospital and Academy burst into flames and collapse. She could do nothing but watch wide eyed as the Akimichi and Nara compounds exploded and caught fire, nor as the Yamanaka compound caught flame. She watched in shock and horror as the heads of the Monument fell and caused death and destruction as they rolled through the city. She simply collapsed to her knees before the window in her office when she realized the grand total of the damage her village had sustained in but an instant.

At least an eighth of the entire city was in ruins, almost everything else caught fire that was quickly being put out by the survivors, but nearly ninety percent of the village had suffered some form of property damage. This was a complete disaster. She thought to herself, stunned 'If Jiraiya spent more than thirty of forty billion at that auction, I'm not sure how Konoha will survive this catastrophe.'

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With Jiraiya

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It had taken them about twenty minutes, but they had the book. All they had to do was wait for some paperwork to be done, some forms to be signed, and Jiraiya had to sign a document that authorized a bank transfer of the eighty seven billion from the prepared account to the account of the auction. After that, a ten percent fee was kept, where the rest was given to the man who put the book up for sale.

Later that day, a homeless man who had obtained the book from his grandfather went from pauper to extraordinarily wealthy.

After all the proper forms had been signed, stamped, and approved, Jiraiya took the book in his hands. He had stared at it in awe for a moment, as did Sakura and Kakashi, the sheer weight of what they had was crushing them. They were holding what Naruto wanted more than anything, his ambitions, his plans, his efforts for three straight years was in their possession.

Jiriaiya quickly looked the thing over, but he couldn't understand a word of it, as was to be expected. The only thing he vaguely understood was a few of the symbols on the back cover. He recognized them as characters used in sealing, but it was obvious that this was an extremely archaic seal, and that he had no idea where to begin on working with it. It didn't matter, he knew its purpose, to protect the book from any and all harm.

The three of them looked at the book, simply looked at it. It wasn't ominous, it didn't give off any creepy vibes, it didn't seem like anything but just another book, and that was for one very clear reason. It WAS just an ordinary book. It was only in a different language, and the things it had written in it by a madman could bring the world to its knees in the wrong hands. It was an everyday book, not much thicker than a pocket notebook, but it was unbelievably ancient, and just as unbelievably dangerous. They knew that they could not allow Naruto to get his hands on it, no matter the cost.

Jiraiya quickly stowed it in a pocket and they left the office in which they acquired it, heading for the entrance to begin their escape. They were stopped a few feet from the door.

Kakashi immediately recognized him as the man from before, the third person who bid on the book. Seeing Kakashi tense up, the other two ninja were immediately wary about this individual.

The man eyed them for a moment before saying "Good afternoon. I cannot help but notice that you have purchased a rather rare item from today's auction. I wish to purchase it from you."

Sakura just said "Sorry buddy, but this thing isn't for-"

Sakura was interrupted by the man as he quickly said "Two hundred billion."

The woman sputtered "W-what?"

The man said "Like I said, I am willing to pay two hundred billion Ryo for the book. Trust me, I know why you want it, and I know who you want to keep it from. You can trust me when I say that I have no intention whatsoever of giving the book to Uzumaki Naruto."

Kakashi was tense as a coiled spring right now. Nobody outside of a select few should even know about the book, much less Konoha's plan to purchase it for the specific reason of keeping it out of Naruto's clutches. He tersely asked "Who are you? Do you even know what this book is? How dangerous it is? We can't run the risk of letting Naruto get his hands on it, even the slightest chance of that happening is unacceptable."

The man smiled knowingly and said "Ah, so you doubt my identity and sincerity. Very well then, you may call me Mr. Ferro. As for what the book is, I am well aware of what it contains. Furthermore, trust me when I say that your preparations will not hide the book from the one you wish to keep it away from. I can provide that protection. Give me the book and Naruto will never find it, and even if he did, he wouldn't dare cross me. Simply give me the book, and you can consider your mission a success."

Jiraiya ground his teeth and said "Who do you think you are? I am Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin, I'm fairly sure that I can keep something protected more ably than a run of the mill beaurocrat with more money than brains. Now get out of our way before I lose my patience."

The moment that Jiraiya said that, Mr. Ferro's eyes went cold. The man growled out "Know your place mortal." He flicked his right hand toward the three of them and suddenly they couldn't move. All three of them sank to their knees under a tremendous, invisible weight that pressed in from all sides, so oppressive that they could barely breath, and couldn't move no matter how hard they tried.

Ferro stalked forward and said "I tried to be courteous for your sake, but you had to go and try my patience. To challenge a being as great as I am is nothing short of foolishness only capable by mortal apes like yourselves. Your lives are but flickering candles to me, and your civilizations rise and fall like the grass in summer. I am the eldest of my kind, and the strongest, a Free-holding Lord under the Unseelie Accords. I will not be spoken to in such a way by lesser beings."

The three of them could do nothing but watch, barely conscious as the man stepped forward and kicked Jiraiya, sending him to the ground, unable to keep upright after the blow with the immense force pressing down upon him.

They couldn't do anything as the man reached down and into Jiraiya's jacket, taking a small brown parcel from it, the book.

He tucked it under one arm as he said, wisps of smoke coming from his mouth "I would suggest a tad more humility in the face of your betters, and I might also suggest a gag until you learn better manners, especially when speaking to a being who was alive when this book was written. I suggest you think twice before you raise your head above your station again, ape."

Then the man clawed the air with one hand, there was a vague smell of old stone and musty air, and Mr. Ferro was gone, the oppressive weight gone with him.

The three Konoha ninja staggered to their feet, and looked at eachother for a moment before Sakura asked what they were all thinking.

"What the hell just happened?"

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Sorry for the short chapter, but that seemed like a good stopping point, plus I love stringing you guys along. Now then, who was the mysterious Mr. Ferro, or more accurately, WHAT was he? How will Naruto react when he finds out what happened? How will Jiraiya and everyone else react when they find what happened to Konoha? Find out in the next several chapters, in the meantime, review!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	76. Chapter 76

Welcome all, and feast your eyes on the thing you have been mercilessly starving for ever since I left that diabolical cliffhanger in the last chapter. Why did I do such a thing? Because it was fun. Anyway, the chapters is here now, so enjoy it. At least until you get to the next cliffhanger, where I will laugh. Oh, and with this chapter, this story has more than four hundred thousand words! Damn this thing is long!

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Nothing of note really happened this chapter, seriously, anyone could have predicted what happened. Naruto missed with both Rasenshuriken, and then used yet another variation of the Kage Bunshin, disguising a bunch of them as rocks and then using them to create an opening, before hitting God Realm with yet another Rasengan.

The only other thing that happened was Sakura being shown healing Hinata, and Lee being told that he would just get in the way if he tried to help Naruto beat Pain. Seriously, that's it. Kage Bunshin centered plan followed up by a Rasengan for a finishing move, still using clones to help by the way, who saw that one coming? When is Naruto going to learn something new? Not just a variant or improvement over a technique he already knows, but something NEW. Seriously, his repertoire of Ninjutsu amounts of like, five techniques, maybe less if you're only talking techniques and not variants on them or improvements to old techniques. Seriously, Sasuke has seen him fight several times, and can see chakra, how is Naruto supposed to beat him without some kind of trick up his sleeve that Sasuke doesn't know about already?

Oh, and from a color picture near the beginning, who would have guessed that Nagato, not any of the Pein bodies, but the original Nagato, was a redhead? Seriously, he's got the same hair color as Kushina, never saw that one coming. Oh, and apparently those swords that were made of the same metal as the piercings, apparently they GROW from the piercings themselves, seriously, in one panel you clearly see one of those blades coming from a piercing on God Realm's arm. Maybe making that metal is one of the abilities of the Rinnegan? Who knows.

As for Bleach, Ulquiorra is alive, but…. I'm not sure what the hell happened. See it for yourself and tell me because I'm not really sure. The only thing I'm sure of is that somehow numerous crappy fanfics will come of it.

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Summary of last chapter

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Not much to say here. The auction went on, and Jiraiya won the book for every last bit of money he had from Konoha, the full eighty seven billion, putting Konoha dangerously close to the red. Naruto could have out bid him, but he didn't, letting them spend the money.

Before he left Konoha years ago, he had stolen copies of bank documents, budget reports, and other such things to the point where he had enough information to graph Konoha's daily income, daily expenditures, as well as keep a rough estimate of how much money they had in reserve. He knew that eighty seven billion was the most Jiraiya could spend, so he let him spend that money, planning to steal the book from him later and not spend a farthing.

Naruto left the building, his possessions regained, and he immediately used the portrait Zombies to order a final confirmation of a bombing of Konoha. One of Naruto's Midnight Visitors had infiltrated Konoha and had planted explosives all over the city, which he then detonated under Naruto's command. He especially targeted residential areas, shelters, hospitals, and the Ninja Academy. All of those buildings were completely demolished. He also targeted the power plant, and the clan compounds. The only major areas he didn't attack was the Hokage Tower, due to its extremely high security, and the Hyuuga Compound, due to the near one hundred percent chance that someone would find any bombs he tried to plant.

The grand result was a good eighth of Konoha being leveled, and numerous other structures being damaged on some level or another, not to mention numerous people dead and dying. Naruto told them that if they denied his offer of alliance, he would mow them down like anyone else, and he came through on his promise. As far as Naruto is concerned, it's open season on Konoha.

Finally, Jiraiya and his group were stopped before they left the Auction House with the book. The one who stopped them was a mysterious man by the name of Mr. Ferro who had also bid on the book. He offered them two hundred billion to buy the book from them right then and there, but they turned him down, looking down on him, to which he didn't take lightly. He immobilized the three of them without even trying, taking the book from Jiraiya's pocket. Telling them to act more humble toward their betters, and calling them ignorant mortal apes before vanishing. The only hint as to who or what he was being that his cigarette was unlit and he still blew smoke.

Who is the mysterious Mr. Ferro? Why does he want the book? How shall Konoha survive this tragedy? What is Sasuke trying to do? How will Naruto react to the book's theft? Read the damn chapter and find out, and don't forget to review at the end.

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Southern Peace Auction House, with Jiraiya, Sakura, and Kakashi

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The three Konoha ninja were on the floor, two on their knees, Jiraiya of the Sannin on his back, frozen in complete shock.

They had blown it. One minute, they were worrying about their escape, the next moment, everything was taken from them. It had happened so fast that none of them had time to let it sink in. They had lost everything and it had just taken a few seconds.

The three of them shakily got to their feet, then looked at one another, still in shock. Sakura stammered out "W-was that real? Kakashi-sensei, what just happened?"

Kakashi didn't answer her, still too stunned to speak.

Jiraiya absently patted the pocket where he had the book moments before, it was empty. No book, no nothing. Everything that they had just sacrificed, everything that they had been stressing over, planning over, losing countless hours of sleep in preparation for, was gone, just like that. Someone had stepped from the shadows, completely immobilized them, and took the book as easily as he would take candy from a baby. They had no idea who, or what, had done it, simply that the book was taken, and it was effortless.

Jiraiya remembered Fukusaku's words that day in Tsunade's office, three years ago, as he laughed when told that Konoha was central to everybody's concerns. The frog laughed and said 'Y-you think that everyone cares about you guys? Everyone mortal maybe but you're nothing compared to the really important institutions out there. The Faerie Courts, the White, Black, and Red Courts of Vampires, the Dragons, or any other member of the Unseelie Accords. Compared to them, you guys are ants to be stepped on, no offense. You're mortals, little more than cattle to the eyes of the immortal beings that really rule this world. You guys think that you're really important, that's funny.'

Jiraiya now saw how true the toad's words were. That man obviously wasn't human, he knew what the book contained, claimed to be alive when the book was written, and was obviously way above humans when it came to strength. Whoever he was, whatever he was, he was the sort of thing that Fukusaku was talking about that day. Humans were indeed cattle to something like that, and he grudgingly realized that compared to things like that, who had frozen him in an instant with the flick of the wrist, he was indeed an ant to be stepped on. 'Maybe if I had some time to prepare, I could stand a chance, but in a straight fight, I would be massacred.' Jiraiya thought to himself, hating every word, but knowing that it made the message no less true.

The Legendary Sannin growled in anger at his own impotence and smashed his fist into the ground beneath him, making a small, but deep, crater in the floor. He raised his head and simply said, shakily, "Kakashi, Sakura, let's go. We don't have anything to gain here, and Naruto is still coming after us."

Sakura looked at him in surprise "What do you mean, we don't have the book, why would he come after us?"

Jiraiya sighed and rubbed a knuckle against his forehead, feeling a headache setting in. "We may not have the book anymore, but Naruto doesn't know that. He thinks we have it, and I doubt he'll believe us if we say, 'sorry a mysterious stranger jumped us and took it'. He'll hunt us down under the belief that we either have the book, or know where it is. Our only real hope is to get back home ASAP, and pray that Naruto doesn't want to start a full scale war with Konoha right now."

Jiraiya walked toward the door, Kakashi following wordlessly, still somewhat shocked, Sakura trailing. He turned and looked at the girl and said "I know, you're thinking right now that it's a very bad set of circumstances, and you're right, this is looking pretty bleak, but don't worry kid, we'll all get out of this in one piece."

He puffed out his chest and put a fist to his chest as he proudly said "I'm Jiraiya of the Sannin, you don't have a thing to worry about!"

Jiriaya saw a small, sad smile grace Sakura's features. The man thought to himself 'Well, it's better than nothing. She's getting to the age where mortality is really starting to set in, the realization that you can and will die. She knows how bad this is, they all do, and that's going to make it hard to get morale up again.'

Jiraiya resumed walking toward the door as he said to the two "Let's get back to Hinata and the others, we have to consolidate our forces before we make a break for it."

The two nodded as Jiraiya opened the door and stepped outside, into a world that had no idea what had just happened, of what was going to happen. The very cattle that Fukusaku spoke of, blind and deaf to the true workings of the world, simply creatures to be herded by a higher being.

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Orochimaru's North hideout

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Uchiha Sasuke was standing before three people, three specific individuals. Houzuki Suigetsu, a man with a bloodline that would allow him to use water expertly, even transform into water if he wanted, he had a large katana gained from an armory upon his back. Karin an expert medical ninja as well as an extremely talented chakra sensor, and finally Juugo, the man from whom the Curse Seal was developed. Sasuke had gathered these three individuals to assist in his ambition.

It wasn't easy either, things had gone to hell since Orochimaru's death, prisoners were attempting escape, most of the ninja under his command were going AWOL, and everything was pretty much going to hell without the fear of Orochimaru to keep everyone in line. The only good thing was that Karin was in the same base as Suigetsu, which was the same base in which Sasuke killed Orochimaru. She had been one of the medics who had been working on keeping Orochimaru alive during his body's rebellion against his soul.

The only major travelling that had to be done to this place, the North hideout, the place where most of Orochimaru's experimentation on the Curse Seal took place, and the prison of the man who made it all possible, Juugo. The three of them had to move at record speeds to get there in a single day, it was in northern Kaminari no Kuni after all, not to mention high in the mountains, but they made it, and with Sasuke on their side, they managed to recruit the normally uncontrollable Juugo.

Sasuke said to the three of them "The three of you complete my squad, and the first part of my plan. It's time I explained my purpose to you all."

Sasuke took a breath before saying "I am going to kill Uchiha Itachi of Akatsuki, as well as Uzumaki Naruto, and I want all of you to help me."

Suigetsu just smirked and said "I knew it."

The Uchiha looked at the red headed girl and said "Karin, you said that you had other business to attend to. What will you do?"

Karin looked away and said "W-well its nothing urgent, now that I think about it…." Suigetsu cut in and said "Would you just cut the bullshit and be honest for once? Something along the lines of 'I want to be by Sasuke's side forever and ever' maybe?"

Karin immediately shouted "TH-THAT'S NOT IT! WH-WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU SUGGEST SOMETHING LIKE THAT!? I just-"

Suigetsu smirked and said "Bullseye. Look, you're so flustered you can barely talk! Just give it up."

Karin immediately stopped trying to defend herself and simply punched the water ninja in the face, frowning as it dissolved into liquid.

At this point, Sasuke intervened by saying "Suigetsu, quit messing with Karin, I told you to cooperate with her."

The water reformed into Suigetsu's smirking face as he said "Okay, okay my bad. Sorry Karin."

Then the water ninja looked up as he said "Just to be clear, I intend to stick close to Sasuke for now. One of the Seven Swordsmen, Hoshigaki Kisame, is with Uchiha Itachi. I intend to take him down and take his sword, the Samehada, for my own. I need a real sword, not just this piece of junk." He said the last bit as he indicated the sword on his back. Then he went on "In addition, I've heard that Uzumaki Naruto has a pretty badass sword himself, and that he also has at least one of the blades that the Seven Swordsmen wielded in his collection. I'm going to take them all."

The water ninja looked over and said "So Juugo, you're free now, what are you going to do?"

Juugo quite calmly said "Kimimaro said that Sasuke's existence was like his being reborn. I need to see how strong of a shinobi he is. Plus, he's the only one I know of that can stop my rampages, I can't allow myself to hurt anyone else so I intend to stay near him until I can control myself. It's either that or go back into my isolation."

Sasuke nodded and said "So its settled, from here on out we move as one and our group will be known as 'Hebi'. This group's only purpose is to eliminate Uchiha Itachi and Uzumaki Naruto."

Karin fidgeted for a moment, before saying "Um, Sasuke, that may be more than a little difficult."

Sasuke turned back to look at her and asked "What do you mean?" She got similar looks from Suigetsu and Juugo.

The girl looked away before saying "Well, intelligence continued to come in from Orochimaru's contacts up until you killed him and they got the news. Orochimaru had spies everywhere reporting to him, and he had quite a file on Itachi, and he made it a point to keep track of what Naruto was doing too. From what I've seen of that information, it's not going to be easy to find either of them right now."

Sasuke just looked at her and gave her a motion to continue. She hesitated for a moment before continuing "Orochimaru's spies reported that Uchiha Itachi went into hiding about a month ago, nobody knows where he is, probably in a safe house somewhere that nobody knows about."

Sasuke frowned and asked the obvious question "Why has Itachi gone into hiding? What could he possibly have to hide from except for me?"

Karin took a breath before saying "Apparently, Itachi fought Uzumaki Naruto just before he went into seclusion, coming out of the fight with heavy injuries. In fact, other sources show that Itachi had to be rescued by another member of Akatsuki, who had been watching the fight, otherwise Itachi would have been killed or captured. He's most likely gone into hiding to recover from his injuries and keep Naruto from finding him. He's apparently one of Naruto's main targets for some reason."

Sasuke sighed and thought about it for a moment before saying "Fine then, I'm sure that once Itachi hears that Uzumaki is dead, he'll come out of hiding again. So we simply hunt down Naruto first. What information did Orochimaru have on him?"

Karin sighed and said "More than anybody else, that's for sure. His spies somehow got into Tsuchi no Kuni, Naruto's apparent base of operations, and managed to consistently report back with their findings."

Suigetsu looked at Karin in shock "How the hell did these guys get information out of Tsuchi no Kuni? That place is fucking airtight."

Karin looked at Suigetsu in irritation before pulling something out of her bag, a small wooden box. She opened the box, showing a lot of broken glass. "With these." She said.

Sasuke went up and looked at the glass, it wasn't anything special. He said it the only way he could "They got information to Orochimaru with broken glass?"

Karin let out an irritated breath and said "Obviously, it wasn't broken when it was functional. Before it shattered, it was a bottle, one of Orochimaru's more ingenious little inventions. He called them Simultaneous Bottles, a pair of specially made glass bottles, whatever was put in one would vanish and appear inside of the other one. He made hundreds of pairs and gave them to his spies, keeping the other ones in his various bases. The base we stayed in had at least twenty Bottles inside of it, all of them keyed to informants from Tsuchi no Kuni."

Sasuke looked up from the broken glass in shock and said "So he got all kinds of information that nobody else had? Karin, how many of these bottles do you know about?"

Karin shook her head and said "I know what you're thinking and there's no point Sasuke. As you can see, when one bottle is destroyed, so is its twin, both of them becoming everyday glass again. Within twenty minutes of you killing Orochimaru, all of the bottles in that base shattered, one of the doctors sent the message through the bottles that Orochimaru was killed, and the agents broke the Bottles out of sheer rebellion. I checked the room in this base where the Bottles were kept, same results. I'm pretty that all of the Bottles are already broken, or will be broken within a day or so."

Sasuke frowned and asked "Do you know how to make them?"

Karin shook her head, looking sad. "The only one who knew how to make them was Orochimaru. With Orochimaru dead, the Simultaneous Bottles died with him. Sorry."

Sasuke sighed and asked "Okay then, what do you know about what's happening in Tsuchi no Kuni? You know about the Bottles, do you know any of the intelligence that they gathered?"

Karin shook her head and said "Sorry, I know some things, but not much of it is that good. All I know is that every city is ruled by Naruto's immortal warriors, and the capital is ruled over by one of his strongest Generals. Every man woman and child is forced to work every day for next to nothing. They mine ore, gems, precious metals, all kinds of things. They also work the factories, and this is where some good information comes in."

Karin cleared her throat and continued "Apparently, Naruto's forces are creating new types of weapons."

Suigetsu looked at the girl, immediately interested, and asked "What kinds of weapons?"

She shrugged and said "Not sure, but whatever it is, they're making all kinds of plans, and are almost ready to start mass-producing them. He's also making something else, I'm not sure what they are though. All I know is that they were referred to as 'Tanks', and that there were several designs for them. Apparently they're going to be mass-produced too once their Development teams are done. All of this points to one single fact, Naruto is getting ready to go on the warpath again, maybe against Hi no Kuni, but most likely against the countries between Hi no Kuni, Tsuchi no Kuni, and Kaminari no Kuni, the ones who can't defend themselves that well."

Sasuke frowned and said "That information doesn't mean anything to me, what can you tell me about Naruto personally?"

Karin shrugged and said "Not much, only that Houfu, the capital of Tsuchi no Kuni, isn't Naruto's headquarters, he manages everything from somewhere else, and also that he never travels alone. He has all kinds of bodyguards and subordinates nearby no matter where he is. Killing him won't be easy."

Sasuke frowned and said "I see, but you know what they say, it's only difficult if it's worth doing." Then he started to walk away again, the other three hurrying behind him.

Juugo asked "So, where are we going?"

Sasuke turned his head to look at Juugo and said "We're heading back to the base where I killed Orochimaru. If there are intelligence files on Itachi and Naruto there, I want to see them."

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Nyuusatsu, with the Konoha Team

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Jiraiya, Sakura, and Kakashi all entered the main room of their hideout in Nyuusatsu, finding everyone waiting for them. Shikamaru immediately asked them "How did it go?"

Kakashi and Sakura looked away, and everyone in the room felt horrible dread at the expression, especially as Jiraiya said "Not nearly as well as we had hoped it would."

Shikamaru slumped to the ground, despair clear on his face as he asked, his voice faint "So, Naruto has it?"

Jiraiya shook his head and everyone went from dread to confusion at the gesture. Jiraiya said "Naruto doesn't have it. We managed to win the auction, we had the book, but it was taken from us by someone else, a third party that we didn't know anything about. That man has the book, wherever he is."

Hinata stood up and simply said "Tell us everything."

So Jiraiya did. He recounted how they had entered the auction, and with difficulty won the bidding war, spending the entire budget of eighty seven billion. How they had obtained the book, and how the mysterious Mr. Ferro jumped them before they even left the building, offering them a great deal of money, and then when refused simply taking what he wanted by force and vanishing like he never existed to begin with.

Jiraiya looked down and said "So, this Ferro guy has it. We're not sure who he is, where he is, what he is, what he wants with the book, or anything else. We failed, simple as that."

Then Gai walked into the room, one of the reinforcements that Tsunade sent the other day, the rest of the team he had with him were still preparing in the back. The man said "If someone could take you down Jiraiya-sama, I'm not sure that there's anything we could have done to prevent it. But we did NOT fail here."

Sakura looked up in bewilderment and asked "What do you mean Gai-sensei? We lost the book, how did we not fail when our mission was to obtain it?"

Gai shook his head and said "Obtaining the book for ourselves was only one option, a single plan to complete the real mission here. Our mission was not to obtain the book, our mission was to make sure Naruto did NOT obtain it. The way I see it, we succeeded in the mission, it was just by a different plan than we thought we would use. As long as Naruto doesn't lay his hand on the book, we win, Naruto remains a manageable threat."

Jiraiya saw some serious flaws in Gai's logic, but he didn't point them out, he knew that the Taijutsu master was aware of the flaws in his argument as well, but those had nothing to do with why Gai said what he did. To see the real reason, all you had to do was look at Hinata's, Sakura's, and Shikamaru's faces. They went from bone crushing despair, to hope and a bit of happiness at success. It was a feeble thing, barely detectable, but it was there nonetheless. That was why Gai said what he did, to raise the hopes that Naruto hoped to crush with his every action. Combating Naruto, even on such a scale, it was a victory in Jiraiya's book, and he learned long ago to take victories when he could get them.

Gai clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention. "Yosh, we should be getting out of here as soon as we can. There's no reason to stick around any longer after all. EVERYONE, GET OUT HERE!"

There was a moment of scuffling from the back, before everyone there walked out, each of them wearing a full pack. Lee was wearing the same spandex as Gai, still looking like a miniature version of his sensei. Tenten and Kiba walked out next, each of them having grown in the past three years, each of them looking different from the days before Naruto left Konoha, each of them wearing packs just as large as Lee's, each of them carrying two other such packs with them, tossing them toward the other four in the room. When Sakura looked at them, Kiba said "What, you guys don't seriously think we're carrying all of this shit do you? You three get changed, and get your pack on, then we're out of here." Akamaru followed behind the Inuzuka, about a hundred and twenty pounds bigger than he was three years ago, and barked in agreement.

Jiraiya looked at Kakashi and Sakura before saying "Well, come on, we don't have all day. We need to get out of here before Naruto hunts us down don't we?"

Then he hurried into the first bedroom, closing the door behind him, the other two ninja following his example, Sakura almost tripping over her dress. Gai smiled as he watched his rival and his student hurry to get out of the unusual clothes. He had done what he had intended, he had lifted the spirits of the first team, and that was what mattered.

Then his smile turned to a serious frown as he sat down on the couch in the middle of the room, the seriousness of the situation taking hold of him once again. His thoughts spun around his head, most important of them being 'How will Lee react when he sees Naruto again, and… will I be able to do what must be done, if I get the chance?'

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Twenty minutes later, three quarters of a mile North of Nyuusatsu

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The group had quickly met up with Makoto and said their goodbyes to the spy before heading out to the North, where Jiraiya would be able to use a reverse-summoning to get them to the safety of Myoubokuzan. There was no way that they would be able to run all the way to Konoha with Naruto himself chasing them, and the odds were next to zero that they would be able to use a train to get home safely. Their only hope was to get to Myoubokuzan and from there get to Konoha.

They were travelling in formation. Jiraiya took point, with Hinata behind him on his left, and Lee on his right, forming a slight arrow head shape. Directly behind the Sannin, further back than the other two, was Shikamaru, positioned so that he could support either the front or back in a moment, beside him was Tenten, who had similar capabilities. Sakura and Gai were behind those two, Sakura had to stay near the back so that she could heal any wounded, and Gai was there to protect her, then taking up the rear was Kakashi and Kiba with Akamaru. Kiba's sense of smell, along with Akamaru's nose and Kakashi's Sharingan, would make it difficult for anyone to sneak up on them. They did NOT want to be ambushed, and Shikamaru put the formation together with that idea in mind.

They were almost to their destination, sprinting across the plains North of Nyuusatsu, hoping that they would be able to get to safety before Naruto caught up with them, but it was not to be.

The trap was sprung quickly, and expertly, nobody had any idea that it was coming. Darkness made solid, hidden in advance, rose up from all around them, covering them in shadow as it formed a dome above their heads, plunging them all into deep shadows, visibility made almost zero.

Not all of them were caught in the trap however. Gai, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Hinata, Lee, Kiba, and Akamaru all made it out of the bubble of shadow the moment it formed, in other words, anyone not in the center of the formation. Sakura, Shikamaru, and Tenten were all caught.

Jiraiya was quickly taken off guard, immediately targeted. He was tackled by a blur of white, and carried off into the copse of trees that they had been moving toward all this time, out of sight and beyond help. Kakashi vanished quickly as well, into a mirror of ice that appeared beneath him, sucking him away beyond where any allies could help him.

That only left Gai, Lee, Hinata, Kiba, and Akamaru against the three foes who stepped from the trees.

General Sodom stood to his left, Perona stood to his right, and between them stood Naruto, dressed in his usual attire as he said to the assembled Konoha ninja. "Hello my old friends, it has been such a long time."

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Jiraiya was sent forward into a clearing as the blur of white stopped moving. The Sannin immediately rolled to his right, getting to his feet as a flash of purple light sliced through the tree immediately behind him.

He looked at his attacker and saw the face that visited his nightmares occasionally.

The figure in white let out a ghostly laugh. "Yohohohohoho, it has been quite a long while Ji-chan. I think it's time that we settled what we started in the forest all those years ago."

Ryuuma, strongest of the General Zombies, stared down Jiraiya with his empty sockets, his face stuck in an eternal smile by the lack of lips as he held the black sword Shuusui in his rotting hands.

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Kakashi emerged from the portal of ice and immediately caught his fall on his hands, using them to vault himself forward. Immediately after he moved a number of needles struck the ground behind him.

The Jounin twisted through the air, landing on his feet to face his opponent, or rather opponents.

Kakashi immediately recognized Anko, dressed as she was when she worked for Konoha, minus the Hitai-ate as she held a kunai in one hand, facing him in a regular combat stance.

Then he looked at his second opponent, the girl Haku. Then he saw the needles in her hand, that combined with the pane of ice that caused him to come here, all of this information collided in his brain in a moment, and finally he realized the awkward sense of familiarity that he felt whenever he saw the girl before.

"You" he said, staring at the girl "How are you alive? I killed you!"

Haku smiled forlornly at the man before her as she said "Ah, so you finally remember me? No, I did not die, though it was close. Naruto-sama was there that day on the bridge, and saved me from death in those icy waters. He had me nursed back to health, and I have served him ever since. Today is the day I settle our score Hatake Kakashi, and repay you for this scar.

As she said that, she casually parted the folds of her heavy woolen clothes, dressed just as she was that day in Nami no Kuni, she parted the clothes, showing pale skin, a dark blue bra, and of course, the splotchy, angry red scar that was right between the two breasts, the place that Kakashi rammed his Chidori over three years ago.

Haku replaced the clothing as she said "However, I am not the only one here to repay a debt."

Kakashi's danger sense went off the scale halfway through Haku's sentence, and dodged as she spoke, barely avoiding a large bladed death that came for his neck.

He stared up into the bandaged face of death itself, a man that hundreds feared and spoke of in whispers. Or at least, they did when he was still alive.

Momochi Zabuza, reborn as a General Zombie, stronger and faster than ever before, shouldered Kubikiri Houcho as he stared down at the man who killed the him.

Kakashi's eyes hardened as he stood, facing his three opponents. The demons of the past had risen their heads, and their gaze was solely on Hatake Kakashi.

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And that's the end of the chapter. Sasuke starts to make his move, some of Naruto's plans are hinted at in speculation, and Naruto makes his move to take down the Konoha ninja, unaware of the fact that the book is no longer in their possession. What shall become of it? Find out next chapter.

Oh, and before I go, here's a bit of trivia that I found out. Did you know that the man who created Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter, Yoshihiro Togashi, did you know that his wife is Naoko Takeuchi, the woman who made Sailor Moon? Just a little something I picked up.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	77. Chapter 77

Hello, and welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter seventy seven! Over four hundred fucking thousand words, dear lord this thing is huge. I doubt I'll get to the million word mark, but I'm pretty sure that the one hundred chapter mark and the five hundred thousand word mark can be achieved, so look forward to that.

Oh, and a few people have been saying that my updates are getting shorter, and I'm not really sure what you guys mean. Sure, chapters seventy four and seventy five were a bit shorter than usual, but chapter seventy six was longer than usual, so it should balance out.

With that, enjoy the chapter.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Nothing happened in this chapter, seriously, nothing. Naruto took out one of God Realm's piercings and used Sage Mode to find the real Pein, then followed it. Katsuyu told everyone that Naruto beat God Realm and told them to stay where they were, not to help Naruto. Inoichi and Shikaku ran into Naruto and Naruto told them that he was going to meet the real Pein and talk to him. After a bit of yelling, he went on his way, leaving the Jounin behind.

The last thing we see is Naruto forcing his way through a wall of paper into Pein's hiding place, in Sage Mode, and seeing Nagato. That's the end of the chapter. Like I said, nothing happened, it's all setup.

As for Bleach, Ichigo is back, completely healed, and Ulquiorra is dead. It's not a possibility, he's really dead this time. Apparently that hit was enough to kill him after all, it just took a little while longer than it should have thanks to Ulquiorra's regeneration.

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Summary of last chapter

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Shit happened. What, you want details? Alright, the Konoha team got back together, and headed for Jiraiya's reverse summoning location, only they got ambushed on the way there by Naruto, Sodom, and Perona. Shikamaru, Tenten, and Sakura are stuck in a sphere of darkness, while everyone else escaped.

Jiraiya has been isolated and is now in a one on one fight with Ryuuma, and Kakashi is stuck in a three on one fight with Anko, Haku, and Zabuza, now turned into a General Zombie.

Meanwhile, Gai, Lee, Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata are trapped in a four, four five if you count the dog, on three fight against Sodom, Perona, and Naruto himself.

Elsewhere, Sasuke has assembled his Team Hebi, and has made his goals clear in the death of Itachi and Naruto. Karin informed him of intelligence files on both of them that Orochimaru had gathered and kept in the same base where Sasuke killed him, where they are now returning to. Karin didn't know much of it offhand, but she did know that Tsuchi no Kuni was a dangerous, well guarded place. She also knew that Naruto was developing new kinds of weapons, including something called 'Tanks'. All of which indicate that Naruto is getting ready to go back on the warpath.

What shall Sasuke learn? Who shall win the various fights? Read the damn chapter and find out already.

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With Jiraiya

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Jiraiya was confronted by a face that had haunted his nightmares for about three years. He quickly went into a defensive stance at the sight of the General, and the scar on his side twinged slightly in phantom pain. He was scared, yes, but also somewhat happy, he finally got to repay the favor.

Ryuuma chuckled "Well Ji-chan, you don't look much better after all this time. How's that wound I gave you?"

Jiraiya stared back at the opponent before him, caught between worrying for himself and worrying for everyone back in the clearing who was stuck with Naruto. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

The General seemed a bit caught off guard by the question, but quickly masked it and said "Sure, why not? Once we get down to the fighting there won't be much of a chance."

Jiraiya eyed his opponent extremely carefully, slowly shifting his body as Ryuuma made slow movements to the right as he spoke, attempting to distract the Sannin as he got into a better position. The man asked "What's your name, and how many of you Generals are there?"

Ryuuma looked VERY surprised at that one. His brow furrowed as he quietly asked "How did you know that we are referred to as Generals?"

Jiraiya immediately knew he made a mistake. He had inadvertently revealed information on the enemy. 'Shit, now he'll be on guard. Furthermore, he knows that we somehow got a spy into their fortress, and more importantly that he got out. God damn it, I'm acting like a greenhorn Gennin here!'

The Zombie smiled and said "Well, it makes no difference, once the Master is done with you, we'll have all the time in the world for a chat. As for your question, I am called Ryuuma, strongest of the General Zombies, as for the number of Generals, do you really think that I'll tell you that?"

The Sannin smirked and said "Well, it was worth a try."

Ryuuma lunged forward at lightning speed between the words 'worth' and 'a', not letting him finish his sentence and grabbing the early advantage.

Jiraiya was caught on the exhale and was forced backwards by the darting blade that came centimeters from his flesh with every blow, each time Ryuuma stepped closer, the blade's movements so fluid that the sword could have been water turned to steel. Jiraiya was given no time to react, no time to think, no time to do anything but avoid the next fatal blow. Ryuuma wanted to end this quickly.

Jiraiya was forced slowly backward by the deadly General before him, and was unable to open up any distance between them, whenever he took a step, so did Ryuuma, keeping him in close quarters so that he couldn't regain himself. The Sannin thought to himself after avoiding a thrust 'If he wants me in close quarters, FINE!' Then he threw himself forward and past the sword, landing a solid punch on Ryuuma's jaw, sending the Zombie across the clearing, smashing into a tree before slumping to the ground.

Jiraiya looked at his fist, stunned. That hit wasn't supposed to be THAT strong. Then he looked at Ryuuma as he got up and realized why he went flying so easily. 'He may be strong and fast, but physically he's little more than skin and bones. He may be powerful and deadly as hell, but he can't weigh much more than fifty or sixty pounds.'

Before Jiraiya could think any more upon this concept, Ryuuma held his sword at his side, pointing straight at Jiraiya as he said "Oobado kuu Doroa!" and thrust the blade forward.

Jiraiya dodged to the right as a flash of deadly purple light flew past him and struck a tree behind him, leaving a wide hole straight through the ancient wood. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes when he saw the result. He remembered that move.

Ryuuma placed his sword back into the position it was in before, at his side, pointing straight at Jiraiya as he thrust forward at the Sannin once more as he shouted "Fuzei no Borero!"

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With Naruto and everyone else back at the clearing

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Naruto sat upon the branch of a tree at the edge of the patch of woodland, looking down at his former allies as they marshaled themselves as best they could. Below him, standing in front of the tree, were Perona and Sodom.

Gai was surprised, but got over it quickly, immediately taking inventory of the situation, and realizing that it was grim. He was left with three Chuunin, talented Chuunin with a lot of potential, but Chuunin nonetheless, against Naruto himself, one of his Generals, and one of the individuals that Tsunade's spy had called the 'Three Enigmas' Naruto's chief Adjutants. On one hand, this was a great opportunity, they could take out one of his Generals, or if they were lucky capture the Adjutant, giving them extremely large amounts of indepth information on their enemy. If they were extremely lucky, it was possible to kill Naruto and put an end to the threat he presented once and for all.

Naruto had planned this little encounter for a while now. He did not anticipate Gai, Lee, or any of the relief group to be there, he only anticipated Shikamaru, Hinata, Sakura, Kakashi, and Jiraiya, and so had planned accordingly, isolating the major threats should the trap miss them, and leaving himself with a General to deal with the remaining Chuunin. Now he had two people who knew how to open the Inner Gates, one ninja of little importance, and one of his three targets remaining. His first priority, keep them here. Make sure they do not even WANT to escape from this confrontation.

Naruto smiled at the four ninja below and said "Well, hello my old friends. Fancy meeting you here, small world isn't it?"

Kiba, ever the rash, shouted "Let them out of that thing you bastard!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the Inuzuka and said "Why would you want them out of there? They're perfectly safe, for now at least. If I were you I would be more worried about myself, and thinking about the very rare opportunity that has been offered to me."

Kiba growled deep in his throat and snarled "What opportunity?"

Naruto raised his hands and said "Why the opportunity to kill me of course! I'm under minimum security out here, no Soldiers around me, and only one member of my Royal Guard? I'm the most vulnerable right now, more so than I have been in years."

Gai immediately perked up to that, he hadn't heard anything about a Royal Guard. "What Royal Guard? I don't see any of them."

Naruto smiled at his former teacher and said "Why, General Sodom of course. He, General Gomorrah, and General Hashirama were selected to be my personal bodyguards, protecting me wherever I go, and making sure that the rabble stay in their place. I daresay that were all three of them here, you wouldn't have a chance in hell. With only one, you at least have a hope."

Gai was stunned. The three names he just mentioned, Sodom, Gomorrah, Hashirama. 'Those are all members of the five strongest Generals! Three bodyguards as strong as a Kage! He's right, if we have to face him with those three helping him, hardly anyone has a chance of victory.' Gai's eyes narrowed as he realized 'It has to be now or maybe never. If what he says is true, then we do indeed have a true opportunity, one that they could not possibly pass up. Immediately thoughts of getting Shikamaru and the others out of that sphere of darkness took a back seat.

Naruto mentally smirked as he saw Gai's facial expression change, ever so subtly, from shock to resignation. He had him, hook, line, and sinker. He wouldn't run away, now he would stay and fight, and keep the others there with him. Naruto eyed one of his three targets that day. There was one more piece of business to attend to before he let things devolve into a brawl. He already knew the location of the second, and the third was already being taken care of.

Naruto snapped his fingers quickly. "Sodom!"

Sodom quickly said "Yes, Majesty." Then vanished in a burst of speed.

Gai saw where the General was going and moved his fastest to get there before the undead warrior, but wasn't fast enough with his weights still upon his legs. Sodom reached his target, and punched her in the cheek, sending her flying into a nearby tree. Kiba's and Lee's eyes widened as they were taken completely unaware. Sodom had moved and struck before they even realized what was happening, and he had gotten to Hinata.

Sodom vanished once more, reappearing in front of the tree Hinata was heading towards. He caught her collar, and turned, his right hand spread towards the wood as he held his captive in his left. A black rift formed upon the tree and he jumped in before it sealed itself again just before Gai got there, punching the wood, sending splinters across the ground.

Naruto eyed the attempt with a smile on his face. Kiba was the first to react to the kidnapping and screamed "WHERE HAVE YOU TAKEN HINATA!?"

He looked at the Inuzuka heir and said "Why to my home of course, where she shall be imprisoned for now. Don't worry about her health, I'm sure she'll be quite safe while she's there."

Kiba snarled at the man and said, quietly "Give. Her. Back."

Naruto's smile increased in size and so did Perona's as she watched the show. Naruto asked "What was that? I didn't catch it."

Kiba roared "I SAID GIVE HER BACK YOU BASTARD!"

Naruto did the only thing he could do in that situation. He chuckled. "Hmhmhmhmhm, you really think that I will do as you command, just like that? I'm afraid that the world doesn't work that. If I gave her back to all of you, I wouldn't be able to give her away to the ones I plan to."

Gai looked over sharply "What?" He asked.

Naruto looked at the spandex clad man with disdain and said "Konohagakure rejected my offer of alliance and friendship, your presences here is more than enough to prove that. Do you really think that I would not seek help from another in light of that rejection? Konoha told me to fuck off, so I shall see if Kumogakure is more friendly. I'm sure that the gift of the Hyuuga's heir will be enough of a prize to ensure mutual goodwill. Not to mention that it's the same Hyuuga that Kumo sacrificed a Jounin for, but did not get. Did you know that the man Hiashi murdered that day wasn't actually of his own will?"

Lee couldn't keep silent at that point. He quietly asked "What do you mean by that, Naruto-kun?" Not meeting his former comrades eyes as he spoke.

Naruto sighed and said "Well, it was Kumogakure's Raikage and a good portion of the Council that ordered him to steal a Hyuuga main branch child. However, the Jounin they chose was related to one of the Council members who didn't want to risk relations with Konoha like that, so he was planning to disobey the order, believing that his relative would mitigate the consequences. I intervened."

All three Konoha ninja looked up in shock at the man who just claimed to be behind the Kumo/Hyuuga incident. "WHAT!?" all three of them shouted, in a combination of rage and disbelief.

Naruto shrugged and said "It was Kyuubi's idea, and it helped me a lot in the process. It actually wasn't that difficult. He actually WANTED to go through with it, but didn't have the stones to do the deed, his relative's connections only gave him a way out. I didn't really bend his mind so much as… give it a little nudge, a little boost of courage. You can't really make people do whatever you want using stuff like that you know, otherwise they're more likely to break like Itachi did rather than bend. I couldn't let Konoha and Kumo become allies, or who knows what would have happened, so I put a stop to it by preventing his cowardice."

Lee and Gai were thunderstruck by the news, Kiba was too, but not for the same reasons. Lee simply muttered "Then…Neji…."

Lee looked up, with murder in his eyes as he shouted "THEN NEJI'S FATHER DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!?"

Naruto put one hand to his chin in thought before he said "Why, yes, I guess he did. I have to say I really enjoyed it when he kept going on 'woe is me, my father was killed by fate, I hate the main branch'. I found it hilarious. It was the first time that I really appreciated viewing the less immediate results of my work."

Before either of the Chuunin could go on any further Gai asked the question that had bothered him since Naruto mentioned the elder Uchiha. "Naruto, what do you mean, 'break like Itachi did'?"

Naruto shrugged and said "Well, like I said, the more uncharacteristically you force someone to act, the more likely they are to break and go insane. I'm pretty sure that happened with Itachi after I put the psychic armlock on him to kill his family. Kyuubi didn't like the Uchiha clan that much, they killed a lot of Iwa ninja and they were on its list right after the Yondaime and Sandaime Hokages. I mean, come on you didn't notice it? A man murdering his best friend, a friendly brother and caring son murdering his parents and all other relatives on a dime like that, that didn't scream 'nutjob'? A relatively happy person becoming an emotionless shell of a man? Oh yes, Kyuubi and I definitely broke something inside of him when we toyed around in his mind. Kyuubi wasn't the greatest at mind magic, and even though I have a talent for it, I was rather inexperienced and wasn't as gentle as I could have been. Even if I WAS more experienced, I probably wouldn't have been gentle anyway, I was a very vicious and spiteful child." He said this last bit with a nostalgic smile.

Gai stood there, stunned. "You were behind both the Hyuuga incident AND the Uchiha Massacre?"

Naruto shrugged "I suppose so. I mean, I wasn't the one who really did the deeds, but I made it all possible. I'd say I succeeded, weaken the Hyuuga clan, destroy the Uchiha clan, rob Konoha of an extremely talented ANBU Captain who could have become a dangerous Hokage one day, making sure that the last Uchiha ran off to Orochimaru for power years later, and making sure that Konoha and Kumo remained enemies, creating a possible ally in the future. With Hiashi's ill will, those alliance papers were burned faster than a witch in the Dark Ages. I really got a lot of mileage out of those two pawns."

Kiba was so mad he was shaking. He growled out, his voice barely recognizable as human "You bastard."

His head rose and he roared at Naruto "YOU MANIPULATIVE POISONOUS BASTARD!" He launched himself at Naruto.

Gai shouted "KIBA NO!" But he was too late. Kiba had already begun spinning, becoming a whirlwind of claws and fangs as he headed straight for Naruto as he shouted "TSUUUUUGAAAAAAA!"

Naruto waited there with a smile on his face, despite how quickly Kiba was getting closer. Gai watched on in horror at what was sure to be the swift end of the Chuunin. He wasn't far off.

Before the attack could get closer than five feet, a transparent humanoid figure came up from below and went through the human tornado. The instant it did, the thing veered off course, crashing into the ground several feet to the right of the tree Naruto was in, revealing Kiba lying there, crying.

Gai watched the whole thing, seeing how the pink-haired girl simply raised her hand and the transparent figure rushed out of her palm, going straight through Kiba before vanishing. Then he watched in horror as Naruto pointed two fingers at the downed Inuzuka, darkness gathering there.

The Jounin rushed forward, intent upon stopping the incoming attack. He moved as fast as he could with his weights still on.

He wasn't fast enough. Darkness leapt toward the downed ninja.

Blood splattered upon the ground beneath the tree.

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With Kakashi

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Kakashi was in a bind… literally.

One of Anko's snakes, a huge Boa Constrictor, wound its way around his body, adding coil after deadly coil as it squeezed the man it caught. Mist swirled around him, obscuring his vision tremendously. Inside of the snake's embrace, he barely managed to form the seal he needed, and used a Kawarimi to escape from the gigantic reptile.

Before Kakashi could so much as take a breath, needles of ice flew from all directions, seeking to turn him into a pin cushion. With his Sharingan however, he was able to predict the paths that most of them would take, enough of them that he could avoid most of them, while deflecting the others. Then he ducked to avoid the blade that went over his head, brushing against his hair as it did. The Copy Ninja immediately turned and lunged at the man, His sword was recently swung, and he was near defenseless. Kakashi simply stuck a kunai into his ribs, forgetting what he was dealing with. The Zabuza Zombie looked down to feel its wound, which was spilling water rather than blood.

Kakashi immediately recognized it as well, he jumped away from the MIzu Bunshin, then jumped once more to avoid a new salvo of needles, and then he jumped once again as he heard Anko shout "Senei Jashu!".

As snakes swarmed towards him through the mist, he went through handseals at a blinding speed, bringing one hand up to his mouth to better control the flames as he breathed fire at the oncoming reptiles, using the Goukakyuu no Jutsu.

When the flames hit the snakes, they quickly burst into smoke, returning from whence they came. Kakashi lunged through the smoke of their disappearance, straight toward Anko's most recent position.

Before he could get too far however, he was barraged by needles on both sides, forcing him back into the mist and away from Anko.

Kakashi ground his teeth, frustrated as they retreated. 'Damn it, they work too well together. Zabuza keeps this mist going and takes the occasional swipe at me, while Haku and Anko barrage me with needles and snakes. If I try and get out of the mist, or dispel it, they immediately open fire to prevent me from getting free, and with this mist up, my Sharingan is more of a liability than anything else. I HAVE to get rid of this mist, I can't let them fight at long range.'

Kakashi was forced to move yet again as more needles assailed his position from a different location in the mist, he quickly jumped backwards through the fog to avoid the crystalline points. Almost immediately his danger sense went off the scale, and he dropped flat to the ground just in time to avoid getting his head chopped off by Zabuza.

The Konoha Jounin seized the opportunity before it could vanish, moving as quickly as he could from the ground to take the fight to his enemy. His knife was blocked by the blade of Kubikiri Hochou out of reflex, and he immediately dropped the kunai, slithering forward and curling his arms around the Zombie's right arm in a specific way, twisting it in a way it wasn't supposed to be twisted.

A loud CRACK went through the clearing as the General's sword arm broke along the same fractures that it broke years ago, making the arm useless, and Kubikiri Hochou fell to the ground from the General's numb fingers.

Kakashi felt more than saw the needles coming from the mist, pure experience telling him where the threat was coming from as he swung Zabuza into the needles' path, using him as a human shield while he quickly brought out another kunai, and stabbed it into a specific place next to the General's spine, causing him to go completely limp.

Kakashi smiled under his mask, his theory was confirmed. 'They may not be able to die, but they are still flesh and blood, still human, they have all the same weaknesses we do. Including debilitating pressure points.' Kakashi had thrust the kunai deep into the muscle very close to the General's spinal cord, hitting _just_ the right place to completely paralyze him.

Kakashi quickly ran toward the location that the needles came from, holding Zabuza as a human shield as he thought 'One down, two to go.'

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With Jiraiya

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Jiraiya acted immediately upon seeing the attack. Jiraiya went through handseals as quickly as he could while Ryuuma's sword disrupted air pressure, moving the air swiftly enough to turn it into scything blades. Jiraiya slammed his hands to the ground and shouted "Suiton: Suijinheki!"

He drew water from the moist ground and the air around him, forming a wall of liquid that surrounded him and protected him from the incoming attack. When the win struck the defense however, something unexpected happened.

It froze.

The wall took the cold from the wind that was blasted upon it, and that was enough to send it to a low enough temperature to freeze it, so now the Sannin was surrounded by a wall of ice.

Jiraiya smiled at the result and immediately capitalized upon it. He struck the wall in front of him with great force, cracking it in several places and sending spider-webs across its surface. Then he formed some quick seals and said "Fuuton: Daitoppa!" as he exhaled a gust of near solid air at the cracked wall, shattering it, and sending both the Fuuton jutsu and numerous shards of ice at the enemy General.

Ryuuma waited, and watched. Then he jumped to a high branch of a nearby tree, watching as the ice shards impacted upon the tree trunk, and more importantly, watching his opponent.

Imagine his surprise when Jiraiya appeared behind him.

It happened in an instant, there was nothing but air there one second, and one second later Jiraiya simply appeared in the space behind him. Ryuuma blocked the kunai with his sword, slicing deep into the metal, and then Jiraiya kicked him back over the clearing.

Meanwhile, the other Jiraiya that sent the ice shards at Ryuuma flashed through handseals and said "Fuuton: Torihane!"**(1)** Spheres of air much like the Daitoppa shot from his mouth, but instead of one, there were many. Every one of them battering the General who couldn't dodge while he was in the air.

Ryuuma landed, hard, upon the ground behind Jiraiya, sitting against a tree. He laid there, motionless.

Jiraiya made the mistake of getting his hopes up. 'D-did I finish him?'

Then the Zombie lost his physical form, turning into mud which slopped against the ground.

Jiraiya instantly turned around. 'Shit! Where is he!?'

That was as far as his thoughts got before a sword erupted through his midsection.

Ryuuma smiled, well smiled more than usual as he watched his opponent tense up at the intrusion of the steel. Then he frowned as best he could when he simply vanished into smoke.

Ryuuma looked up at the Jiraiya in the trees, the one who kicked his Tsuchi Bunshin across the clearing and said "A Kage bunshin? When did you make it?"

Jiraiya shrugged and said "About the same time you made your Tsuchi Bunshin, after the Suijinheki froze and before I shattered it.

The General chuckled and said "Well then, if we're going to be doing this all day, I'll get bored quickly. So I'll just hurry up and finish you off." Ryuuma then sheathed his sword, and put his hands together in a familiar handseal. Then Jiriaiya frowned as a familiar mist soon fogged the air, making visibility extremely difficult.

He heard Ryuuma's voice through the fog, oddly warbled and changed by the mist. The voice said "Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu."

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With Naruto

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Gai heard the blood splatter, rather than saw it. Then he heard the howl of pain. The thing was, the howl wasn't human.

Kiba lay there, stunned as he saw what just happened. How his dog had literally taken a bullet for him.

Akamaru stood in front of Kiba, his flank facing Naruto. Just behind his shoulder, his fur was stained red with blood, the stain was spreading. Kiba shouted "AKAMARU!" and quickly moved to the canine's side, looking at the wound as best he could.

Naruto whistled. "Damn, that dog is fast. Still, won't do either of them much good now." He pointed the same two fingers at Kiba, aiming for his head as darkness gathered there again.

Lee ran as fast as he could with his weights on, heading for Naruto as quickly as he could, determined to stop him from killing the distraught Kiba. Before he could go more than five steps, Gai appeared next to him, holding him back as he flung a handful of shuriken at Naruto.

Naruto saw the projectiles out of the corner of his eye and moved quickly, redirecting the attack he had planned, sending the darkness he had gathered at the shuriken, knocking several of them off course, then calling up his shadow to block the rest.

Gai tersely said to Lee "Listen, we can't go straight at Naruto like Kiba did. Look there." He pointed at Perona, who was watching them very closely from her spot beneath Naruto. When she saw the two looking at her, she winked at them and gave them a little wave.

Gai said "That is one of Naruto's direct underlings, one of the Three Enigmas, Perona. She's going to do her best to defend Naruto, like she did against Kiba. Listen Lee, take her down, and then we can work together to take Naruto down. Whatever you do, DON'T kill her, we need her alive."

Before they could strategize further, they heard a whimper of pain coming from the trees. Gai and Lee looked over and saw Kiba clutching at his leg. Gai's blood ran cold when he saw no less than three shuriken embedded in the muscle. Shuriken that HE had thrown. The Jounin thought breathlessly 'Those shuriken are in spots that would disable critical muscles for movement. But how-' Then Gai remembered, how Naruto deflected some of the shuriken he had thrown. His eyes tracked to Naruto immediately. 'He deflected them toward Kiba on purpose.'

Naruto smiled "Notice did you? Well, it makes no difference." Then he waved his hand, and his shadow came at them like an avalanche. Then he turned his attention back to Kiba, darkness gathering at his fingertips once more. "You know what they say" He muttered under his breath. "The third time's the charm."

Darkness leapt at Kiba.

Blood splattered the ground once more.

There was no scream.

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Fuuton: Torihane- literally 'Wind Release: Bird's Wing. Basically a wind version of the Housenka no Jutsu.

Okay, that's the chapter. Tell me what you thought about it, the action scenes, how it was done, things like that. Give me your opinion so that I can improve, you know the drill by now.

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger


	78. Chapter 78

Hello, and welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter seventy eight! You realize that this beast is over FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND words right? Dear God, it's not the biggest story I've ever seen, in fact I've seen stories more than twice this size, but it's still pretty fucking gigantic.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Just like last chapter, not much happened. Naruto resisted Nagato's control and Naruto asked Nagato to tell him how he got the way he was even though he was Jiraiya's pupil. Nagato told Konan to step aside and began telling his story, saying that he had two great sources of pain, the first being his parents' deaths. Then it showed a flashback of how Konoha Shinobi killed the two of them when they were raiding the house for food. Standard fare for Kishimoto.

As for Bleach, HOLY SHIT PLOT-TWIST! We have been MAJORLY misled about the Espada JESUS CHRIST! YAMMY IS THE STRONGEST ESPADA! He released his sword and turned into this gigantic monster like thing. Then the '10' on his shoulder lost the '1'! He said that the numbers of the Espada DON'T GO FROM ONE TO TEN BUT FROM ZERO TO NINE! YAMMY IS THE STRONGEST ESPADA! Ulquiorra is dead, and in the real world, Halibel is about to release her sword. But seriously, who the hell saw THAT coming?!

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Summary of last chapter

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Kakashi fought Haku, Anko, and Zabuza, and has managed to paralyze the latter of the three, using him as a human shield.

Naruto fought Hinata, Kiba, Lee, and Gai, and so far has managed to kidnap Hinata, and badly wound Kiba and Akamaru.

Jiraiya is fighting Ryuuma, they're about even right now, though neither of them is using everything they have yet.

That sums it up more or less, on with the chapter.

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Kiba's POV

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I looked up at that son of a bitch as he waved his hands, and his shadow, his fucking _shadow_ grew, became substance and moved over toward Gai and Lee quickly, a human shaped figure of solid black material, not solid, liquid, or smoke, but something like a mix of the three, forcing them to jump back or else be struck. My leg hurt bad. I could barely move it. I looked down and saw the shuriken in it that Gai threw at Naruto. The prick had the balls to hit them my way, and they got me when my head was upside down from that pink haired bitch in the crown. Akamaru was in front of me, shaking slightly and noticeably favoring one leg. I've seen him like that before, once. It was definitely a shoulder injury of some kind, there was a good chance that the leg couldn't be moved much, if at all.

I reached for a kunai and looked up at the traitor again in time to see him point two fingers at me, and mutter something to himself as darkness gathered there, I saw the bits of shadow fly from the shadows of the trees into the air in front of his outstretched digits, forming a tightly controlled ball for a second before it came flying toward me, appearing as nothing more than a spear of black light.

I didn't even have time to blink before it passed through me, just above my pelvis probably hitting a kidney.

That was all I recognized before my world erupted in frozen stark white pain.

I vaguely felt myself fall back from where I had been holding myself up with one arm, but I wasn't lucky enough to hit my head and knock myself out. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't scream, nothing had _ever_ hurt so much. It was all centered on that little area of my body, about an inch in diameter, where his attack hit me. It felt as though my flesh was being torn away, layer by later. But it was being _frozen_ away instead of torn by blunt force. Frozen until it shattered into infinitesimally small pieces, layer by layer as it tore through my body.

I know that it could have taken at most a second, but it felt like millennia as my flesh was pierced by that abominable black spear.

The pain, the helplessness, the horror of it all. I wouldn't wish that upon anybody.

Not even the traitor who used it on me. For all his crimes, even he didn't deserve that.

After a while, the pain faded into something merely torturous and I clenched my teeth over a scream as my vision went from stark white, to a dark red, then to a solid black.

Then it started up again, in the same spot. But this time it was different.

That same cold was tearing me apart again, but this time it was as if the pain started from _inside_ my body, clawing its way out in multiple directions rather than piercing me from outside. I opened my eyes, just for a moment and managed to catch a glimpse of what was happening to me.

Little flickers of darkness, of the material that pierced me, solid, liquid, and gas all at once, something in between the three, were forcing themselves out of my body around the wound, causing almost as much pain as the original wound. I saw the wound that was left in me as well. It was a solid hole, though an inch around it was a deep, solid purple-black that I only barely recognized as frostbite.

My vision spun and all of a sudden I was seeing the world sideways. The pain was so great that I had passed out for a second and fallen over.

I saw one of those things, those little maggots of darkness that crawled out of my flesh, the remnants of the attack that pierced me. I saw them slither over past me, and toward Naruto. Then, once they reached the shadow of the tree he was in, they sank into the shadow, and the shadow grew. Then I realized it, the shadow wasn't growing, it was simply regaining its full substance.

The substance that Naruto had taken to use in his attack.

I tried to sit up, tried to use my hands to push myself up, but the strength left my limbs and I only ended up moving a few inches forward, facing a new direction, and pressing my wound into the ground, which started up immense pain once more. Nothing compared to that darkness attack, but still painful. I saw Akamaru there, lying on his side, a pool of blood around his still form as he went through the same thing that I went through. Those dark little maggots of darkness forcing their way out of him to return to whence they came.

I growled, even though I could barely move, and tried once more to get up, to fight, to at least TRY to avenge all of those that this bastard had killed, to at least TRY to save the others, but I never got the chance.

At that moment, the world went completely black.

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With Naruto

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Naruto only looked at the fallen Inuzuka. 'Hmm, he's not dead, yet. He just passed out from the pain, but given that I definitely got the kidney he won't last long between that and blood loss. The dog, well he's a lost cause, I definitely got a lung with that hit, I think. Not too fluent in canine anatomy.'

Naruto looked over toward the real battle at the end of the thought. Gai and Lee were engaging Naruto's shadow, while Perona was using her ghosts to attempt to finish them off.

Naruto regarded the pink haired woman as she stood under the tree, her hands raised as she focused on controlling the ghosts movements as best she could , trying to hit either one of the darting green forms. They may have had their weights on, but they were still pretty fast.

'She has grown too comfortable in that body. It has gotten to the point where her powers are weaker in her astral form. She can create at most five Negative Ghosts in her solid body, but only one in her Astral Form, same goes for the explosives, they are far too limited in number and speed in her Astral Form in combat, leading to her being forced to use her physical body in combat now.'

Naruto looked up and saw Gai kick hard enough to cleave an arm off the shadow, immediately darting past the weakened thing as the arm regenerated, heading straight for Perona.

Naruto immediately intervened, raising a wall of darkness between him and his goal, jumping down from the tree to stand beside Perona as he did so.

Gai stopped before he touched the wall, jumping back as spikes sprang out of it that would have impaled him if he had gone any further. Then turning to engage the shadow again as it came up from behind him, jumping aside to dodge one of Perona's ghosts that popped out of the ground, leaving himself open.

Naruto's shadow took advantage of that opening, hitting him in the side with a heavy, ugly punch. Gai was sent across the clearing, bouncing once against the ground before coming to a stop as he got to his knees and then his feet as Lee came in from behind the shadow.

The immediate threat abated, Naruto's thoughts drifted toward the Ghost Woman again. 'Her real body is frail, she is not a physical fighter, she was never raised to be a ninja. She must be protected.'

That was the entire plan of attack in this confrontation. Naruto's shadow would engage the enemy directly while Perona used her ghosts to try and cripple the foes. Naruto would be near Perona, protecting her from attack and providing support to the shadow when he could. Impossible to destroy offense, and Naruto on defense, a perfect combination of their abilities.

Naruto immediately took control of his shadow, sending tendrils of darkness toward Gai, who had tried to take advantage of the distance to remove his weights. The Taijutsu master was forced to dodge aside, severing the tendrils with a swift kick reinforced with chakra, but it was futile. The darkness simply slithered across the ground, rejoining the shadow before long.

Naruto smiled at Gai's frustration. Attacking the shadow was pointless and he knew it, but if he didn't then it would be free to stab them all in the back. That was one of the things that made him so hard to kill, whenever you fought Naruto, you weren't fighting one being, but two. Combine that with the fact that he never travelled alone and you had someone who was very hard to eliminate. It was the style and tactics that Naruto had come up with in his paranoia, making absolutely sure that nobody would be able to hurt him.

Gai was shepherded back toward the shadow with Perona's ghosts. They weren't incredibly fast, but they were quick enough that Gai couldn't go where Perona didn't want him to go. They popped out of the ground, attempting to pass through him, doing their best to take him down, but Gai stayed one step ahead, always managing to avoid being struck down by the transparent apparitions.

He leapt forward and kicked the shadow in the head, causing a dent shaped like his leg to be made in the shadow's 'flesh'. It was shaped exactly like Naruto, only a bit heavier around the arms, and about ten feet tall and wide enough to go with it. It swung an arm at Lee, which was quickly sidestepped before Lee jumped onto the appendage, running up the arm as tendrils of darkness sprouted from the creature near his feet, attempting to trip him up, or otherwise ensnare him long enough for the thing to kill him. Lee knew that he was playing a deadly game but had little choice as he jumped forward, his leg extended as he tried to put the full force of his body behind the kick.

Then before he could hit his target, the head of the beast splite apart into spheres of darkness, looking almost like bubbles. The rest of the body followed suit and the shadow was nothing more than bubbles of darkness floating through the air. Leaving Lee ten feet up in the air with no foothold and his leg extended.

The ghosts went for him immediately, which was the whole point of leaving the shadow open to that attack in the first place. They came from the ground and from the air, each of them looking humanoid and transparent as they soared through the air toward the helpless Lee.

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With Kakashi

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Kakashi jumped to the left as he avoided a barrage of ice needles, using the captive Zabuza to take some of the hits. 'Man I am so lucky that this guy made such a mistake.' Kakashi knew that he had been lucky, he had barely sensed Zabuza coming up from behind him like that, another second and his head and body would be separate pieces. Instead, he got lucky enough to sense him before he struck, and actually managed to paralyze him.

Kakashi knew that the tables had turned. Sure, Anko was a dangerous opponent, but she was beatable, same went for that ice girl. He beat her once and he knew that he could do it again. The big threat was the reanimated Zabuza, but he was taken care of, maybe permanently depending on how well he hit that pressure point.

He barely heard the rasp of scales and quickly stepped forward toward where the needles came from as a snake, most likely poisonous, jumped out of the grass and snapped its jaws closed over where his ankle used to be before slithering quickly in his direction.

Kakashi knew that a single snake was extremely unlikely and quickly jumped away from the ground, moving in the direction that the ice needles were cast from, only to be attacked by a similar assault of needles from his right side, the side he didn't have Zabuza on. The Jounin spun in the air to put the paralyzed Zombie between him and the deadly spikes of frozen water. Landing on a tree branch, barely getting his balance.

He was starting to get irritated. The problem wasn't his skill, the problem was the damn mist! 'If I could get rid of this damn mist I could take care of them easily, they couldn't have improved all that much in three years, a bit, but not enough to be able to take me. But Zabuza was the one who cast the Jutsu, and he's paralyzed right now, the mist should be dissipating by now, so WHY HASN'T IT!' Kakashi ground his teeth in irritation before his eyes widened. 'Unless…'

His thoughts were interrupted by a snake jumping out of a knothole in the wood at his feet. Kakashi quickly stepped on the thing, right on the head, crushing the reptile before it could bite him.

That's when a thought ran through Kakashi's head, a thought on how to get out of this mess.

He jumped down to the ground, dancing around the snakes that sometimes popped out of the grass and using Zabuza to take the needles for him. Before long he reached the area where he thought to be the center of the mist.

He immediately tossed Zabuza aside, jumping back when needles came flying from the side the moment he did so. As he went back through the air, he went through several quick handseals. Then he put one hand to his mouth and muttered "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu."

Kakashi spat forth dozens of medium sized fireballs, with the chakra he put in them they would be able to roast a bear. He spat them in front of him, then touched down with one foot, forcing himself into a spin in the air, still spewing the spheres of flame, now they were going in every direction.

More needles flew, more snakes slithered. Kakashi avoided them all as best he could, though he took several hits in his left arm and leg as he wove through them as best he could while still keeping the technique going, breathing flame everywhere he could.

Eventually, as Kakashi continued to breathe flame, eventually the mist began to weaken and fade. This continued as the attacks grew more desperate, before eventually the choking fog vanishing altogether, revealing what he had wrought.

Haku stood at his ten o' clock, Anko at his three. Both were breathing heavily, Haku had a burn on her left shoulder, and her woolen clothes were singed in several places. Anko was in similar condition, two burns on her stomach and her left arm which she cradled in her right, the second of which looked serious, at least second degree. The only reason he could see the burn on her arm was that her trenchcoat was gone. Her upper body was clad only in a fishnet shirt and a plan black bra. He saw the coat at his one o'clock, on fire. Anko obviously shucked it off at some point.

All around the two of them were blazing flames. The trees, the grass, the bushes, all of them were burning. Wood crackled and went black as the flames consumed them, the grass died to reveal brown earth in some places, though most of it was still hidden under the dead and dying black shoots.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. His plan had worked. Spew fire in every direction and eventually he would have done enough damage to one or both of them to get them to stop concentrating on keeping the mist up. Zabuza wasn't the one keeping up the mist, he only said the words. 'He may look like Zabuza, but he isn't the Demon of the Mist. He doesn't know how Zabuza fights, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten as close as he did, and I doubt he knows many of the Jutsu of the original, including the Kirigakure no Jutsu, one only taught in Kiri.'

It looked like Kakashi took a gamble, hoping that his theory was right that Zabuza wasn't the one causing the mist, even paralyzed, but rather it was done by one of the two girls. But he wasn't taking any chances. Even if he missed every time and never hit either one of them, the mist would have gone down. With the heat of all that fire going through the air and now surrounding them, it was only a matter of time before the mist vanished. And now with all that flame still around them, they wouldn't be able to get it back. 'No matter how much chakra you pour into a Jutsu, you can't break the laws of physics.' He thought to himself as he eyed his two opponents, finally revealed.

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With Jiraiya

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Jiraiya looked around as the mist settled in before he whistled. "Damn, this antique? Complete classic. This brings me back to my old adventures down south."

The Sannin smiled as he didn't receive an answer. 'This guy knows that much at least. Most people couldn't find someone through this by their voice because it would be so distorted, but he's experienced enough to know that there's a decent chance of me being able to find him. Smart move.'

Jiraiya looked around the mist a bit, noticing no obscure shadows or sudden movements, no unusual sounds in the air. The old man couldn't help but smile a bit at it all, he really knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, Jiraiya learned long ago how to counter such a strategy, especially if the enemy used close range combat.

He clapped his hands together before stretching his arms out to either direction, smiling as the familiar technique took form, completely without handseals or spoken word, damn near undetectable to anyone. Then he held that stance and waited.

He didn't have to wait for very long before he quickly sidestepped, avoiding the downward swing of Ryuuma's blade by a hairsbreadth. The strongest General didn't have time to look surprised before Jiraiya plowed a Rasengan into his head.

Ryuuma, despite his immense strength, didn't have much muscle mass, in fact he barely had anything more than skin and bones. On one hand this made him very light and very quick. On the other hand, it made him very prone to injury, he was the most physically frail of the Generals. This combined with the fact that Jiraiya's Rasengan had been enhanced to the limit using a very small amount of Sage Chakra that he had created while standing still and waiting for Ryuuma meant that the Ninjutsu did an insane amount of damage. In other words, his head exploded like a rotten grapefruit, rotten black blood, small chips of bone, and tiny pieces of flesh and brain flying in every direction.

Jiraiya stepped back and wiped some blood off of his face before he looked down at the remains of his opponent. The body of Ryuuma was laying on its back upon the branch of the tree they were on, twitching idly. Its grip on Shuusui relaxed, allowing the blade to fall over the side and land on the dirt below. There were no fragments remaining of his head whatsoever.

Jiraiya sighed. That could have been ugly. 'It was unfortunate for him that I learned a technique a long time ago that counters the purpose of the Kirigakure no Jutsu perfectly. A barrier that is completely invisible to the naked eye and detects movement the moment something crosses it. I mastered it to the point where I could use it without hanseals so that no enemy would become suspicious of it. After using that technique, I knew that he was going to attack at close range, I just wasn't sure where. With the barrier in place, I had time to prepare my counterattack. He never had a chance.'

The Sannin leapt off of the branch to the ground below, where he took the sword that Ryuuma had dropped. He was very surprised at its weight, it was quite heavy. He looked up at the branch where black rotten blood was beginning to drip from. He was still technically alive, Naruto's gift of life allowed him to survive losing his head, but life was no good without a mind to direct it. Ryuuma was dead in all but the physical sense, which was the only sense that Naruto protected him from. 'Even if he's dead, there's not a lot he can do without a brain. His heart may beat until there's no longer any blood in his body, but he can't move, can't fight, can't do anything that could hurt anyone. And that's all that really matters.'

Jiraiya sealed the sword in a scroll, and started running toward the area where Gai and Lee were probably fighting Naruto. His thoughts still on his fight. 'Even the most powerful warrior only needs one single mistake to be killed. He was stronger than me, doubtless, but he used an attack that I could predict, and that was all I needed.'

His victory quick and ruthless, the Sannin rushed on to his next battle.

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With Naruto

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Naruto watched in anticipation and Perona smiled in triumph as the ghosts closed in on Lee in midair. Lee's eyes widened in fear as he saw what was about to happen, and that there was nothing that he could do to avoid it.

Naruto prepared himself to close the distance and deliver the finishing blow to his former comrade before something unexpected happened.

Lee looked up in shock as Gai appeared in front of him in midair, his skin red, his eyes white. A kunai blazing with fire chakra was held in each hand.

Before anyone could do anything, Gai used the burning kunai to slice through the weights on Lee's legs, freeing him of the weight before he pushed Lee out of the way with his legs in an awkward movement, forcing him down to the ground and out of the way of the incoming attack.

While everyone else was shocked, Lee understood what had happened, how he had managed to open the Gates so quickly without alerting Naruto. 'Gai-sensei opened several Gates simultaneously. At least four of them, most likely six or seven. But, in order to do that, he's going to-' Lee couldn't bear to finish the thought. Gai told him long ago that it was possible to open several Gates, up to seven, simultaneously, but at a great cost. Taking on the immense power the Gates provided caused an immense strain only bearable by gradually increasing the power one Gate at a time. To open more than one Gate at the same time would cause such a strain that the person was guaranteed to die. The immense strain of the power suddenly surging through the body without giving it time to prepare itself caused such stress on the body that the heart popped and several other organs failed almost simultaneously, simply unable to take the increased load like that.

Gai twisted as best he could and threw the two kunai, still burning with fire chakra, toward the dome of darkness as hard as he could. He thought to himself at the last moment, his brain functions accelerated by the opening of the Gates. 'Naruto, despite what you've done, you were still my pupil at one time. I know that you deserve it, that you have caused immeasurable harm to so many people, but despite it all, I cannot bring myself to do what needs to be done. I've thought about it time and again, but I always come to the same conclusion 'I can't do it'. No matter what I try, I can't find it in myself to end your life, one that I nurtured so much for all those years. I can't kill you, all I can do is give others the chance to.'

Then, as the ghosts passed through his body, in the moment of shock before their effect set in, Gai's last thoughts were 'Grow strong Lee. Homura-sensei, forgive my weakness.' Then his thoughts were no longer his own as he was sent into the deepest depression.

Naruto didn't waste a moment. The instant Gai was hit he muttered to himself "Kamisori" and was gone from Perona's side, and instantly above Gai, pressing his fists into Gai's chest, not a punch or an attack, just placing them there, one above the other, the knuckles facing opposite directions.

Naruto smiled and said "You deserve no less than the ultimate Taijutsu technique Sensei. The ultimate Rokushiki technique, which can only be learned after completely mastering the six main techniques."

In this time, the two blazing kunai ran through the dome of darkness imprisoning Sakura, Tenten, and Shikamaru. The fiery chakra, backed by all the strength of the opening of the Hachimon Gates, destroyed it like a cobweb. The thing was completely blown apart by the blazing knives, destroying the prison and letting the three trapped inside see the light of day once more.

The first thing they saw was Gai in the air, crying and Naruto above him as he shouted "ROKUSHIKI OUGI: ROKUOUGAN!"

That was all they saw and heard before the blast of wind and chakra hit the ground beneath the two, shattering the rock and earth and sending dust and gravel flying in every direction. It didn't do any of these things however before they ripped Maito Gai in half.

Naruto smiled as he used the Kamisori to return to Perona's side in a moment, ready to defend her once more. Loving the shock on the faces of his four former comrades as they watched the two halves of Gai's body hit the ground.

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Kamisori: An advanced Rokushiki technique, combining 'Soru', 'Geppou', and 'Kami-e'

Rokushiki Ougi: Rokuougan: literally 'Rokushiki Secret Techinque: Six King Gun'- the ultimate Rokushiki Technique that can only be learned after mastering all of the six Rokushiki techniques to the highest level.

Sorry for the short chapter everyone, but that seemed like a good place to stop. I already gave you the reasoning for the events that took place, so don't expect further explanation. Review and tell me what you think of it all.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	79. Chapter 79

Artful Lounger's the name, fanfiction's the game. Hope you enjoy it.

Here's something I noticed by the way that seems odd. As of recent chapters I've been getting reviews along the lines of 'I'm making Naruto seem weak' because sometimes things happen that disrupt his plans. The same thing would happen if I had Naruto lose every confrontation. However, if Naruto was to win every confrontation, then he would be 'overpowered'. No matter what I do, you people aren't happy! Simply tell me, what would you do? If I do it my way, he's weak, if I do it any other way, he's overpowered. Sometimes you guys really don't make sense.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Nagato backstory, nothing more, nothing less. It turns out that the idea to become 'God' was originally Yahiko's, but Nagato took it on after Yahiko died, which goes along with the theory that Nagato really looked up to Yahiko. That's the only interesting part. Aside from that, nothing of note occurred.

Who wants to bet that the yaoi fangirls will see Nagato looking up to Yahiko as much more than it is despite their young age? Seriously, some people have no limits.

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Summary of last chapter

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Okay, a number of things happened. First up, Kakashi managed to escape Haku's and Anko's trap by causing so much heat that it was impossible to keep up the mist. What results of their confrontation has yet to be seen.

The first major development, Ryuuma died. He used a tactic that Jiraiya had a plan for, one that he had developed long ago when fighting ninja from Kirigakure no Sato. The use of a motion sensing barrier combined with a prepared Rasengan ended up killing Ryuuma when he fell into Jiraiya's trap, and got his head taken off by the Rasengan, killing him in all senses that really matter. Sure, technically he's still alive, but without a brain to think with or manipulate his body, he's dead for all intents and purposes, though his heart is still beating.

The second major development, Gai is dead. Naruto and Perona continued to double team Gai and Lee, Naruto's shadow taking care of the front like fighting while Perona attempted to take them down using her ghosts, while Naruto provided support. This eventually came to a head with Lee about to be hit by the ghosts, which would render him defenseless long enough for Naruto to easily strike a deathblow.

However, Gai intervened, sacrificing himself to get Lee out of the line of fire, cutting off his weights at the same time and destroying the dome that kept Sakura, Shikamaru, and Tenten out of the fight, giving them a fighting chance. Immediately afterwards, Naruto killed him and faced off against the remaining enemies.

What shall become of the four Chuunin? Will Jiraiya get there in time? What shall happen in Kakashi's fight? Read and find out, then review. But most importantly enjoy the chapter.

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With Naruto

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Naruto's eyes narrowed when he saw that the trap was destroyed. He had returned to Perona's side immediately after killing Gai and was now evaluating the new field of battle. A weightless Lee, along with three new opponents. 'This calls for a change of tactics.' He thought to himself.

As the four were getting into a formation he just said "Perona, leave. I cannot protect you against this force, you are vulnerable. Retreat."

Perona looked over at Naruto once and nodded. She had learned long ago that following Naruto's orders was for her own good. She learned to obey them without question. She used the power of her necklace and vanished into the shadows of the trees behind them immediately.

Naruto glanced back into the trees behind him. 'If I'm right, Ryuuma has fallen. I can no longer feel my bond with him. No wait, he's there, but he's not there. Was his head destroyed?' After a moment, he felt that Ryuuma was alive but incapacitated, maybe permanently. 'Irksome, but no real threat in the long term. He can be replaced.' Naruto turned his full attention to the new threat, determined to finish this before Jiraiya arrived.

Shikamaru looked over at Naruto and saw the pink haired woman vanish. 'Is she gone or hiding?' He thought to himself as he did his best to rally his fellow Chuunin. Before long, he managed to get things relatively sorted out as to how they would fight. Lee would take point, Sakura would stand by for healing, Tenten would provide ranged support. Shikamaru hated to admit it to himself, or the others, but he knew that he was almost useless in this fight. 'My Kage Mane is useless against him, he proved that back in town. And I can't have Sakura leap into the fray, she's vulnerable to his powers, whatever they are, because she told him her name. I have to play third wheel and trust in my comrades.'

Lee was furious. He was beyond furious. At that moment, he didn't think of Naruto as a comrade, or even as a foreign comrade. 'That monster is NOT the man I knew. The man I knew is dead, and the only thing that remains of him is this grotesque, filthy MONSTER that I will not allow to sully my friend's name any further!' At that moment, Lee wanted nothing more than to crack open Naruto's skull and watch his face as his brain slopped out onto the floor.

Sakura was scared as hell, she still felt that massive fear that had gripped her ever since Naruto used her name, her _name_, to stop her in her tracks, effortlessly defeating her with a few words, even when he was paralyzed and seemingly defenseless. She was prepared to heal her comrades, but she fervently hoped that Jiraiya or Kakashi would get back soon, to help them escape.

For Tenten, the fear was just as great, if not worse than Sakura's. She had seen Naruto fight Gai years ago, she knew how he fought back then, and she saw Gai fight back, eventually coming as close to winning as anyone could expect. He hadn't managed to puncture the shield back then, but he came close. She had seen the moves that had leveled an entire training ground, she had seen Naruto take an opponent seriously, and she was terrified of what he could have learned since she last saw him. She would fight, but if the opportunity came, she would run at the first sign of trouble.

Naruto, he felt supremely confident. He didn't plan on pulling any punches, he planned to kill all four of them, and to do it in the swiftest, most energy efficient way possible. He had learned long ago that broad area attacks were for those of the feeble mind, they wasted too much energy, they were for the savages, those without intelligence, they were for lesser beings. He preferred surgical strikes, killing an enemy in one blow. Showy, big moves were looked upon with disdain. He could do them, and he had them in case he ever had to take down a large target or large group of enemies, but using them against a small group, or an individual, was far too much energy loss for too little gain. No, his assault would be quick, precise, take little effort, and would be absolutely merciless.

He had thought at one point to recruit Shikamaru, to take his shadow to animate a Zombie, but he had given up on that plan. Most of Shikamaru's life would be forgotten, but the hatred he held for Sodom would be passed on, and Naruto would not allow such dissension in his ranks. Even if it was only toward Sodom, that hatred was something Naruto could do nothing about, and would not accept in his forces. So, Shikamaru was reduced from 'target' to 'trash'.

The four tensed up as Naruto raised his right hand, his palm facing the ground by his side. He didn't say a word as the darkness caused by the shadows of the trees shifted, writhed, and rose up into his hand, gathering and lengthening into an object. Within a few moments, Naruto held a black spear in his hand, a six foot handle and two feet of blade. He stuck the weapon into the ground by his side, keeping his hand on it as he looked back at the Konoha Shinobi.

Said Shinobi were a little disturbed by what they just saw. It said numerous things about Naruto's combat capabilities that they hadn't seen before. The thought that was going through their heads at that moment was 'If he can make a spear, he can make any weapon he wants.' And their thoughts were working their hardest to find a way to counteract such an advantage. They were also reminded just how BIG Naruto was now. The weapon was eight feet long, but he stood just as tall as the spear stuck into the ground.

Naruto looked at them, and just seemed to look through them. It was obvious that his mind was completely elsewhere at the moment. Like someone who had to do something tedious and dull, but had to be done anyway. Shikamaru was particularly unnerved. That was the same look as a person who was told he had to take out the trash.

Naruto's attack was sudden, quick, and merciless. He snapped the fingers of his left hand, and his shadow, which had taken the form of small bubbles of shadow when he trapped Lee, gathered around said spandex clad ninja. He didn't have a chance as he was lifted into the air by a gigantic, featureless figure. Large of arm, but small of leg. He was lifted effortlessly and Lee could feel the massive power of the beast as it increased the pressure it put on him, trying to crush him.

Lee didn't have to wait long before a number of kunai, complete with exploding tags, sank into the thing's wrist, detonated, and freed him from the deadly grip.

That was what Naruto was waiting for.

The instant that Lee was in the air, and could not get in the way, he immediately took the spear in his right hand, throwing it at Lee with vicious force. In moments, he had a second spear in his hand, where he pointed his left palm straight at Tenten and muttered "Kurouzu"

Tenten didn't have a chance to scream, didn't have a chance to defend herself before she was yanked from the ground with unearthly force, pulled through the air toward Naruto's outstretched palm, black as the night sky as it drew her in. She couldn't move her arms or legs, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, the pull was too great, the force exerted upon her too massive. She couldn't do anything except watch with strained eyes as Naruto grew closer and closer at an alarmingly quick rate.

Sakura and Shikamaru shouted the girl's name, and Sakura tried her best to catch the girl as she flew past. She managed to grab Tenten's hand as she went by, but she couldn't provide any assistance at all. Sakura tried to hold on, but was immediately pulled off balance and dragged across the ground for about five feet before her tenuous grip broke.

Before anyone could do anything to help, Naruto's shadow struck at Shikamaru with one gigantic fist, and he was forced to dodge the strike less he be crushed. The punch impacted where he was standing mere seconds before and threw up a cloud of dust that had obscured everyone's vision.

When the dust finally settled, their eyes immediately tracked to their enemy, and saw that they were too late.

The shadow's attack was a necessary distraction, and Tenten reached her unintended goal. Naruto had taken her life just as brutally, quickly, and mercilessly as he planned it, from the moment he picked her as the first target.

The spear of pure darkness stuck out of the girl's back, from where it had run her through the lung, the black material gleamed red with blood.

Naruto hadn't even thrust with it. He simply held it in her way, and let the pull of the Kurouzu do the rest.

He didn't betray any facial expression, didn't show any remorse or care for his fallen opponent. He simply tossed the spear aside, like a piece of garbage, and held his hand open just like he did before.

Again darkness answered his call, and before long another spear was held in his hand before it was stuck in the ground, just like it was before. Only this time, the dirt was stained red with blood, and Tenten was laying on her side nearby. She let out a gargling sound before she spat out a mouthful of blood, making small noises as she drowned on the life giving liquid.

But Naruto did not take his gaze from his two opponents. He knew the blow was fatal, and he didn't intend to waste a second strike on a dead opponent.

It wasn't worth his time.

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With Haku

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Haku and Anko faced Kakashi from his ten and five o' clock. Haku watched the ninja for a moment, and noticed that for all the projectiles and attacks they used, he wasn't badly damaged. He had been caught in the arm by one needle, and twice in the leg, but neither had hit their intended targets, he was able to maintain control of his limbs. Furthermore, none of Anko's snakes had managed to bite him, meaning that he was unpoisoned.

Haku ran through the possibilities in her mind, taking into account her own skills versus those that Kakashi doubtlessly had on his side, the difference in age and experience. She calculated Anko's capabilities as well, in addition to how Kakashi fought against herself and Zabuza years before.

She ground her teeth in frustration when she came to an irrevocable fact. Anko's arm was burned badly, and would be of little help in this battle, she was injured as well, and without the Kirigakure no Jutsu, Kakashi would be able to see, analyze, and stop any move they might care to try. Against a Jounin with decades of experience, and the Sharingan as well, they didn't stand much of a chance, even together.

Haku hated the idea, but she knew that if she fought now, she would die. She quickly gave a sign to Anko. A swift, but specific movement of her fingers that gave a specific message. 'Retreat'

She saw immediately that Anko didn't want to, but the woman obeyed regardless. She jumped back into the trees around the clearing, vanishing back to the Castle in moments.

Haku on the other hand threw a number of smoke bombs straight at the Copy Ninja, rushing toward the fallen General that he had left behind.

The ice manipulator reached Zabuza in seconds, quickly moving him into the shade of a nearby tree and kneeled by the paralyzed form, channeling chakra into the black stone around her neck to get them both away from the battlefield, and back into safety.

She saw Kakashi break out of the smoke, running towards her in a dead sprint, a knife in one hand.

Haku sank into the shadows, Zabuza with her. But before she vanished completely, she took something from inside her clothes and threw it high into the sky. Then, Haku was gone.

Kakashi reached the place where Haku vanished and lightly cursed under his breath, irritated that he had let them both get away. But before he allowed himself to dwell on it, he looked up into the sky, looking for the object the woman threw into the air. Whatever it was, it was probably important.

Kakashi got a quick glimpse of something dark in the sky before a bright light engulfed the clearing, throwing everything into stark brightness.

The Jounin looked down and put one hand in front of his eyes. He had been looking straight into the thing when it appeared and was temporarily blinded.

After a few moments, he blinked the stars from his vision and started to move toward where he HOPED the battle was occurring. He knew what that bright light was meant to be, it was obviously a signal flare. A signal to Naruto to let him know that they had failed to kill Kakashi. It was meant to let him know of an attacker before he got back to interfere.

'Damn it' Kakashi thought to himself as he entered the woods and started running. 'If Naruto sees that then he'll do his best to kill everyone before I can show up to held. Hold on everyone!' he thought furiously to himself as he dashed into the woods, feeling all around him for a bit of chakra, any hint to let him know in which direction he was supposed to go.

He didn't see the other thing that was following him.

Naruto wasn't the only one who was alerted by that signal flare.

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With Naruto

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Naruto looked up at the sudden bright light in the sky, instantly realizing what it was and what it meant. 'So then, Anko and Haku have failed have they? Oh well, there is still the contingency plan, so I doubt I will have to deal with him myself even if he did find his way here. Meaningless.' Then he turned his mind back to more important matters. Such as Lee finally landing.

Lee fell to the ground hard on his side, clutching a badly bleeding wound on his right arm.

Sakura looked over in shock. "Lee!" She shouted and immediately ran over to attempt to heal the wound.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the sight of Lee's injury. 'Wow, I intended for that spear to go through his heart. He must have managed to move slightly through the air, and took the hit on his arm instead, making the wound survivable.'

He waited until Sakura was almost at Lee's position before he thought 'Not that it makes any difference.'

At that moment, Naruto's shadow shrunk, where before there was a hulking monster, now it was something about seven feet tall, humanoid, with abnormally long arms. Each of the fingers tipped by a long, delicately sharp claw. Perfect for eviscerating soft skinned humans.

Sakura got to Lee and immediately examined the wound. It only took her a few seconds before she pulled him back towards Shikamaru, hoping that he would be able to cover her while she healed Lee.

She thought about the injury as she quickly picked Lee up and jumped back toward Shikamaru, hoping to get as much distance between her and Naruto as possible, and keeping an eye on the newly transformed shadow as well. 'This is a bad injury. An extremely deep laceration, almost cut to the bone. It was about as deep as it could get without cutting off the arm completely. Almost all of the arteries in the arm are going to be cut. If I don't heal him immediately he'll bleed out in under a minute!'

She got Lee away from the enemy as best she could and immediately set to stopping Lee's bleeding as best she could, green chakra coating her hands. The shock of such a major injury kept Lee mostly still, he couldn't cry out from the mind numbing pain of the injury.

Shikamaru rushed forward and stood in front of Sakura, keeping himself between the healer and his two enemies. Still the shadow paced slowly forward, it's claws at its sides, the tips just barely scraping the ground, leaving lines in the dirt as it walked.

Sakura gritted her teeth as she saw the wound again. 'Damn it, it's worse than I thought. That spear actually partially cut through the bone! I have to be EXTREMELY careful. Even the slightest pressure in the wrong place could snap it at the cut, and if that happened I would have little choice but to amputate the limb.' And she knew, that here and now, that would be fatal.

What shocked her most was the sheer amount of damage Naruto's spear caused. Even if it didn't hit its target of the head or chest, it still ripped through flesh and bone, making hideously deep and extremely painful lacerations and puncture wounds that are almost guaranteed to cut through at least one artery, guaranteeing bleedout in under two minutes. 'No matter where it hits, that spear is absolutely lethal. The only difference is the amount of time it takes, around two minutes or almost instantaneously.' Sakura thought as she desperately tried to stop the bleeding and heal the cut bone at the same time. She almost winced as she mentally went through the damage Tenten must have suffered from that strike that nobody could save her from.

'From the position of the spear, it broke at least two ribs, about a two inch wide laceration across the chest, definitely hitting the lung, maybe the heart, and even causing an exit wound in her back.' She knew a deathblow when she saw one. It wouldn't matter if she was on a surgery table with Tsunade herself acting as the doctor with a team of the best medics the world has ever known there to help her. A wound like that couldn't be healed in time. Sakura shook her head to get rid of the distracting thoughts and focused solely upon healing her injured comrade.

She tried her hardest to heal Lee, but then a hand touched her shoulder, and her chakra stopped completely.

Frozen with fear, she looked behind her and saw the thing that she had feared the most. Naruto.

Naruto looked down upon the girl and said "God you're slow." Then fast as blinking, he flipped a knife from his sleeve into his hand and ran it across Sakura's throat, cutting the carotid artery and the jugular.

Sakura convulsed and grabbed at her throat, hoping to somehow stop the bleeding. Naruto just picked her up like a ragdoll and tossed her aside and then turned to face Shikamaru, leaving Lee bleeding on the ground. Without Sakura's help, he wouldn't last long.

Shikamaru looked back at a noise and his blood ran cold when he saw Naruto cut Sakura's throat. He knew immediately that the wound was fatal and jumped to the side, trying to get equidistant between Naruto and his shadow while trying to maintain line of sight on the both of them. He saw Naruto throw Saura aside like trash and turn to face him.

The Nara heir started to panic when he saw that he was facing Naruto head on, all on his own. 'Damn it! How did it turn out this way!?' He desperately ran through the scenarios, trying to see where he could have done something to save lives. His eyes ran over the bodies of Kiba and Akamaru, holes through them, to Tenten, the spear that killed her dissolved and the spear that Naruto created afterward still stuck in the ground, unused. He saw Gai, both parts of him, Lee rapidly bleeding out quietly on the ground, unconscious from the blood loss, to Sakura, shaking on the ground as she desperately tried to save herself in a completely futile effort. Then Shikamaru saw Naruto's shadow rush towards him, sweeping those razor sharp claws at his face.

Shikamaru just barely managed to get his kunai in the way of the claws, barely avoiding getting sliced to pieces. Even though he didn't get ripped to shreds, Shikamaru was still pressed steadily back. 'Dear God this thing is strong!' the boy thought as he desperately tried to hold it back. Shikamaru knew that the only reason he wasn't dead, the only reason that the shadow hadn't simply cut through the knife was because of the claw's thin, razor sharp nature. They couldn't convey the energy needed to cut through the kunai without breaking, their build stopped them. They were meant for tearing through human flesh like paper, not going through metal. That small oversight on Naruto's part saved him.

But then a small oversight on Shikamaru's part condemned him.

Shikamaru was so focused on preventing this strike, that he overlooked a completely obvious factor: Naruto's shadow had TWO hands.

Just as the Chuunin caught on to this fact, the shadow's other hand lashed out from its side, licking lightly across his abdomen, causing four bright lines of scarlet to appear, and blood to splash on the ground.

Shikamaru dropped his knife in the sudden shock and pain, clutching at his stomach before getting backhanded by the shadow. Shikamaru, disoriented and hurt, went flying through the air and hit a tree before falling to the ground on his back.

Shikamaru looked up at the sky, at the clouds, at the shining sun above them all. Then a tall, black clad figure with blue eyes and blond hair stepped into his field of vision, blocking out the light completely, covering Shikamaru in shadows, and looked down upon him as his vision faded to black.

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With Kakashi

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Kakashi ran as best he could through the trees, moving from branch to branch, desperately trying to sense the chakra of Gai of any of the Chuunin, praying that he was not too late to save them from near certain death. So far, he had nothing. He was moving blind through the woods, not knowing where the hell he was.

He stopped for a moment, his eyes gone wide with sudden revelation. His hand dove into a pouch at his belt, desperately fishing for something as he muttered to himself "How the hell can I be so stupid, not thinking of this sooner…." After a moment or two, he pulled his hand out of his pouch, clutched in it was a small, silver circular device. A compass.

He scanned the face of the device for a few moments before finally finding which was North, and moved in that direction immediately. 'These woods are South-West of Nyuusatsu, and Naruto ambushed us just before we entered them. If I head North, I'll get out of the woods, and from there I'll be able to find the fight and hopefully be able to make a difference. Just hold on everyone!'

Kakashi continued to pump chakra into his legs, moving as fast as he possibly could to get there in time, even a second's difference could mean the difference between life and death. He pushed himself to hopefully save the lives of his comrades

Kakashi ran. He ran as fast as he could due North, all the while he was spreading out his senses as best he could, trying his best to find someone, anyone who could help him.

Eventually, and to Kakashi's surprise, he finally found someone. He recognized the chakra signature immediately and headed straight for it. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually caught up with him.

"Jiraiya-sama!" Kakashi called to get the man's attention as he got within earshot. The Sannin looked over and saw Kakashi, he stopped and let the man catch up.

Kakashi panted for a moment before he said still breathing hard "Jiraiya-sama, you're going the wrong way. We have to go North to find them, you're headed South."

Jiraiya looked down at the bent over Jounin and said "Kakashi, I've already been to the battleground. Everyone is dead. Gai, Shikamaru, everyone. I'm heading back to Konoha. We need to give this information to Tsunade."

Kakashi's eyes went wide in shock. "No" he softly whispered, unable to believe that they had all been taken out so quickly.

Jiraiya nodded. "I hate to say it, but it's true. Naruto is tearing up the corpses right now for his own sick pleasure, but he'll come after us soon enough. We have to get a good head start if we want to get to Konoha before he does. It's absolutely VITAL that we don't get caught Kakashi!"

The Jounin shook his head and said "No. I'm staying here. I'm not going to let that bastard get away with this!"

Jiraiya ground his teeth and said "Listen here! I'm going back to get this crucial information back to Konoha, and YOU'RE COMING WITH ME! This is no time for you to fall into a suicidal slump! I need you to watch my back as we get back home. Even I wouldn't take on one of those guys alone if I could avoid it."

Kakashi looked at Jiraiya and said "Why do you have to go back to Konoha sir? You could easily head to a safe house and use your summons to get the report back to Tsunade."

The elder ninja nodded and said "That's true, but I can't send the most important thing. I have to get back to Konoha or else the book will fall into Naruto's hands!"

Kakashi immediately tensed up when he heard those words. He looked at the man and said "But, the book was taken from you, wasn't it Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya backed up a step and said "W-who told you that? I've always had it with me, I won it at the auction."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed and said "You told me yourself. This can only mean one thing. _You are not Jiraiya of the Sannin_." Kakashi immediately lunged with his knife, trying to plunge it into the impostor's stomach.

The fake caught Kakashi's hand at the wrist and threw him into the trunk of the tree that they were standing on. Wood splintered, but Kakashi jumped before a fist crashed into the spot where his neck was moments before.

Kakashi eyed the impostor angrily. "Who the hell are you, you piece of shit!?" He yelled in anger.

The man who Kakashi thought to be Jiraiya shifted and changed, as though his body was made of mercury. In less than two seconds, another man stood there.

He was about five foot ten, clad in a black suit, black frock shirt, black tie, and had a black hat with a black ribbon tied around it. His skin was pale, his eyes were red and sunken, and he wore immaculate black gloves upon his hands. A black whip with a long handle was coiled at his side, and black feathered wings rose up from his shoulders.

Kakashi growled "Who the hell are you?"

The man looked up at the Jounin from his lower branch and said "I am Xiphos, one of his Majesty's Midnight Visitors." Then he immediately lashed at Kakashi with the whip, drawing and striking so quickly that Kakashi couldn't even see it with his normal eye.

The whip let out a sonic boom as it moved faster than sound toward the Jounin, and as fast as Kakashi was, he wasn't that fast. Kakashi was struck across the stomach by the whip and was blown backwards. He hit the trunk of another tree with a sickening CRACK before falling all the way to the ground.

Kakashi groaned in pain as he tried to stand up. He knew without even feeling that the strike had broken several ribs, and the collision with the tree broke his left arm without a doubt. His ears were ringing and the world was blurred as Kakashi tried to stand, idly noticing the signs of a mild concussion.

Due to the ringing in his ears, he couldn't hear the minute sound of the dart that went into his neck.

Kakashi cried out in pain and looked up. He only saw the Midnight Visitor Xiphos holding part of a shaft of bamboo. 'A-a blowgun?' Kakashi thought as the world started to blur even more. Before long, the world went black and Kakashi fell to the ground.

Xiphos looked down upon the fallen Jounin and thought 'A dart soaked in three milligrams of Tetrodotoxin, enough to kill six people in minutes. That Jounin was dead within ten seconds of that dart puncturing his flesh. Definitely impressive. I only wish that I was the captain of the Midnight Visitors, he's the only one of us who has access to Batrachotoxin, a gram of that stuff can kill fifteen thousand people. _Almost twenty people per milligram._ Lucky.'

The spy and assassin sighed and muttered "Well, my job is done. Time to grab the body and report."

Xiphos swooped down and quickly gathered up the corpse, then vanished into a pool of darkness. He had to report to the Enigmas that the mission was a success, and that Hatake Kakashi had been neutralized.

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With Shikamaru

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Shikamaru woke up in the dark, he was cold, but surprisingly he was not in pain. He opened his eyes, and found himself sitting against a tree, in front of him lay a bloodied field. With a jolt, he realized that he recognized the place. 'I'm back here?!' Shikamaru thought as he looked upon the bodies of his dead friends, all of them lined up on the ground. Kiba, Tenten, Sakura, Lee, Gai.

Then he heard a voice. "So, awake already, that was quick."

Shikamaru's head jerked to the left and he saw the one who murdered all of the individuals before him. Naruto.

He instantly reacted with rage. "YOU BASTARD!" He cried as he tried to get up, but found that he was unable. Manacles of darkness bound his wrists together behind his back, and the manacles were bound to the tree. Another patch of solid blackness was covering his stomach, keeping him from bleeding.

Naruto walked over to him and said "Now then, I have something to ask of you, and you are going to answer me honestly. Where is the book? Where is the Word of Kemmler?"

Shikamaru spat at Naruto's feet and said "Go fuck yourself."

Naruto arched an eyebrow, an expression which belied his anger. "Is that so? Fine then, if you don't want to give away the information for free, I am happy to purchase it from you."

Shikamaru looked up at the huge man and said "Screw you. I wouldn't take an Ryo of your filthy money! I wouldn't touch an ounce of your blood stained gold!"

Naruto smiled, a small and cruel smile which did not reach his eyes as he said "Who said I was offering you money? I can offer you much more than that. What do you want most in this world? I can make it so."

Shikamaru looked upon him with hatred and said "The only thing I want right now is your death!"

The man sighed and said "I'm sorry, but that isn't up for discussion. However, I asked for what you wanted most, and that's not my death. Do you want to know what, in your heart of hearts, you want more than anything else?"

Shikamaru's only response was a glare, so Naruto said "No? Well, I'll tell you anyway." He leaned closer and said "What you want more than anything else, is their revival. You want your friends to walk the earth again. You want to beg their forgiveness for your pathetic performance in combat. You want them to not have died. THAT is what you want more than anything."

The Chuunin knew that Naruto's words were poison, but he could not help but listen to him. The reason he listened was for a very simple reason. Shikamaru listened because Naruto was right.

Naruto smiled and said "I can make that happen."

Shikamaru looked at Naruto in shock for a moment before he said "No you can't. Nobody can bring back the dead!"

Naruto's smile widened as he said "Ah, but you forget what I am. _I am a Necromancer_, power over the dead, master of life and death itself. A little resurrection is well within my abilities. So, feel like telling me now?"

Shikamaru grinned and said "As if you would do it. All of those people are way too dangerous for you to bring them all back, and even if I agreed, you wouldn't keep your word."

The large man sighed and said "Well, you're right, I won't bring them all back, and I definitely won't bring back Gai, I hate him with a passion. But the others, your fellow Chuunin, I am willing to bring one of them back for you. That isn't difficult."

Shikamaru glared at him, powerless, but Naruto continued "As for keeping my word, I swear that I shall keep any bargain that comes of this. You may not know this, but keeping my word is very important to me. If I break a sworn oath, my powers will weaken as a result. There's nothing but benefit in my keeping our agreement, so what do you say? A friend of yours for some information. That's an easy choice in my book."

Naruto smiled as he saw Shikamaru fighting with himself over what he should do. Naruto knew that Shikamaru would bite, his own screaming conscience wouldn't let him do otherwise.

Finally, the boy said "Swear to me that you will resurrect the person I choose after I tell you the whereabouts of the book."

Naruto's smiled once more, and this time it was genuine as he said "I swear it. Now then, the book's location."

So, Shikamaru told him. He told the man that Jiraiya had been mugged and the book stolen by a mysterious man called Ferro. After Shikamaru ended his tale, Naruto had gone completely still.

"Ferro" he whispered "You are sure that he said Ferro?"

Shikamaru nodded and replied "Definitely."

Naruto rose up, very calmly, with no expression whatsoever on his face. Then he raised his hand, his palm facing the woods to the right of Shikamaru as a flash of green light shot from his bracelet, impacting into the tree, and completely disintegrated it. The entire plant was reduced to a pile of unimaginably fine dust that sprawled over the area the tree once lived.

Shikamaru spat out some of the tree dust and he heard Naruto say "Ferro, that old lizard should get a better alias. Everyone who hears it knows that it's Ferrovax. Ugh, fucking greedy, hoarding bastard _Dragons_."

He looked up and saw Naruto muttering to himself, until he wasn't speaking Japanese, but something more guttural.

Eventually, Naruto looked down upon Shikamaru as though just realizing that he was there and said "Ah, yes, we had an agreement. Choose which of your friends you wish me to revive, and it shall be done. I shall keep my oath."

Shikamaru closed his eyes and asked "One question before I do. I was told that you could break into someone's mind like a Yamanaka, why didn't you do that to me?"

Naruto smiled and said "Well now, aren't you bright. Well, if you must know, it's EXTREMELY taxing to break a mind, especially for someone as smart as you. A resurrection is easier to pull off, it costs less energy. But, if you had refused my offer of resurrection, then breaking your mind would have been my next course of action."

Shikamaru almost shivered when he heard the blatant disregard in the Naruto's voice as he told him, quite calmly, that he would have broken into his mind should he have refused the offer.

Naruto took a deep breath and said "Okay then, I agreed to a resurrection, so who's it going to be? It has to be one of the four there, I'm not bringing back Gai."

After a long moment, Shikamaru finally said, in a quiet, broken voice "I choose…."

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So, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Plot and fighting abound! What shall happen next chapter? Who shall Shikamaru resurrect, and where is Jiraiya? Find out in the next chapter!

Oh, and for those who are wondering, Tetrodotoxin is the poison secreted by the Pufferfish, and was actually used by real ninjas. Batrachotoxin is the poison of the Golden Dart Frog, also called the Golden Poison Frog, the most poisonous animal on the planet. The lethality of these toxins is one hundred percent genuine.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	80. Chapter 80

Hello everyone, here it is, the thing that you have been holding your breath for, Kage no Naruto chapter eighty! Okay, seriously, how often have you seen EIGHTY chapters in a story? I've only seen it once, and in that case each chapter was only some two thousand words long. Oh, and let's not forget, since this is a tenth chapter, there will be an Omake at the end. Fun for all.

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Summary of last chapter

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Basically, Naruto murdered the Konoha squad. Lee, Tenten, Sakura, all of them got killed. Shikamaru got captured and made a deal with Naruto. The deal was the information on the Word of Kemmler in exchange for the Resurrection of one of his friends. Naruto has to keep his word, otherwise his powers will grow weaker. So, the only question is, who will Shikamaru choose?

On another front, Kakashi got killed by a Midnight Visitor who had shifted himself to look like Jiraiya. He never had a chance.

So then, who shall Shikamaru choose? What happened to Jiraiya? Where is Sasuke in all of this? Where are the Akatsuki? All of this shall soon be answered. READ ON, and enjoy the revelations! Oh, and don't forget to review at the end.

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With Naruto

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Naruto leaned in closer and asked "What was that?"

Shikamaru looked up and said "I said, I choose Lee. Bring him back."

Naruto nodded and then turned to the body of the spandex clad Chuunin who had minutes ago bled to death. He quickly picked up the bodies of the others, casually tossing them aside and out of the way. Then he drew his sword and cut a large circle in the ground around himself and the body, activating it with an effort of will.

Naruto felt it as the simple construct sprang up around him. It was the absolute simplest thing, even someone without talent could do it. It created a field around the user, blocking any spiritual presence from entering, or exiting. Mind you, anything physical could break it, and it wouldn't protect anyone from Ninjutsu or Genjutsu either. In this case, it was simply meant to block out external disturbances, making his job a little easier.

Naruto knelt down beside the body, well aware that Shikamaru was watching his every move, like it mattered. He was still chained to the tree, and even if he wasn't, it was his power that kept his stomach wounds from bleeding; he could undo that at any time.

It wasn't that dramatic a process, the method he used. Sure, he could have used his Necromancy to bring him back from the dead, but he used a much simpler method, the same method that he had used years and years before, to resurrect a woman by the name of Suzushiro Haruka. He put his hand to the body's shadow, carefully pressing down, into the darkness. He knew that he had to be careful here, but it wouldn't be difficult, not for a death this recent. After a week, there was nothing he could do, but this recent a death, he could have done it in his sleep.

He carefully felt around the darkness, he used the shadow as a link to find his soul. The shadow and the soul were linked, it was how a Zombie created using someone's shadow would maintain the core personality of that person, as well as any combat moves and sometimes even memories, though those eventually faded away. The longer a person was dead, the harder it was to find someone's soul, after a week the trace was gone completely. In this case, he found it in under a minute.

Shikamaru watched him carefully as he pulled a small, shining sphere out of the shadow, and then slowly, carefully, pressed it into Lee's chest.

The Nara heir's jaw dropped when Lee began coughing and sputtering, completely shocked that his friend had actually been returned from the dead. It was for that reason that he was even more shocked when he fell silent once more.

Naruto rose up from where he was kneeling, purposely broke the circle with one foot and said "There, my word has been honored, shame he died though."

Shikamaru just stared at the man before he growled and said "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE DIED!? YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD BRING HIM BACK!"

Naruto shrugged and a small, cruel smile touched his features as he said "You're right, I did, and I kept my word. I resurrected him, but he died again. What do you expect? He has barely an ounce of blood left in his body from that cut I gave him. I could have done some work on him beforehand, sure, that would have prevented him from dying of the same cause twice, but I never really intended to bring him back, or anybody for that matter."

The man walked toward the chained Chuunin, that same cruel smile still upon his face as he said "And I don't remember ever promising to let you go either. I'm surprised that you forgot to mention something like that in our negotiations, very sloppy of you."

Naruto's smile widened as Shikamaru went pale as a sheet. He murmured to himself "Good, you have knowledge enough, at least, to be afraid. That shows something about you at least, not that it makes much difference."

Shikamaru only glared at the man in horrible rage. Naruto knew that if Shikamaru had his way, he would have been killed in a manner so painful that it could only be explained with an encyclopedia of tortures, a thesaurus, and a copy of Grey's Anatomy. 'But, he's not going to have his way.' Naruto thought to himself as he drew a knife from his belt.

Naruto walked around Shikamaru, toward his side so that he could get a better angle on his throat. He loved the feel of the knife in his hand, the same Benz knife that he had purchased in town. Much more durable and deadly that any clumsy ninja kunai. He drew the knife to Shikamaru's carotid artery, the blade just touching the skin.

Then Naruto suddenly jumped to the side, putting at least twenty feet between him and his intended victim.

The reason why was obvious as a small light brown object soared into the space where Naruto's head was moments before and exploded.

When the dust cleared, Naruto spared Shikamaru a glance. He had taken the blast head on from less than a foot away, he was way past dead. Every bit of exposed flesh was the color of burnt hamburger, and the scent of burnt hair and scorched meat was floating on the breeze.

Naruto faced the two who had launched the attack, the two who had been hiding in the trees for the last few moments of the fight, long enough to see him kill Sakura, but nothing before that.

He recognized the pair of them and his lips peeled back from his teeth as he realized who they were, and the full force of his hatred could be felt. Naruto knew the pair of them, there was a score to be settled.

Deidara, and Akasuna no Sasori were standing against him. Sasori's voice sounded, deep and gravelly, "You idiot Deidara, you should learn to make those foolish bombs of yours harder to detect."

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With Jiraiya

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Jiraiya was keeping track of events from quite a distance. He was a little over a mile away from the place where Naruto ambushed everyone. He could have closed in sooner, but he took his time to be prepared. He had sat against a tree, and stopped moving completely in order to draw in Natural Energy.

He knew that in order to fight Naruto, he would need Sage Mode in order to keep up with his speed and strength, so he kept there for a long time in order to create as much Sage Chakra as possible. Normally, he would have called up the Elder Toads so that he could draw in energy on the go, but he knew that the pair was not available at the moment. Right now, they were preparing the hiding place for the book for when he got it there, to make sure that nobody would find it, and would be impossible to summon until he got there in person and told them what happened.

It takes a long time in order to draw in Natural Energy, and Jiraiya's internal conflict didn't help the process, making the process take even longer. Eventually, despite the interference that he himself caused, he finally drew in enough Energy to use Sage Mode. After he did so, he could sense the chakra of all things around him, and that was when he discovered the terrible truth of what had happened.

Simply put, he could not sense the chakra of any Konoha ninja. There were only two explanations for such a thing, either they were out of his sensory range, or they were dead. Jiraiya knew that it was not the former of the two explanations, they never would have been able to get that far that quickly, not with Naruto on their tails. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that everyone he had brought with him, Gai and Kakashi included, were dead.

Jiraiya let out a fierce, rough scream of frustration, pain, and guilt before he stood and punched the tree that was right in front of him, easily shattering the frail wood and causing the plant to fall to the ground. He clenched his teeth and did his best to control the surge of monstrous rage that ran through him at the revelation of the truth. Then he cast out his enhanced senses once more, looking for the man who killed them all.

He found him, and what he felt in that moment froze Jiraiya to his core, his anger evaporating in an instant when he felt it.

He felt three chakra signatures, each of them distinct, all of them extremely large compared to most people. The first was a cold, rational calm, something practical, methodical, and efficient. The second one was fiery, it reveled in passion, it lusted after something, what it was he could not tell beyond that it was impossible to truly grasp. It was simple how he knew this, something that wild and uncontrolled would only end up destroying what it wanted not long after obtaining it. He had no idea who the two of them were, only that they were dangerous.

It was the third that made the man's blood run cold. The signature he felt was MASSIVE, and the sheer disgusting power of the aura struck him like a hammer blow between the eyes.

Try to imagine the stench of rotten meat. Imagine the languid, arrhythmic pulsing of a corpse filled with maggots. Imagine the scent of stale body odor mixed with mildew, the sounds of nails screeching across a chalkboard, the taste of rotten milk, and the flavor of spoiled fruit.

Now imagine that you could experience all those things at once, in excruciating detail.

That was what Jiraiya felt at that moment: a stomach churning, nightmare-inducing mass, blazing like a lighthouse beacon. He could vaguely make out a physical form behind it, but it was like trying to peer through raw sewage. He couldn't get any details from the nauseating aura of power that surrounded the third figure, the haze of absolute _wrongness_ that surrounded it

Someone screamed, and Jiraiya realized that it was probably himself, then the next thing he knew he was laying on the ground facing the sky, his Sage Mode deactivated.

Jiraiya shuddered and noticed a wetness on his cheeks. 'Have I been crying?' He had a feeling that it was either that or he had started to foam at the mouth, which in all honesty was a distinct possibility.

'Heavens above, what on God's green Earth _was_ that thing?' He asked himself as he staggered to get himself vertical.

Even brushing against the subject brought the memory of what he had seen crashed to the forefront of his mind, the thing that he had exposed his mind to, and the scars they left behind, the sheer hideous terror that the thing caused hammered him back to the ground. He could feel his body shaking against his will at the presence he had felt.

He knew that it was the most horrible and wrong thing that he had ever felt. Kyuubi's chakra was sinister, it wanted to destroy, but at least it felt like it had a place in existence, one could understand it on some level and expect the same. This _thing_ was different. It was worse that Kyuubi could ever be, something beyond horrible, something alien and terrible that wanted its own goals fulfilled no matter what, doing whatever it had to do or wanted to do to get what it wanted. A creature that was not human, and could not comprehend them, just as they could not comprehend it.

What was even worse was that he knew what it was, he knew what it had been at one point.

Jiraiya grabbed onto a nearby tree as he pulled himself up. As he did, he muttered "Minato, what has your son _become_?"

Then he saw it again.

When he woke up, he was at the base of the tree again, facing the sky, everything was a bit louder than usual.

The man quickly tried to stand, doing his best to avoid the subject in his thoughts, to avoid the inescapable memory of the thing that had scarred him as it had, he desperately moved through the woods, toward the second reverse-summoning position that he had set up in case the first one was compromised, desperately trying to have his thoughts avoid the subject of the creature that he had seen.

Only one thought passed through his mind 'I must escape, no matter the cost.'

No thoughts went to his fallen comrades, avenging them, or doing anything for them. His only thoughts were for his own self preservation.

It was primal human instinct taking over to make sure that the individual survived.

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With Naruto

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Naruto stood across from the pair of Akatsuki as he said "So then, you stand before me at last. Akasuna no Sasori, yes?"

Sasori moved his head about half an inch and said "How do you know me?"

Naruto smiled a cold little smile as he brought his rage under control as best he could. He told the man "You once robbed me of two very useful retainers, and I have never been able to adequately replace them, no matter how hard I try. There will be recompense for your actions, which directly caused them to abandon me. I am going to kill you Akasuna no Sasori, it is as simple as that."

If Sasori could have, he would have smiled at the comment. However, due to a combination of factors, he could not. The puppet master did say however "A young stripling like yourself could not hope to best me, or even Deidara for that matter. The pair of us are more than sufficient to defeat you."

Deidara smiled at Sasori's words, his hands in his clay pouches. "That's right, you haven't got a chance in hell KYUUBI!" The man shouted as he took his hands out of the pouches, the clay already eaten and molded into birds, most of which he threw toward Naruto, enlarging them as they moved forward at lightning speed.

Naruto however was unfazed. He swept his left hand toward the birds, and rather than the usual green blast, he shaped the energy into a wide field in front of him, the air taking on a gel-like consistency. The birds carelessly flew straight into it, and flew out in uncountable pieces, each of which detonated with all the force of a firecracker.

Naruto smiled at the pointless effort. Unlike his other shield, which was made to stop things cold, this one used the same mechanics of his disintegrating blasts, principles of entropy and water. Instead of stopping them cold, they shattered things with their own momentum, breaking up the force into thousands of pieces, the energy of each individual being negligible. He could not simply make their energy go away after all, everything had to obey the laws of physics. 'I have always wondered what would happen if a human ran into this thing.' Naruto thought, his curiosity peaked at the possibility.

Deidara didn't look surprised at the failure of his attack, instead he tossed his last bird onto the ground, and with a handseal enlarged it before he jumped on its back and took to the sky.

Naruto quickly brought up darkness in front of him to stop poisoned needles from Sasori as Deidara ascended. 'So, that's their plan.' He realized 'get him into the air, and then attack from the sky and ground simultaneously. Simple, but effective. However, they overlooked a factor.'

While his shield of darkness was being assaulted by the poisoned needles, Naruto made a quick gesture toward the ground at his feet, and as it had numerous times before, his shadow rose up from the ground. It looked as it always did, exactly like Naruto but completely black, its eyes, its clothes, everything was completely pitch black and reflected no light.

Without a word, the shadow sprouted wings, its shape changing into something else. Within moments, a small figure stood there, only two feet tall, but with viciously sharp claws upon both hands and feet, its shape vaguely humanoid as it thrust itself into the air, its small size allowing it great speed.

He looked up at the near-living darkness and smiled as he said to himself "They always forget, when they fight me they are fighting two."

Naruto turned his attention toward Sasori, he waited for a moment and then muttered "Soru" and vanished from behind the shield with incredible speed.

The shield collapsed the moment that he was no longer concentrating on it, and Sasori was quick enough to spot the movement, to be able to see him at least in part and his poisoned projectiles tracked toward Naruto immediately. Unfortunately, they were of little effect.

Naruto went back and forth in a quick zigzag pattern, moving an inch ahead of the sharp points and the lethal toxin they carried. He jumped through the air above them, and then when they followed him he muttered "Gepou" and used the air as a stepping stone for a moment, moving out of the way and ever closer toward Sasori.

It was when he got within about fifty feet that things changed.

Sasori was spewing the poisoned needles from Hiruko's open mouth, carefully keeping his eye on Naruto and keeping the needles near him, knowing full well that the odds of him actually hitting his opponent with them were near zero. Even if he did hit, he knew that they wouldn't be very effective. Naruto's coat was specially enhanced to act as a powerful armor, stopping most attacks dead in their tracks. With the coat buttoned up as it was, unless he managed to hit Naruto in the face or neck, they would simply bounce off of him. The puppet master knew this in advance, and knew that the needles wouldn't work, but he did not live this long for nothing. The needles simply kept the target thinking that his only attack was ineffective, luring them into a false sense of security while he prepared his real weapon, the weapon that he had chosen specifically with that coat in mind.

Naruto bounded around the needles, eventually jumping off of the air directly toward him when he was close enough, using one hand to redirect the poisoned metal tail that the Nukenin sent his way when he got close. Eventually, he was within thirty feet, more than close enough.

Sasori lifted his right arm, the arm that wasn't loaded with needles, and the hand of the arm popped off on a hinge, revealing the hollow interior through which his chose weapon issued forth, aimed a little higher than his enemy at high speed.

Naruto didn't recognize the weapon as it headed toward him, and in the second that he had, he did not realize the danger that it presented. It was a small silver sphere, nothing special. About the size of an orange, he didn't know what it was until it was too late.

The weapon went high, over his head, and Naruto felt that his opponent missed.

Then it exploded with an extremely loud bang.

The concussive force from the shockwave slammed Naruto into the ground like a sledgehammer blow from a giant, and he landed flat on his face.

He laid there, stunned for a moment, his ears ringing as stars crossed his vision. He pressed against the ground and tried to stand, trying to ignore the blaring pain in his nose as he staggered to his feet.

The moment he was vertical a shining metal tail whipped toward him, striking him down his front, but due to the coat it did no damage.

Unfortunately, doing damage was not the purpose of the attack. It struck each of the buttons on the coat in that one swing, cutting them off and causing the garment to fall open before the rain of needles continued.

Naruto immediately did what he always did when things got sour. He used his Kagemusha and vanished, replaced with his shadow.

The man appeared in the sky opposite a pissed off Deidara before he started falling toward the ground. He immediately used the darkness that he kept layered inside of his coat, shaping it into a pair of leathery wings upon his back that he used to stop his fall and gain some altitude as he worked out what happened.

Almost immediately he figured it out. 'A concussion grenade, very smart of you Sasori.' Sasori had figured out that the coat was meant to stop projectiles, needles, knives, claws, fangs, even weaker Ninjutsu would be completely ineffective. However, it didn't protect its wearer at all against the concussive blast of the grenade, hence why Sasori picked it when he prepared his weapons for the confrontation.

Naruto then directed his attention toward his nose, which was still causing him incredible agony, as was a good amount of the rest of his head. He brought his hand up to his nose and sighed before he winced in the pain that it caused. 'Shit, it's broken, and out of place too. Fuck this is going to hurt.'

He took a breath and held it as he quickly moved the thing back into place with a soft 'crack'. Immediately the pain it caused blared through his mind and he clenched his teeth over a scream. Before long, the pain dulled to an irritating, persistent ache as he felt over the rest of his head, which was still hurting. Eventually he diagnosed a couple of burns on the back of his neck, several nicks and scratches, and a few rather bad bruises on his face and forehead. His hat was also gone.

He sighed in irritation at the attack, and its aftermath. It had happened so fast that his shadow shield hadn't kicked in. 'Well, at least this will heal quickly.' He thought to himself as he turned to face his other opponent, who was just launching his first volley of attacks.

While Naruto had been fighting Sasori, his shadow had been running Deidara ragged. The small, speedy shadow had attacked him like a harpy, constant, quick darting attacks, leaving small slashes behind wherever it hit. No matter what tactic he tried, he could never seem to land a hit on the small, speedy opponent. The one time he DID land a hit, the thing only reformed from the pieces it had been blown into. After that, Deidara decided to simply avoid it to conserve his clay. When he saw that he had a new opponent, his actual target, rather than the speedy demon from before, he was ecstatic. He had several scratches and cuts on his forearm, each of them releasing a steady stream of blood that ran down his arm, and a single cut on his forehead, which bled a lot until he sealed it up with a skin colored bandage, an item from the small medical kit he kept on his person. However, he still had a line of dried blood on his face as he launched the explosives into the air.

Naruto frowned when he saw the birds headed toward him, and took a handful of kunai from a pocket in his coat. Unlike most ninja, who threw them in a vast volley that didn't give much force or precision to any of them, he aimed each one carefully, throwing them individually, and his patience was rewarded when each knife hit its target, causing the airborne explosives to explode prematurely, as well as causing several others to explode due to the proximity.

He soared through the air toward his enemy, holding one fist in front of him and aiming carefully before triggering one of the rings on his fingers, aiming at the bird his opponent was riding.

Deidara didn't know why, but he knew that he sensed danger and moved upward, avoiding the invisible threat as he prepared his next salvo.

The former Jinchuuriki forced himself to be calm, and to ignore the pain in his head as well as the irritation that he felt when his attack missed. He moved through the air with the grace of a hawk thanks to years of practice and closed on the large clay bird, his target being the creator of the monstrosity. Deidara of course saw him coming and altered his course, using chakra to stick to the bird's back as it performed various aerial feats of acrobatics to throw off his attacker, who followed him relentlessly.

Deidara looked down toward his partner and saw Sasori fighting the same thing he had been facing before, Naruto's shadow, this time in the form of a large octopus-like creature that Sasori was keeping at bay with his needles, each one chewing out scoops of flesh that quickly grew back in.

Then the self-proclaimed artist smiled when he felt that the clay was done, and he quickly molded it in his hands, imbuing it with chakra as he did so, shaping his creations into a number of small and, above all else, quick and agile explosives.

Naruto saw his opponent's arms move and fell back immediately, knowing that he would soon launch his next attack. True to form, Deidara threw the numerous bombs into the air, small for a moment before they grew several times bigger, this time in the shape of small airborne insects that scattered in all directions.

The Akatsuki member smiled when he saw Naruto fall back from his creations. There were only six of them, but each of them was small, fast, agile, and above all else, dense. Each of them were made of the same amount of clay as creations several times their size, making the explosion all the more powerful for being packed in so tightly.

Naruto saw something out of the corner of his eye and raised his shield in pure reflex as the clay insect bounced off of it and exploded, sending him back about five feet from the force of it. He noted that the explosion was larger than it should have been, given their size. Then he put the thought together with their small number and the large amount of clay he saw Deidara shaping to come up with what happened.

'So, they're all extremely dense hmm? That makes this easy.' Naruto thought as he put his defense into motion. He pointed his palm at the ground, and from a distance, used his abilities. Darkness slithered from the shadows of the trees and grass, forming a large disk upon the ground about three meters across. Then he increased the force that the darkness had, creating a powerful gravitational pull over the area above the circle.

Every time one of the insects entered the area of higher gravity in an attempt to get to Naruto in the center, the gravity pulled them down, their density being their downfall as their wings couldn't keep their weight aloft under such force. One by one, the clay insects dropped and detonated harmlessly on the ground below. Once they were all gone, Naruto turned his attention back to the airborne Akatsuki member.

He raised one hand, and the palm grew pitch black as he muttered "Kurouzu"

Deidara felt the pull as Naruto drew him in against his will, his only thought at the moment being how to escape from the pull. Then a thought hit him, and he stopped trying, letting the pull do its work. The only thing he did was change the bird's angle, showing its belly to Naruto and hiding Deidara from sight.

Naruto sensed something was wrong, but ignored it as he aimed one of the rings at Deidara, and triggered it, sending a powerful blast of pure kinetic energy at the Akatsuki. The blast hit the bird, and the bird immediately exploded, violently. When the dust cleared, there was nothing behind.

He narrowed his eyes and looked around, carefully. That was far too easy.

Unfortunately, he realized that he was right as a small brown bird exploded not in his face, but upon one of his wings, shredding the appendage.

Naruto looked toward where the bomb came from and saw Deidara below him, riding a new bird. Then Naruto looked down further, upon the ground, and saw how Deidara escaped.

It was the circle of darkness that Naruto had created to destroy the insects, it was still active and Naruto's Kurouzu had pulled Deidara right over it. He had used the gravitational pull of the ground to escape the pull toward Naruto, falling willingly and then created a bird with strong enough wings to escape the field.

Naruto glared at the Akatsuki member and used 'Gepou' to keep airborne, jumping off the air again and again, alternating which foot he used as he slowly ascended, gathering the darkness the attack took from his wing back to the appendage to regain flight. While he could use Gepou continuously to stay airborne, it took constant effort to do so, each use of the technique slowly draining him of stamina, it wasn't Ninjutsu or anything else, it was like the Eight Gates, requiring constant physical effort. With the wings, it was only the energy expenditure to form them. They were much more energy efficient.

Deidara however had no intention of allowing his enemy to regain the capability of flight. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a number of small clay birds, throwing them into the air as they grew and plunged toward his enemy.

Deidara had learned long ago that his creations took time to form, and that time could mean life or death on the battlefield. So as a precaution he had created a number of sculptures that he brought, pre-made, into battle in case an enemy should attempt to attack him while he was preparing his next attack. The tactic had saved his life several times before now.

Naruto frowned at the incoming bombs and took the darkness of his remaining wing, dissolving it and forming it into a sphere that quickly elongated, shooting through the air as it grew from his hand, going through one bomb after another in moments. In a few seconds, every clay bird was impaled on the tendril of darkness before they all exploded simultaneously, annihilating the structure.

Naruto shrugged and drew in the scraps of darkness that the tendril was blown into, gathering them together to form his other wing as his first wing was completed.

Deidara gritted his teeth in anger as he saw his creations once more destroyed, not doing any damage to his enemy. 'Damn it all, no matter what I throw at him he just destroys it! The only things I can think of would be the C3 and C4, but those would hit Sasori no Danna. SHIT!'

He had his bird increase its altitude quickly to avoid a burst of green energy from one of Naruto's bracelets, then he felt the entire construct be shunted to the side as it was hit by a blast of invisible force, projected from one of Naruto's rings.

Naruto smiled as the bird began to fall. He was a bit disappointed that it didn't explode however. 'It makes no difference' he thought to himself as he drew his staff from within his coat, the gnarled wood rough and familiar to his hand. 'I will soon end this foolishness.' Naruto spread his now completed wings, black against the sun as he swooped down upon his falling target.

Deidara was running damage control as best he could, trying to get the bird out of its desperate death spiral as it plunged toward the ground. Then he saw Naruto coming at him from above and cursed under his breath, reaching into a pocket inside of the Akatsuki cloak for his contingency plan.

He found it, and threw it to the side as Naruto closed the distance, jumping upon the pre-formed bird that he kept just in case. He flew back from the falling bird before he detonated it, causing smoke to cover the area immediately around it. He frowned when he saw Naruto come straight through the dust toward him.

Deidara urged the bird to fly faster, to get as much distance from Naruto as possible. Then he looked back and saw Naruto as he prepared his next strike.

Naruto held the staff in front of him, the runes upon it shining a soft silver light as he shouted "LUFT!" and swung the staff like a bat through the air in front of him.

The result was a gale force wind sent straight at the Akatsuki member.

The sudden gust of air was enough to send the bird off-balance, and Deidara desperately tried to regain control and stay airborne.

His efforts were rendered futile by a blast of green energy that ripped through the stomach of the bird, taking out one of the wings completely and damaging the other.

Deidara didn't have the time or the air to scream as he plunged toward the hard ground below the pair.

Naruto watched the Akatsuki member fall for a moment before he turned and set his mind to his next task, killing the one he really wanted to kill.

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With Sasuke

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Sasuke and his group had finally reached the base where he killed Orochimaru, and wasn't surprised to find the place abandoned.

As he wandered through the halls he had lived in the past several months, moving toward the room where Orochimaru kept his records, he detected a horrible odor in the air. The others smelled it as well. Suigetsu was the only one to mention it. "Man, what is that fucking smell?" the man whined as he clutched at his nose.

Sasuke would have sighed, but it would have caused him to inhale more of the rancid scent. He replied however "That is most likely Orochimaru's body decaying."

Then they reached the room where Orochimaru stored his intelligence on the enemy, and seeing that it was heavily locked, Sasuke simply cut through the hinges with his Chidori sword.

"Okay" he muttered as he kicked the door in "Let's see what we can find out about those bastards."

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OMAKE: The Thousand Narutos

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Naruto was looking through a book on seals when he found something interesting. 'Hmm, Dimension-breaking seal. Sounds interesting'

So, Naruto drew the seal on the floor, and activated it, causing its effects to take place.

The following image was burned into his mind.

There were hundreds of versions of him, every one of them different.

There was one with an ANBU mask and a black cloak, holding a sword with an eye in the hilt. There was one with a breathing mask and gauntlets, his red eyes searching as he held two swords in his hands. Another had a white mask like a skull with very long teeth, three small horns upon the forehead and a noose around its neck. Another was sleeping, another was wearing a white coat, another seemed to be completely controlled by the Kyuubi, another was dressed as a puppet, his arms and body looking wooden. Many others looked like the Yondaime, another was wearing the robes of the Mizukage, another of the Raikage, others had mask fragments and tattoos of numbers, others seemed like a mix between fox and man, while still maintaining a humanoid shape. Several wore the Akatsuki robes, though they didn't look like they had the mentality to be one, or deserved to be one.

The great majority of them however, about ninety five percent of them, were wearing earrings, leather and looking at the other men with lust in their eyes.

Naruto quickly canceled the seal and the numerous copies vanished.

Naruto panted as he thought 'Who is sick enough to create such monstrosities?' Then he burned the book, went to bed and tried to forget the incident.

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Okay, so there's the chapter. The Akatsuki have received Tsunade's message and have attacked! What shall Sasuke learn? What happened to Jiraiya? Will Deidara survive? What shall become of Sasori? All of this shall be revealed next chapter. In the meantime, review.

By the way, a gift will go to the first man to name the stories all of the characters in the Omake come from, the ones individually mentioned. I think that the moral of the Omake is obvious for those who read even barely between the lines.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	81. Chapter 81

Read the chapter, enjoy it, review it at the end. Welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter eighty one. Sorry this chapter took so long to get out, for some reason I couldn't really get into my usual stride. Eh, it happens to the best of us at some point. Enjoy the chapter.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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More Nagato backstory, nothing more. The only interesting thing in the chapter was that Nagato was somewhat justified in killing Hanzo, because he forced Nagato to murder Yahiko otherwise he would kill Konan. Oh, and it turns out that the Rikudou Sennin was a priest. Aside from that, nothing new.

Oh, and the latest chapter of Bleach is AWESOME, that is all I will say.

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Summary of last chapter

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Long story short, Jiraiya ran off, Shikamaru got shafted and killed, and Naruto fought Sasori and Deidara. Deidara is incapacitated, Sasori is more or less unharmed. Meanwhile, Sasuke is trying to gather information on Naruto. That's about it.

Enjoy the chapter

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With Naruto

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Naruto watched Deidara fall through the trees, and then he turned to face his second foe. He focused upon Akasuna no Sasori and once again felt terrible rage. Rage at a pathetic mortal who would dare raise its hand against him, rage for a thief who dared to steal from him. At that moment, if Naruto could have had anybody, ANYBODYU in the world killed, it would have been Sasori.

With that mindset, he flapped his black wings and gained altitude, soaring over his hated foe, he waited a moment, getting the timing right and then he swooped down upon the old puppet master.

Sasori was busy fending off Naruto's shadow, firing his poisoned needles into the black mass in what he knew was a futile effort, but he couldn't do anything else at the moment. To stop would be to let the thing attack, and the Suna Nuke-nin knew that such a thing would be dangerous to the extreme.

He had no idea what was happening when Naruto flew down from the skies like an angel of death and chopped off his head.

For Sasori the world suddenly went dark, and realizing what happened the man manipulated a string in a particular fashion, causing the mask shaped armored back of the puppet to jettison from the main body thanks to several small explosives under the edges of the mask exploding simultaneously. Sasori then jumped out of the doomed puppet moments before the thing was swallowed by Naruto's shadow.

The puppet master immediately located Naruto in the skies above him before he jumped back from the shadow's second attack, cursing under his breath as he did so.

Naruto observed Sasori from above, intrigued by the sudden change of his enemy. He knew that Sasori was hiding his real form inside of that puppet, what he didn't know was that the man was so young. From the information he obtained from Orochimaru, Sasori was supposed to be in his early fifties, but the man before him now looked no older than twenty, twenty five at the most.

He watched as Sasori lifted his left hand and his eyes widened in surprise as a torrent of flame spewed from his hand, clinging to and burning his shadow.

Naruto flinched as he felt a phantom pain from the shadow and heard its shrill shriek of agony as it was exposed to the flames. Naruto knew what he had to do and immediately descended behind his shadow as it was being engulfed in the flames. He went through a few handseals before he muttered "Doton: Doryuuheki" and slammed his palms into the ground, causing a wall of earth and rock to emerge from the ground before Sasori, cutting off the attack as it burned his shadow, limiting the damage to some extent.

The blonde snapped his fingers and willed the shadow to return to him, and he sighed in annoyance as the black mass returned to his feet, assuming his shape upon the ground. Then he jumped backwards as a puppet attacked him from the side, claws extended and coated in lethal poison.

Naruto reacted with instant violence, sending a green blast from his left bracelet that disintegrated the puppet where it floated in the air before Naruto landed a few feet away, immediately searching the nearby area for Sasori, mentally berating himself for making such a mistake. 'Of all the people to let out of my sight, it had to be HIM, the one member of the Akatsuki that fights from the shadows. God, I can be such an idiot sometimes. THERE!'

Naruto sent a blast of force from one of his rings into the bushes and was rewarded with the solid 'thunk' of wood, followed by the sound of wood breaking as the puppet hit a tree, but Naruto then felt a sudden pain in his leg.

He hissed and turned, spotting the severed head of the Hiruko puppet that he destroyed floating in the air for a moment before it began to spew poisoned needles down upon him again. Naruto lifted his right bracelet and using it he set up a shield, an invisible steel hard barrier between him and the needles. As the lengths of metal bounced off of the invisible barrier, Naruto timed things carefully and let the shield drop for but a moment, sending through a blast before putting up the shield again, and smiled a bit when the head was destroyed.

That smile turned to a grimace when the pain in his leg throbbed, causing him to look down at the injury. Then he cursed.

The wound was small, but a single needle from Hiruko was stuck in the back of his leg, just above the ankle, a few centimeters below the hem of his coat. He pulled out the needle immediately, but he knew that the poison was already in his system. He didn't know how it would react to his body, but he knew that regardless of what happened, now he couldn't allow this battle to take much longer.

Naruto sighed and said under his breath "I really don't like doing this kind of stuff." He didn't like using wide area attacks, but he had them when he needed them, and he had no desire to go hunting Sasori through the woods.

Naruto called upon his power, and darkness swirled around him, turning the area dark as it absorbed the light from the world around him, and his very body turned black as coal as the light did not reflect off of his body. There seemed to be a haze of darkness around him, like a powder floating through the air as darkness squirmed under his feet.

He lifted both hands into the air, and then pressed them both into the ground as he muttered "Burakkhuho-ru" and sent darkness spreading throughout the area, dark as a hole in the ground, spreading beneath the trees with him as its epicenter, covering the earth in a black curtain.

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With Sasuke

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Sasuke walked through the kicked down door and entered a small room that was made entirely from book cases. Every one of the cases was filled with black binders of a uniform size, each of them having a slip of paper on the spine listing what information that particular binder contained.

The Uchiha activated his Sharingan to compensate for the darkness that flooded the room and scanned the spines for the information he was looking for, muttering the titles to himself under his breath.

"Let's see, 'Mizu no Kuni Operations', 'Chuunin Exam infiltration', 'List of New Konoha Gennin', 'Konoha Residential Sector Blueprints', 'Prisoner Listings'…."

Sasuke continued looking through the various binders until he finally found the ones he was looking for. The binders marked 'Akatsuki Information' and 'Tsuchi no Kuni Operations', there was no binder on Naruto. He grabbed said binders, which was difficult since they were both rather thick, and headed back out the way they came, hurrying toward the exit of the base though trying to appear as if he wasn't in a hurry. HE wouldn't admit it, but Orochimaru's corpse positively _reeked_.

A few hours later, the four members of the team had made their way to a nearby town and had rented a room at a hotel so that Sasuke could go through the binders undisturbed.

Jugo and Suigetsu went out to do recon on the town and keep a lookout while Karin stayed in the room with Sasuke, though he ignored her. The Uchiha went over to a small writing desk in the corner of the room and sat down, putting the two binders in front of him.

He quickly flicked through the 'Akatsuki Information' binder, but closed it after he didn't find anything useful. The contents of the binder mainly had to do with their last known locations, where they were spotted in the past, and lists of their contacts. Orochimaru was apparently planning to take the organization out in one fell swoop once he had gathered enough information and resources. As useful as it could be to some however, it ill suited Sasuke's needs. Although it did list information on the individual members of the group, and there was indeed a section on Itachi, it contained nothing that the younger Uchiha didn't know already.

So, Sasuke opened the second binder and was forced to file through loads of information of Tsuchi no Kuni before Naruto's takeover. It was very extensive, but it bore no mention of Naruto save for a brief mention over five years ago where he was seen in Tsuchi no Kuni, supposedly kidnapping the Rokubi Jinchuuriki at the time, Kikukawa Yukino, as well as stealing the corpse of one of their Jounin, Suzushiro Haruka.

After a while though, Sasuke turned a page and the information he found was more recent, detailing things as they were now as opposed to years ago.

Sasuke read through this section intently, going through maps and written reports from Orochimaru's many agents. Most of it had to do with the about the daily lifestyle of the people and what Naruto seemed to be doing, which Sasuke found helpful. He learned that Naruto was turning it into a gigantic factory, bleeind the country dry of its natural resources to forge more goods. He learned about the command structure, how there was what was called a 'Colonel' in command of each major town with a 'General' commanding the entire country from the Capital. Naruto had very little personal interaction with his country, preferring to pass down orders from above.

The Uchiha continued to flip through the pages of information until he came to what he was looking for. Building plans and schematics.

He found the blueprints and specs for what appeared to be a highly armored vehicle, complete with a mounted turret that would launch anti-armor 'shells', as well as explosive mortars. Sasuke frowned at the entire thing, it moved on two treads and weiged several tons according to the schematics, but it would move very quickly, and would be extremely dangerous. It was marked as being a 'Light Tank'. There was a note upon the blueprints 'There have also been confirmed plans for a Medium Tank model and Heavy Tank model. There are rumored plans of a 'Destroyer Tank' class also being build, but are not confirmed.'

Sasuke was aghast at the sort of things that such weapons would be capable of. 'If he built enough of them, he would be able to conquer the world in a matter of years! That's not saying anything of what the other classes would do, or any other weapons he might be building.'

Sasuke looked at the plan again and saw a heart sinking number. 'Number to be constructed in the next year: ten thousand, Light'.

He combed over the blueprints in search of a weakness, and he quickly found one. Sasuke smiled when he saw it, it was obvious. 'Each tank has a rear-mounted radiator that acts as an engine and a heat emission point! It's not armored at all because covering it would mean the tank overheating, so they are the most vulnerable point on the machine! Hell, if you hit the thing hard enough, you would cripple the tank, or even cause a chain reaction and make it explode! This is a monumental weakness!' Sasuke knew not to get too excited however, the weakness was glaringly obvious, and that meant only one thing, the enemy knew of it too. No doubt that the tank pilots would protect their rears, and troops would have orders to protect the area as well. There was still the matter of hitting the radiator hard enough to cause the chain reaction as well.

Then Sasuke flipped the page and came across something that made him smile. **(1)** There was a note that said 'source died for information', and the note was stuck to a packet of papers. The first page read in big red letters 'TOP SECRET' and below that it read 'ATW- Anti-Tank Weaponry'.

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With Naruto

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By Naruto's will and power, the veil of darkness spread, slowly at first but quickly gaining speed. It went under the trees, under the grass, under everything upon the ground.

And wherever the darkness passed, everything was taken in.

The trees toppled under the dark gravity, and splintered as they broke under their own weight before they vanished into the cloud beneath them. Animals dropped to their knees before falling, their hearts unable to take the pressure, their lungs unable to breath the heavy air, insects fell from the sky, birds dropped from nests in the trees and from above the clouds, grass vanished under the dark veil that Naruto created.

And while the darkness was indeed under everything, it was also above many things.

Worms and other subterranean life was sucked out of the ground and into the cloud of compressing death, bones were heard to snap for a moment before they vanished into the void, rocks, stones, the very earth itself was drawn in and crushed into the abyss.

This was the power of darkness, this was Naruto's power above all else. The ability to take things in, without limit, without discrimination.

And along all of that life, all of the animals, plants, and earth taken into the rapidly expanding pool of infinite blackness, several hundred puppets were also drawn into the death trap, unable to escape it no matter how much their irritated creator tried to help them avoid it.

Sasori was much faster when he was outside of Hiruko, and had managed to avoid the spreading darkness. He ground his teeth in irritation as he watched the vortex grow larger and he felt yet another puppet be destroyed, the strings controlling it going limp. He raised his hand and sent a lance of flame toward the incoming void, and his anger increased as he saw the flame vanish into the darkness, just as everything else did.

The old puppet master turned to run again, but then something happened, a change in the attack.

There was a pulse of chakra, just a single pulse that served as a warning of what was to come, and Sasori had the bare minimum of time to prepare for what happened next.

The darkness stopped advancing, the ever hungry abyss that had devoured everything in its path had stopped. Then, as though somebody pressed a switch, the gravity that the abyss used to take in its victims increased in both scale and area of influence. Now, it was drawing in _everything_ around it, not just what was above or what was below.

The Akatsuki member dug in his heels and did his best to fight the pull that was directed against him, grabbing onto a tree in order to give him a better foothold.

That didn't last long as the tree he grabbed began to buckle, and then snapped as almost everything above the roots was ripped forward and into the abyss.

Sasori took the hit from the tree on his right shoulder, and he growled in irritation as he heard the 'click' of a broken part, but he put it out of his mind and pushed as much chakra as he could into his feet to make them stick to the ground while digging in his heels, hoping that the ground itself wouldn't give way to the oppressive darkness that he now faced.

Despite the immense pressure upon him trying to force him forward, Sasori stood his ground until the dark gravity finally stopped pulling him in. Then, without warning the darkness began to recede. It was pulled back towards its source, and what it left behind left Sasori in wonder.

It was nothing. The darkness took in everything, above and below. When it receded, all it left was an immense hole in the ground so deep that he could not see the bottom, and so wide that he could barely see the other side. His mind raced with the possibilities that sort of power would allow its wielder. It had taken everything it had touched, and left _nothing_ behind. Whatever it was, living or dead, earth or stone or tree or animal, it was all taken in just the same as anything else. The puppet master had no doubt that anything caught in that vortex was dead.

Sasori saw a bit of movement near the edge of the hole and noticed a bit of earth moving. He looked closer, moving to see it better. The earth just below the lip of the hole was moving and crumbling away. Then it moved aside completely and a small furry creature popped out. It realized its mistake too late and tried to move back, but its center of gravity was already over the brink and it fell into the abyss. Sasori couldn't help but smile at the weird sight as the mole fell to its doom. His joy was somewhat dulled by the fact that he didn't hear it hit the bottom.

Then the Akatsuki member saw movement, and looked toward the center of the hole, and if he had to breathe, his breath would have caught in his throat.

Naruto was walking toward him, over the air. A cloud of darkness formed where he was going to step and acted as his support as he took his next step, walking calmly over the abyss he had created toward his enemy. His body was still pitch black, from his hair, to his skin, to his eyes, to every other part of his body, they were all the deepest darkness.

He stopped moving forward as he reached the edge of the pit, standing silently as he looked at Sasori, or at least the puppet master thought Naruto was looking at him, it was very hard to tell.

After a moment, Naruto spoke, and Sasori had to strain his eyes to see Naruto's mouth moving, it was almost impossible to detect movement on his features. When he heard Naruto's voice, it was much deeper than normal, louder as well, and it was hard to understand, but he heard what the man said. "So, like a cockroach you scurried from death and survived for a little while longer, but for how much longer I wonder. I will have recompense for what was taken from me, how much longer do you think you can delay the inevitable?"

Before Sasori could speak, Naruto continued "Look around you, you will realize that you cannot possibly win, not with your one advantage here gone."

Sasori kept his eyes on his opponent, wary for a trick, but cast a lightning quick glance around him. What he saw chilled him. The forest was gone. That was when Sasori realized what Naruto's attack was really meant to do.

The puppet master's only hope of victory in this battle was to use guerilla tactics, stay hidden and fight from afar using his puppets, using the ample shadows and other hiding places in the woods to stay away from his foe as he wore him down. Naruto had realized that and destroyed them almost entirely. These were not the endless forests of Konoha, this was a fairly small wood, and Naruto's attack had decimated them. There was nowhere left for Sasori to hide, he would have to face his opponent directly.

And the puppet master that was forced to that was doomed already.

The Akatsuki member did the only thing that might grant him victory in this situation, and immediately started his attack. He moved both hands to point at Naruto and opened fire, literally. Flames ate the oxygen in the air as they reached Naruto, expanding to engulf him in their embrace.

Sasori kept up the torrent of flames until he finally ran out of fuel, watching carefully as the last flames died down and revealed a black dome. The puppet master watched in shock as the shadows melted away to reveal Naruto, unharmed.

He heard Naruto's voice as he said "Hot flames, but not hot enough to burn through my defenses when I am concentrating upon them." Then Sasori heard breaking wood and looked down as he saw a tendril of darkness rip through his stomach, metal and bits of wood splintering away from the whole .

Before he could react, the tendril through his stomach wrapped around him once and yanked him back with unnatural strength. The Akatsuki member was pulled back until his back was against a tree, and was then held there, suspended against the wood, his feet not touching the ground.

Naruto moved forward to where Sasori was held and put his fist through the man's shoulder. Sasori grimaced as the shoulder joints shattered and the arm fell to the ground.

Naruto looked at the arm and muttered "So, you've completely replaced yourself, if explains your external appearance at least. However, you must have a living part somewhere…."

He made a gesture and an arm formed from the darkness beneath him tore off Sasori's Akatsuki cloak, showing what looked like a real chest, but Naruto knew that it was only wood. Naruto looked at it for a moment and said "So, you have it inside of you somewhere hmm? Well, finding it can wait for now."

Naruto grabbed Sasori's chin and said "You have stolen from me. You have robbed me of the lives of two very useful retainers. You will pay for this. You are fortunate that you no longer have a body of flesh, otherwise I would encyst you, unfortunately it cannot be done with a body like yours. So, with torture of the body out of the question since I doubt you feel pain, torture of the mind will have to do instead."

Naruto muttered something to himself as he moved his other hands, a sort of blur forming around his fingertips. He placed his hand upon Sasori's forehead and he closed his eyes though nobody would notice it.

Not long after that, Sasori began to scream in pain.

Naruto clawed through the Akatsuki member's mind, being sure to inflict as much pain as possible as he did so. He ripped through the man's memories, his childhood, his parents dying in the war, how he learned to control puppets from Chiyo, how he developed human puppets and produced them without the knowledge being spread. Only a few knew that he was creating them. Then he followed the memories, his murder of the Sandaime Kazekage followed by his desertion of Suna, how he joined Akatsuki after years of living as a mercenary and bounty hunter, and how he captured Yukino and extracted the Rokubi from her with the help of the rest of the Akatsuki. Among all this information, he found out some critical things, among them the names of the three Akatsuki members he knew nothing of. Naruto muttered the names to himself, memorizing the vague features that Sasori saw from the odd projection technique the Akatsuki used. "Pein, Konan, Zetsu."

Finally, Naruto opened his eyes and muttered "Pathetic mortal, thinking that you could steal from me and get away with it. This is only a taste of what would have happened if you had a real body." Sasori didn't respond though, he was too busy writhing in pain. Naruto had raked through Sasori's mind, and he made it a point to activate the man's pain receptors. All of them.

Naruto sighed and muttered "It's a shame that Kazekage puppet was destroyed in my attack, that might have been useful. Still…." Naruto plunged his hand into Sasori's chest and ripped away the outer covering, revealing the cavity to him. His eyes picked out a metal cylinder among the machinery that he plucked out after a moment's consideration. Immediately, Sasori stopped writhing and just went limp.

Naruto examined the canister, it was obviously made of very hard metal, but that mattered little to him. His touch chilled the material, his hands cold as death as the metal froze in his grip. After a minute or so, the metal was frozen, and easily shattered revealing a still, red heart.

He regarded the organ with disgust for a moment before dropping it to the ground, crushing it underfoot without a moment's hesitation and ridding the world of Akasuna no Sasori forever.

Naruto took a breath as his body returned to its usual coloration, his silent deadly rage sated with the death of his foes. Naruto turned to a nearby shadow, but his vision grew blurry and he stumbled. He grabbed on to Sasori's puppet body to maintain his balance as he let out a ragged breath, pain coming from several places, but mostly in his leg. 'The poison isn't reacting well. If that's the case, then why isn't it healing on its own, like it always did before?'

He decided that it was a question that could be answered later and stumbled toward the darkness that promised a way home, avoiding moving on his wounded leg.

That was when he appeared through the trees.

Naruto looked at the man, his eyes wide in shock.

Deidara was heavily favoring one leg, and held onto a tree to keep himself upright. His other arm was coated in blood and flopped limply, obviously useless. From the blood running from it, his left eye was damaged beyond repair, most likely pierced by shards of the contraption he wore on his face. His breath was ragged, and he was obviously at the end of his limits.

The most important thing was that his Akatsuki robes were gone, and a black sphere was over his heart, black threads running from it across his chest.

Deidara panted out "You killed Sasori no Danna, and you dared do this to ME, to insult my art! Such things are not crimes against me, or Sasori, but against ART ITSELF! I will not allow this to go unpunished. You will die here! You will be a part of my greatest work, that will cause scars in the earth never before seen!"

Naruto had an idea of what was to come and opened a portal in the darkness, hurrying towards it as Deidara yelled "SHOW YOUR FEAR!"

He had almost reached it when Deidara yelled "ART IS A BLAST!" followed by a tremendous boom as Naruto jumped toward the portal to safety.

Deidara's bomb detonated, disintegrating the artist and destroying the remains of his partner as well, then it went on to demolish anything and everything within a ten kilometer radius.

The remains of the Konoha ninja, Gai, Lee, Tenten, Sakura, Shikamaru, Kiba, all of them were enveloped in the firestorm.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Hogback had been working hard ever since the capture of Houfu, converting almost five thousand soldiers into Zombies was hard work, but the doctor was almost done, and then an influx of fresh blood would swell Naruto's ranks. Combined with the work on the diseases that Haruka destroyed, which had been postponed to give precedence to the creation of the Special Zombie, the doctor had been working very hard as of late.

Currently, the doctor was taking a break, strolling around the castle, enjoying the quiet atmosphere. Then a sound rang through the building, which anyone on the ground floor could here.

It was a massively loud, inhuman screech of pain.

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Okay, that's the chapter. Sorry that it took so long, but I just couldn't seem to get into a writing mood lately. Anyway, review and tell me what you thought of it, and next chapter, the aftermath will begin. What happened to Naruto? What will Sasuke do with his newfound information? Find out whenever I post it!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	82. Chapter 82

Welcome one, welcome all. Here is the thing that you have longed for. Now then, let's get started.

Kage no Naruto chapter eighty two, lights, camera, ACTION!

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Naruto heard Nagato's story and agreed with him that Jiraiya's belief was wrong, but decided to side with Jiraiya's thoughts regardless because it was Jiraiya who thought it. Then he decided to spare Nagato even though he still hated the man. Aside from that, and that it showed how Nagato got those spikes in his back, not much happened.

Now, in the chapter after that….

The usual stuff that's been going on. More backstory, and Naruto going on about how he will believe in what Jiraiya believed in, and bringing up numerous things, like saying that Jiraiya's first book was inspired by Nagato and other such things. Basically everyone is believing in what Jiraiya believed in now, even Nagato who was convinced, somehow, by Naruto. To me, it all seems like Naruto is believing in Jiraiya because he is unable to come up with an answer for himself, and Nagato is doing the same for a different reason. There is a saying that goes 'You cannot hope to defeat human idiocy' or something like that. Then, at the end, Nagato pulls his arms out of that machine and makes a handseal. What will he do? Only time will tell, but I hope it's something good.

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto fought and killed Sasori, but before he could leave, Deidara used his strongest explosive in a hope to take Naruto with him. Naruto escaped back to Dark Heaven Castle, but what kind of shape will he be in?

Also, Sasuke found some blueprints for a type of tank that Naruto will be using in the future, as well as schematics for anti-tank weaponry. How will he use this information?

Read the chapter, and find out!

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With Temari

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Temari had heard those horrible screams in the eternal night of Dark Heaven Castle. She, like everyone else, had run to the entrance hall to see what was causing the unearthly noise, not sure what to expect when she finally arrived. When she did, she was immediately barred from the room by a Soldier Zombie 'on the orders of Lord Hogback' the Zombie said as reason. Apparently, something happened that nobody was supposed to know about.

It wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. She knew that while she carried a certain amount of clout in the goings on of things, any of the Enigmas could easily cut her from the loop completely. Many things occurred that the Enigmas kept quiet, it was a marked boundary that showed who was boss around the ancient fortress. When Naruto wasn't around, the word of Absalom, Hogback, and Perona was law.

Still, she had inquired about what had happened, and she had discovered little. Eventually, she headed for the infirmary where Hogback was supposed to be at the moment.

The room saw very little use since all Zombie injuries were taken care of in Hogback's laboratory, and hardly anybody human got hurt often. In fact the knowledge that he was there was kept very quiet. She only found out because the Zombie that she got the information on saw Hogback and Kagerou carry something in there. A bundle covered in white cloth. He heard muffled screams from the bundle, that was all she knew.

Temari was determined to find out what that thing was, it could be a threat to the Castle, and she couldn't let such a thing go unknown to everyone else, to do so was to allow a threat to act without them knowing, and if it got loose, who knew what could happen. Or at least, that was the logic she sent through her mind to justify her actions.

Apparently, Hogback trusted his secrecy of the Infirmary, there was no guard at the door like there had been at the entrance hall.

She had already fabricated her excuse for being there, a long wound ran down her arm, self inflicted. Not life threatening, but enough to require medical attention. She had suffered far worse pain before, and suffering such a thing to gain much needed knowledge as to a possible threat was well worth it.

With her wounded arm held to her body, she opened the door and walked inside.

She questioned the actual reason behind her actions as she opened the door, slipping through. 'Maybe, I'm just sick of being kept in the dark?' she wondered as she called out for the doctor that she knew was there. 'Maybe I'm bored and want something new to happen in this place, or maybe I really am just curious. Either way, I'll know where it's gotten me before long.'

She called out "Hogback-sama! Where are you?"

She took a few steps into the room before a voice whispered, just centimeters behind her ear "Why have you come here?"

Temari couldn't help but jump at the sudden voice. She turned around and saw none other than Kagerou standing just behind her, a look of disinterest upon her features. Kagerou looked down to her arm and asked "How did you receive this injury?" before she took the arm into her hands, looking at the cut.

The former Suna kunoichi curled her lip in the slight pain caused by the handling of her arm before she answered "I was training as usual when a jutsu went wrong. As a result, my arm got cut open like this. I came here to get Hogback-sama to treat it."

Kagerou looked up and Temari was a bit unsettled by her features, as usual. The once beautiful girl's skin was now dull and grey, her eyes were empty of any real life. There was a glint of intelligence there, but it was dull and without spirit. Stitches crisscrossed over her face and other parts of her body ,that much Temari knew. The kunoichi had always had a nightmare since she entered Naruto's service. A nightmare that she would fail Naruto, nad he would decide that she was more useful dead than alive and make her into another Zombie like Kagerou, or Rei, or any of the others. She imagined herself as one of them, her skin grey and lusterless, her eyes empty, stitching running across her body, and a number somewhere on her body. She forced herself not to shudder in disgust at the image.

After a moment of staring at Temari, Kagerou said in her usual low tone "The injury is not life-threatening. IT is long, but it is not deep, typical of an injury caused by a Fuuton jutsu. Such a thing does not require Hogback0sama;s expertise. I shall attend to it for you. Come with me."

Before Temari could protest, she was pulled by her uninjured arm further into the infirmary, where she was forced to sit upon a bed.

Kagerou glanced at Temari with her dull eyes and said "Wait here while I retrieve what I need to heal your wound." Then the Zombie girl left the blonde in the empty room.

Temari waited a moment before she was sure the Zombie was gone before she rubbed her arm where Kagerou grabbed her. 'Man, that girl isn't much to look at but god is she STRONG.' It was true, a hand shaped bruise was already forming upon Temari's upper arm, a clear indicator of what the Zombies were capable of.

Temari put the slight ache of the bruise and the burning of her open cut out of her mind as she stood and started looking around her surroundings, hoping to find Hogback and whatever caused that noise the night before. She knew Hogback was here, and now she had proof. She smiled to herself as she thought 'Kagerou never leaves Hogback's side, no matter the reason. Where he is, she's not far behind. Hogback is around here somewhere, and he's hiding something. I will find out what that is!'

The infirmary was a rather small number of rooms that were equipped with beds and medical supplies so that Hogback could take care of any ailments that Naruto's living followers might be afflicted with. There was a room set aside for surgery, which had yet to be used, and three other rooms, two of which served as rooms for the patients, and the third being the supply room that held the medical equipment that Hogback used. It was far from perfect, but that was because injuries were rare, serious injuries at least. All of the real medical equipment was in Hogback's lab, which he used to tend the more serious wounds of the Zombies, namely wounds that prevented them from fighting or doing whatever it is that Naruto wanted them to do. So, there was very little room to search.

It didn't take her long to search the two wards, moving aside several curtains so that she could see every bed. Finding nothing, and not wanting to enter the storage room, where Kagerou almost certainly was, Temari stood before the metal door to the surgery chamber.

It was a door made of plate iron, bolted in place and held by a dead bolt on the other side. She couldn't help but feel a bit of fear at the sight of the door. It had never been used in the history of their use of the Castle, but even so noises could be heard sometimes when Hogback was using the equipment inside to repair a Zombie, just to make sure that the tools and instruments didn't fall into disrepair. The feel of the room was that 'Once you go in, you aren't coming out.' It only added to her dislike of this section of the Castle.

Ever since her mother died, Temari hated hospitals.

Still, the girl took a breath and then reached for the handle, turned it, and opened the metal door, bracing herself for whatever she might find inside.

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With the Akatsuki

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In a dank, dark cavern, seven ghostly figures stood. No features could be seen save the shape of their body, which was generally hidden by their uniform cloaks, and the color of their eyes.

Pein, the leader of the Akatsuki, spoke first, telling them of why he called this meeting. "Deidara and Sasori have been killed."

Four of the other six figures showed shock in some subtle way, be it a slight sway of the body, or a widening of the eyes. One of the figures chuckled and said "Who the hell killed those dumb shits? They probably got fucking massacred by some greenhorn Gennin!"

Pein looked at the laughing Akatsuki and said "We received information from a reliable source that one of our three remaining targets was going to be in Kaminari no Kuni. I sent the two of them to investigate and, if possible, capture the target. Unfortunately, they were overpowered."

The figure with red eyes asked "Which one of the targets was it?" Not that there were many choices. Before their deaths, Sasori and Deidara succeeded in capturing the Sanbi, so there were only three Jinchuuriki left. Two of them were confirmed to be Shinobi of Kumogakure. The third….

Pein merely said "It was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."

The leader of Akatsuki didn't have to see their faces to detect anger from them, no matter how much they tried to hide it. 'It is inevitable given the defeats that they have suffered.' The man surmised as he felt the mood change within a few moments. Each of those four members had suffered a defeat from either Naruto's hands directly, or from one of his subordinates.

The red eyed figure spoke again and asked "Who is this reliable source of information? And more importantly, where is the Kyuubi now?"

Pein shifted his gaze toward Itachi and said "At this moment, I do not know where the Kyuubi is located. After defeating the two of them, he vanished again." A note of irritation tainted Pein's voice upon the last few words. Naruto's ability to appear or disappear at random had caused him a great amount of irritation over the years. Then Pein continued "As for the source, it was reliable, and it turned out to be true. I have no reason to tell you their identity."

A massive figure wielding a strangely shaped weapon asked "So what shall we do now? With just the four of us, accomplishing our goals will become more difficult, and finding new recruits is very difficult."

Pein nodded, conceding the point. He, his partner, and Zetsu did not take the field of battle, they organized things, and took care of the more subtle aspects of their group. The actual legwork was done by the three pairs of Akatsuki members that were known among the informed, one of which was now dead.

Then, for the first time, the strangest figure there deigned to speak. "I for one shall go and retrieve the rings of our fallen members. That should be the first priority. **We should also focus our resources upon capturing the Jinchuuriki of Kumogakure more than anything else, we can deal with the Kyuubi afterwards**. I have recently received information that will help toward that end." The man's voice changed halfway through his speech, then it changed back once more. He was a very strange person.

Pein nodded toward the figure and said "I agree, recovering the rings should be the first priority here. They fought near what was once a small forest just South of Nyuusatsu, in Kaminari no Kuni. Leave for the battle site immediately after the meeting. Now then, what is the information that you said you had?"

Zetsu bowed his head in acknowledgement of the order and then replied "I have recently heard that the Jinchuuriki of the Hachibi shall soon be leaving Kumogakure on a mission to the lands close to the Hi no Kuni border. He shall be going with his ANBU squad of course, but this is the first time he's actually left the village in several years. It is an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss."

Pein's eyes widened almost imperceptibly at the news but then he responded "You are right, this cannot be ignored. But there remains the question of who would do the job." He looked to the pair on his left. "Itachi, Kisame, are you fully healed?"

Itachi nodded and said "Yes, but from where we are, we cannot hope to reach Kaminari no Kuni in time to reach the Jinchuuriki."

Pein nodded and asked the same question, but this time to Hidan and Kakuzu.

Kakuzu responded "I am unharmed, and Hidan has most of his wounds healed, but we have a similar problem as Itachi. We are currently in Tsuchi no Kuni, trying to get past the strict border patrol. We cannot hope to reach Kaminari no Kuni before the Jinchuuriki completes his mission, not without losing the element of surprise, and that is more often than not critical in defeating a Jinchuuriki."

Pein thought about what Kakuzu said for a moment. It was true. Out of the five victories they had so far against Jinchuuriki, four of them were won mainly due to the element of surprise. Jinchuuriki were extremely dangerous foes, and allowing a conflict with them to drag on was foolish to say the least since nobody could hope to match their endurance. More often than not, with a Jinchuuriki, you finished the fight quickly, or you wouldn't finish it at all. The Jinchuuriki would take care of that easily enough.

Such was the case when Deidara's predecessor was killed by the Gobi Jinchuuriki years ago, he let the fight drag on and the Jinchuuriki gutted him after spending hours dragging out the fight and bleeding the man of his strength.

Pein nodded and said "Fine then."

The next words he spoke stayed in the minds of the Akatsuki, for it was something that they had never heard their leader say before.

"If none of you will be able to accomplish this goal, then I will do so myself."

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With Jiraiya

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Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin stumbled out of the mist and looked up. He had finally reached Myobokuzan.

He had made his way through the forest to a reverse summoning site, the third one he set that was much farther away from Nyuusatsu than the other two. It was made in case the first and second had been detected and destroyed. However, it proved to have been a good idea as the first two had been destroyed. By using it, Jiraiya was now safe.

He walked through the marshy lands surrounding the mountain, and encountered a young toad, barely more than a tadpole. After confirming who he was, the young summon pointed him in the direction he needed to go, the home of the Elder Toads. He had to tell them what happened, and more importantly seek their advice as to what he should do.

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Ten minutes later

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Jiraiya stood before the hut in which the Elder Toads made their home, and knocked on the door. A few moments passed, and then the door was opened, revealing Fukusaku. The old toad was surprised to see him, but Jiraiya made his way in.

After reacquainting himself with the two Elders, he told them everything that had happened. He told them of the days he spent in Nyuusatsu, of the auction, of how the book was taken from him by Ferro, and then how he was separated from everyone else while they were murdered by Naruto.

"… and then, I made my way here, seeking your advice." Jiraiya ended his story, sitting upon a chair in the dining room. Shimi and Fukusaku sat in two of the remaining three chairs and eyed him very seriously.

Fukusaku took a deep breath and waited a moment before saying "Well, at least you survived Jiraiya-chan. That's one of the two good pieces of news you have brought us."

Jiraiya looked up at the toad in wonder. "What do you mean, 'one of the two pieces of good news'? There's no good news here at all! Someone else has the book, almost every member of the new generation that showed promise is either dead or captured, and who knows what will happen now that all of that money has been spent! This is a catastrophe!"ron

Shimi shook her head and said "Not really Jiraiya-chan. Something like this was bound to happen eventually, but the most important thing has been accomplished. Naruto has been prevented from obtaining the Word of Kemmler. If he had obtained the book, all would have been lost. As we stand now, we do not have a hope of preventing him from going through with the ritual detailed within, and that would have been the end of the world as we know it."

Jiraiya looked puzzled "What do you mean by that Ma? Sure, Naruto might now have the book, but now that Ferro guy does, and who knows what he might be planning! This is almost as bad as Naruto getting it himself!"

Fukusaku smiled and said "You're wrong Jiraiya. A third party doesn't have the book."

Jiraiya looked at the old toad in wonder as the old summon added "We do."

Jiraiya could do naught but stare at the old frog as he faced a door leading into another room and said "You can come in now."

Then the door opened and Jiraiya almost fainted at what he saw.

Mr. Ferro opened the door and entered the room.

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With Temari

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Temari opened the old metal door and walked into the dark room. She wrinkled her nose at the pungent smell of disinfectant and blood, and she noticed that the smell was fresh, it wasn't the old coppery taint of dried blood. There was fresh blood in the darkness before her, someone had been worked on, recently.

The Kunoichi groped along the wall nearby her, feeling for a light switch. Her grasping fingers slid along smooth tile, somewhat slick with some substance, until she finally reached the switch.

She flipped the switch, and lights turned on across the room.

What she saw amazed her, and challenged almost everything she knew.

In a chair in the back of the room was Hogback, apparently asleep. But more importantly was the figure on the table next to him.

The figure on the operating table was covered in white cloth, and the cloth, the table itself, and the surgical implements in the tray next to the surgical were all stained with blood. More specifically, _golden blood_.

Hogback stirred, awakened by the light. He muttered "Kagerou-chan, I told you that I need rest, why have you woken…me…up?" The end of his sentence tapered out as he saw Temari standing in the doorway.

The stout doctor whispered "What are you doing here?" But it was unheard by Temari as she moved forward, toward the gold-stained bundle.

He jumped up and grabbed her arm as she moved to pull away the white sheet covering Hogback's patient. He quickly asked "What are you DOING here!? I told Kagerou-chan not to let anybody into the infirmary without good reason!"

Temari pulled away from the doctor and asked "What are you hiding Hogback? You've all but disappeared lately, and what is in that bundle? That's Naruto's blood on those sheets and tools, there's no mistaking it. What have you done!?"

Hogback bristled under the accusation and said, louder this time "What I do is none of your business! I am one of the Three Enigmas, the Master's most trusted subordinates. What I do is not the business of one such as you! Now, I repeat, why are you here!?"

She felt a slight rage come over her at the words of the doctor, and her voice was raised as well as she responded "I came here to make sure that this Castle was safe from whatever it was that appeared last night! Whatever it was is kept completely secret, what if it was a threat! If it got loose and we didn't know, nobody knows how many would be killed before we caught it! You've put us all in danger Hogback!"

The doctor clenched his fists and bared his teeth, and Temari was sure that he was glaring at her under those dark glasses as he started "You little upstart! How dare you doubt me! If it wasn't for Naruto-sama and myself, why you would… be…."

Hogback stopped mid-tirade as the figure upon the table began to shift and stir.

Temari's breath caught as the figure sat up and pulled the sheet down from over his head with his left hand. A hand that had no less than twelve gold rings upon it, each of them studded with diamonds.

The girl smiled and moved to embrace him as she said "Naruto-…kun?"

She stopped as she saw the sheet tossed down and saw something that she never would have believed, had she not seen it herself.

A large portion of Naruto's right side was covered in bandages, but that did not concern her.

What concerned her most was that a large section of Naruto's chest, and his right arm, were missing from his body.

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In Konoha

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Tsunade was a wreck.

She had been working ever since the 'incident' as it was called to try and stabilize Konoha. Unfortunately, it was a near impossible task.

She had been working toward getting everybody food and shelter first and foremost, but that was easier said than done given that nearly every residential building was damaged in some way. Those that weren't leveled were damaged in some way or other, either the roof had partially collapsed, or the structure wasn't safe, or a gas main had been breached, or the water lines were cut, there was some serious problem with almost all of them. As a result, numerous civilians were forced to camp out in the mostly undamaged stores in the market area, or camp in the street.

Most of the Council members were killed, including Kiba's mother Inazuka Tsume. As a result, Danzo had become more open, offering his ROOT forces to guard Konoha while they rebuilt what was damaged and came up with a plan.

But what she needed right now wasn't warriors, it was money, it was shelter, it was food for the citizens of Konoha.

She looked out of the mostly undamaged Hokage Tower upon the ruined city, the demolished Hokage Monument. Ironically, it was her stone head which had rolled near the hospital, nearly crushing an entire ward. She could feel nothing but shame at the thought of all of this damage being her fault.

She slammed a fist into her desk, empty of paperwork for the first time that she could remember as she sobbed. "Jiraiya, where are you?" she mumbled to herself through the tears.

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And that is the chapter, ladies and gentlemen. A bit short, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. This chapter was a bitch to write I tell you.

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger


	83. Chapter 83

Greetings, to Kage no Naruto chapter eighty two! There's nothing more than that to say really.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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WHAT THE FUCK! THIS IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT!

Nagato went and killed himself to resurrect the people from Konoha! Yes, you all heard me right, he has the power to resurrect the dead, and with his last bit of chakra, he resurrected EVERYONE in Konoha that he killed! Kakashi, Shizune, ALL of them are ALIVE again! All of that, EVERYTHING he stood for was completely discarded just because Naruto TALKED to him! WHAAAAAAT TTTTHHHHHHEEEEE HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLL! Then he dies, Konan takes the bodies of Nagato and Yahiko, and then everyone lives happily ever after.

Oh, and Sasuke and his pride parade are headed for Konoha. Who gives a damn!

Seriously, this was fucked up. Kishimoto had something GREAT going, but then he throws it all away. What the hell.

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Summary of last chapter

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Temari found Naruto horribly injured in the infirmary, Pein is heading out to capture the Hachibi, and it turns out that Ferro was working with the toads. That's about it. Sorry, but after seeing the events in the chapter above, I don't have the stamina to write a detailed summary.

Enjoy the chapter

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With Jiraiya

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The old sage was shocked as the man who stole the book from him, the ever critical Word of Kemmler, walked into the room. Ferro looked exactly the same as he did when they first met, hard to describe, average in every way, but seemingly uncaring for the world around him. He looked at Jiraiya and a smirk pulled at the end of his mouth, a small puff of black smoke rising from it.

Jiriaya was so shocked and surprised that he couldn't say a word until Ferro had sat down across from him, and even then he could only whisper, barely audible, "What the hell is this?"

Shimi looked at Jiraiya and said "This is our fail-safe plan, our mechanism to make absolutely sure that Naruto did not obtain the Word of Kemmler. It was the only way to make sure that it wasn't taken from you. It was our method of guaranteeing our victory."

Jiraiya started to regain his sense as he stared at the old toad, anger entering his voice as he said, louder "What the hell is going ON! Why didn't you tell me about this! Who is this man! And why is he working with you!" his voice rose with each sentence.

Despite the anger shown toward them, the two toads remained calm. Fukusaku calmly said "Jiraiya, think about it for a moment. Do you actually believe that you would be able to take Naruto in combat if he were to confront you directly?"

Jiraiya flinched as that horrible memory pressed against his consciousness, but he said nothing.

Fukusaku sighed and continued "You were almost guaranteed to be out-bid in the auction, and even if you won the odds were extremely high that he would intercept you, most likely kill you, and almost definitely take the book. The only method to prevent that would be to send in a third party, someone that neither of the two sides knew about, including you Jiraiya, lest our allies give him away to our enemies inadvertently. To tell you of this plan would have been pointless, but it doesn't matter now. Because above all else, we are victorious. The Word of Kemmler is ours, and shall never fall into Naruto's hands easily. He will remain a containable threat, and we can, for now, rest easy."

Jiraiya just looked at Fukusaku like he grew a second head. He said, quietly "We lost two Jounin, and almost a half a dozen talented Chuunin to that monster because of this. Fukusaku, HOW CAN YOU CALL THIS A VICTORY!?"

Fukusaku just stared at the, by his standards, young man and said "Because it is a victory, a considerable one."

Jiraiya took a deep breath and ground out "Explain."

The old toad shrugged and said "Six or seven lives were ended, and in return we prevented the deaths of hundreds of thousands. It was far preferable than the alternative."

His explanation was obviously insufficient as Jiraiya's rage only grew. The sage sprang up from his chair and pounded is fist upon the table as he yelled "WE LOST SEVEN PEOPLE FOR NOTHING! IF YOU TOLD ME ABOUT THIS, THEY WOULDN'T HAVE DIED!"

Fukusaku now started to get angry with the man, his own voice rising in volume as he said "They were necessary to throw the Corpsetaker off the scent! Unlike what would have happened otherwise, this can be reversed! People can be replaced Jiraiya, it may take a few years, but you will see successors to the fallen rise again and again. It is one of history's constants. In thirty years, you won't even miss them. If Naruto had obtained the book, it wouldn't have mattered. We wouldn't have that much time. I made the correct choice Jiraiya, and I would make it again."

Jiraiya managed to regain his composure, and he just stared at Fukusaku as he quietly said "How can you say that and still call yourself an ally of Konoha?"

The old toad looked at Jiraiya and said "Because it had to be done. Regardless of what we do, people are going to die if we are going to kill that monster. If I could do it without losing a single drop of blood, I would, I would love to, but I cannot for no such path exists. This is war Jiraiya, people will die, innocents as well. This is not what I wanted, I never wanted this, but I will do what is right. I'm not the type to start a war, but I will finish what he has begun."

Fukusaku took a breath and closed his eyes, and the old summon looked and sounded old, much older than he usually looked as he said "People die in war Jiraiya, no matter how much we may want them not to. You asked me how I could send those lambs to the slaughter and still call myself Konoha's ally? I cannot. I have never been an ally of Konoha Jiraiya, we never have been. We are the allies of our Summoner, and we do our best to look out for him, to increase his prospects at survival and prosperity. We help Konoha because YOU are from Konoha. We helped Minato against the Kyuubi for the same reason. If someone from Kumo or Kiri was to obtain the scroll and become the Summoner, we would do our best to assist them. Such is the nature of all Summons."

The ancient toad opened his eyes again and said "However, in this case I was not acting in your benefit Jiraiya. I was acting as what my foremost position, the Elder of this tribe. That beast would wreak havoc upon us all, upon all things weaker than him, seeking to dominate and subjugate them. His lust for power is never-ending, and I have no doubt that he would never be satisfied with what he had, no matter how much it might be. I will prevent such a catastrophe from striking this tribe Jiraiya, no matter what I must do. I will not apologize for it." Then the toad sat back in his chair and was silent.

Jiraiya looked at the old toad for a long time, and then finally tore his eyes away and toward the figure that he was shocked at seeing. Ferro.

The Sage simply asked "Who are you, or rather, what are you?"

The man looked up at Jiraiya and smiled, and then he spoke and Jiraiya's eyes widened as the voice was completely different than what he sounded like before. In fact, the voice sounded like a woman's. Ferro said in that obviously female voice "You may call me Sophora. As for what I am, I am a Sidhe of the Summer Fae." When Ferro ended his sentence, his form flickered, and shifted, and before Jiraiya's eyes sat a woman.

She was of moderate height, and the first thing that struck him about her was that she was unearthly beautiful. She was of moderate height, around five and a half feet judging from the height of her head while sitting. Her skin was a pale, creamy white, her features soft, feminine, and perfect in every way he could think of. That's when her looks stopped being entirely human.

Her silken hair, which swept down to her lower back, was a dark blue, but it was her eyes that caught his attention the most. They were a shade of blue that he was certain that you couldn't find in the real world. So clear and bright, they were like the morning sky, the shallow seas, he could find nothing to truly describe them and still do them justice. Then she smiled and he noticed that her teeth were a dark green color. Aside from those differences however, she would have passed for human easily.

Jiraiya sputtered for a moment as he tried to form words "B-but, you said your name was Ferro-"

He was quickly cut off by the woman. She spoke, her voice like a flute, "That was yet another ruse, designed by these two, and quite well done."

Jiraiya simply looked to Shimi for an answer.

Shimi quietly said "The real Ferro, or Ferrovax is the last of the Dragons, and an extremely powerful beast. I don't know how long he's been alive, but Naruto wouldn't be a match for him even after he used the knowledge in the Word. I had the idea that Sophora should change to a human form and give the name Ferro. With any luck, Naruto will give up on searching for the book, believing it forever out of his grasp. If we are extremely lucky, he will search out Ferrovax and get himself killed. Above all else, what is protecting this place from his wrath is secrecy. He doesn't know we have the book, otherwise he would attack Myobokuzan within a week. We had to prevent that, no matter the cost we had to pay to enlist the help we needed, or anything else we had to sacrifice."

Jiraiya looked from each of the three occupants of the room. From Shimi, looking at him with concern, to Sophora, smiling slightly as she examined him, seemingly amused, to Fukusaku who was silent and foreboding within his chair. Then the old sage shook his head slowly from one side to the other and slowly left the room.

After all of the things that had happened to him, he had discovered one thing: above all else, right now, he just wanted to go home.

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With Temari

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The blonde woman looked on in complete shock at the sight of Naruto missing his right arm. She couldn't believe that something like this could actually happen to him, he who always appeared so powerful, nigh on invincible, his never shaking confidence, his intelligence, all of what she knew completely contradicted the fact of what she was seeing at this very moment. She collapsed to her knees, unable to deal with the horrible truth that she had witnessed. She just mumbled to herself "H-how?"

Naruto just looked down at her from his spot atop the table, seemingly uncaring that he lost a limb. He said, as though talking about the weather. "The Akatsuki member Deidara specialized in explosives. After I slew his partner, he emerged from hiding, heavily injured from a fall that I subjected him to. At that time, he detonated some kind of explosive that I had never received information on. It was extremely powerful, an immense shockwave, and an impressive amount of high temperature flames that were spread across a gigantic radius. I used by Kage Hokou the moment before the blast, seeking to escape, but I was caught in the blast as I escaped, namely my right side was hit. If I had not escaped, I have no doubt that I would be dead. Instead of death, I lost my right arm, and received a large number of severe burns. When I emerged from the darkness here in Dark Heaven Castle, Hogback tended to me immediately. It is as simple as that."

Temari shook her head slowly from side to side, still unable to come to terms with the revelation. "B-but" She stuttered "That scream I heard, that everyone heard. I never would have thought it was you. I thought that you couldn't be hurt, that you were immune to pain. I can't believe that you were so badly hurt…." She trailed off, uncertain of what to say.

Hogback took over at that point. The old doctor said "Naruto-sama is great, but he doesn't have much of a pain tolerance. In fact, his pain threshold is very low for a ninja, less than the average civilian's. You have to remember that he has spent his life protected, all but impossible to injure. He could probably count the times that he has been hurt on one hand. But even a normal ninja would be screaming from what he went through. His arm burned beyond recognition, I had to amputate it. It was little more than black skin welded to the bone. There were numerous third degree burns along his side and his face, all of which I have healed. I have been awake all night tending to him, going through procedure after procedure, healing the burns where I could, and cutting away flesh that couldn't be saved. I finally finished the whole mess by attaching a skin graft to the areas that were cut away. Hence, he is now in his condition, and still alive."

Naruto nodded and said "Indeed, Hogback has done his job, properly and perfectly. I am aware that my arm couldn't be salvaged. That heat was so intense that it melted the rings and the shield bracelet on my right hand. It's fortunate that I left Zanmato here when I left for Nyuusatsu, otherwise it would have been lost when the shadow under my wrist was incinerated. I'm not sure if that sword could have withstood that inferno unscathed." After he finished speaking, Naruto moved his legs to the floor, and stood up from the table, allowing Temari to fully see the extent of his injury.

There wasn't much to see now that Hogback had done his job, but there were bandages covering his right side completely, from his shoulder to his hip, and they wrapped around his abdomen and back in certain places. The bandages were flush with the skin, and that was what was truly disturbing. The fact that his side didn't end where it was supposed to, it was sunken farther in than his left. It made him look strangely lopsided. It truly imposed just how badly he was hurt.

Naruto looked down at Temari in her shock at his wound, and smiled as he saw her faith be shaken. Then he said "Do not be foolish Temari-chan. Do not think that I am helpless, far from it. Remember who I am." Then he waved his left hand, and his shadow rose from the ground to stand beside him, the difference was that unlike the current Naruto, the beast still held the shape he was before he was mutilated.

Then Naruto spoke again. He said "Remember that I am Naruto, and that all darkness answers my call. I am never helpless. This wound is nothing that I cannot easily overcome. Like so." Then without any action on Naruto's part, his shadow began to waver, and a tendril of its substance moved from its stomach to attach to Naruto's wounded stump, pressing against the bandages. More of the shadow moved through the air, its substance becoming liquid as it moved and plastered itself to Naruto's injury, building upon what was already there. Before long, the shadow was gone, and Naruto's limb was there once more. A solid black arm adorned the space that was moments before empty, his shadow taken the shape of his flesh, replacing what he had lost.

Naruto smiled as he moved the arm back and form, and then caused the fingers to grow, and shift into claws. Naruto smiled at what he saw. Then he faced Temari once more and said "Like I said, I am never helpless. Flesh can be lost, but darkness is eternal."

The Suna Kunoichi stared in wonder at the appendage, amazed that such a thing could exist. Then she smiled at mentally chided herself for her foolishness. 'I should have known.' She thought to herself as she stood up once more. 'I should have known that Naruto-sama would always be prepared.'

Then Naruto walked out of the surgical chamber, Hogback and Temari walking behind him.

As they left though, Naruto looked over and remarked "Temari, how did you get that gash on your arm?"

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With Jiraiya

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The Toad Sage had used a Reverse Summoning to return to Konoha. It had taken him to a just outside the North Gates. He was tired, unsure of himself, depressed at the comrades who had fallen serving under him. Above all else, he was stunned at the heartlessness shown by those he trusted the most. What he saw at that moment only made his mindset worse.

Konoha was completely in ruins. The people went around, looking beaten and horrified as they tried to free people from the ruins. A few had ambitiously started up reconstruction projects on small buildings. But regardless of all of this, his home was far from what he remembered it to be.

The old man sank to his knees, the full weight of the situation hitting him all at once. He simply mumbled to himself "W-what the hell happened here? Who did this?" In shock, Jiraiya simply looked on at the destruction, silent tears beginning to move down his face.

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Okay, I'm sorry for the shorter than usual chapter. I've had to do some serious work lately, and I haven't had as much time as usual to get these done. So again, sorry, but there's nothing to be done at the moment.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	84. Chapter 84

Greetings to all of you readers! Sorry for the short chapter last update, and how long it took for this update but like I said, I was and am busy, being an executive is fun and all, but sometimes the work involved can be staggering. With that said, let the chapter begin!

Note: It may be worth mentioning that this story has now reached over THREE THOUSAND reviews! Thank you all for your support! Congratulations go to snowy-ninja for being the three thousandth reviewer.

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NARUTO SPOILERS

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Okay, some serious stuff happened here. Some of it I like, other stuff I don't.

First thing, Kakashi carried Naruto back to the village, where everyone was praising his presence, saying 'we believed in you' and other such stuff, all well and good. Basically Kakashi said that he finally achieved his dream of being acknowledged by everyone in the village.

Now here's something I fucking hate, NARUTO COMPLETELY IGNORED HINATA! Sakura went up and hugged him, crying, and then Naruto completely overlooks her! AND IF ANY OF YOU ANTI NARU/HINA FANS START REJOICING ON MY REVIEW BOARD PREPARE TO BE BLOCKED!

Now comes the good stuff, Inoichi calls Shikaku aside and says that there's an emergency meeting of the Council, which finally gives canon evidence to the council concept. All of the Clan heads are there, as well as the lords of the Fire Country, in addition to Danzo, Homura, and what's her name, the female advisor, I can't remember her name right now.

Then they move over to Akatsuki. Zetsu saw everything and tells Madara and Kisame what happened. Just to be clear, Zetsu, Kisame, and Madara are the last three members of Akatsuki. Madara said for Kisame to track down the Hachibi Jinchuuriki, while he has something else to take care of. According to him they 'need another pawn to sync with Gedo Mazou' which is the Status Nagato used to kill all of those ninja when Yahiko got killed, it's the same statue as the King of Hell. Anyway, by this statement, I think that we can look forward to some new Akatsuki members.

Then it goes to the Council Chamber, and everyone I mentioned before is there. The argument goes back and forth over who will be the Sixth Hokage. Apparently, Tsunade is in a coma after using Katsuyu to protect so many people from Nagato's Shinra Tensei.

Shikaku nominates Hatake Kakashi, and the movement gathers a following, saying that he was the student of the Fourth Hokage, who was the student of Jiraiya, but Danzo shoots him down. Then he goes on what I think is a very true and moving speech. He said that the Third Hokage's teachings have weakened them, that all of their current trouble is the cause of the Third's teachings. The result of giving power to other countries led to Sand's betrayal, which allowed Orochimaru to kill the Third Hokage, it allowed the formation of Akatsuki, and allowed Sasuke to run away, and he also said that Nagato was Jiraiya's student as well. All of this happens to be true by the way, I really recommend that you all go and read it.

The final result? The Feudal Lord of the Fire Country acknowledges his point. Danzo is to become the Sixth Hokage.

Also, those guys from Kumo have shown up in Konoha, you know, the ones who are going to tell them that the Raikage will be hunting down Sasuke? With any luck we'll see the Uchiha prick get killed soon.

All in all, with the exception of Naruto completely IGNORING Hinata, this was a good chapter. Read it.

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Summary of last chapter

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Okay, this was a pretty short chapter. The way it turns out is that Ferrovax wasn't really Ferrovax. It was a Fae who the Toads were working with who had taken a human form and given his name in hopes of framing him for taking the book to draw suspicion away from the Toads. It also was planned in hopes of killing Naruto, since the real Ferrovax would far outclass him.

After that, Jiraiya got into an argument with Fukusaku and eventually stormed off, returning home in defeat, unable to believe that the Elder Toad had sacrificed so many people just to preserve the book.

Elsewhere, Naruto explained how he lost his arm, and then manifested his shadow, shaping it and attaching it to the stump, replacing the lost flesh with shadow.

What shall happen? What are the capabilities of this new arm of shadow? Read the chapter, and find out!

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With Jiraiya, Outside of the Konoha Gates

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The Toad Sage couldn't believe what he was seeing. Konoha, beautiful Konoha, was in ruins. The buildings were for the most part crumbling away, there were body bags in the streets, and everyone had the same look of defeat, poor and beaten looking as they shuffled along their way to take care of whatever business they had to take care of.

Jiraiya stumbled through the gates, completely in awe at what he was seeing. Everyone around him acknowledged his presence, but it didn't matter much to him. His home was completely destroyed.

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Fifteen minutes later

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It didn't take long to get to the Hokage tower, though he was still slow in getting there due to the pure shock of seeing what had happened to his home. After that, he did something unusual, he told the secretary that he wanted to see Tsunade and waited, rather than going through the window of the Hokage's office.

When he finally got called in, he walked into the office just like any other person, surprised to see that Hiashi was walking out.

Hiashi… was different. Usually the man was cold, calm and collected. He was a pillar of strength that everyone around him could rely on, tall, proud, and unbreakable no matter the circumstances. The only exception to that rule was when his wife had died. He was a bit shaken up after that incident, but ever since he was an unbreakable pillar, a solid wall against chaos, a bastion of order.

That man was gone now. He looked like he did years ago, when his wife passed away. It was given away by his posture, by his bearing, and most importantly by his eyes. They were red, and watery, it looked like he had been crying recently. The man was nothing more than a mess.

Before either of them could say anything, Tsunade called out "Jiraiya, come in. Hiashi, just go home and get some rest."

Hiashi nodded and started to move, but stopped when Jiraiya spoke "Hiashi, come in. There are some things in what I'm going to say that concern you as well."

The Hyuuga Clan Head looked at Jiraiya with those sad, broken eyes, as though asking 'what could you possibly say to me that would matter?' but he nodded and did as he was told, regardless. Waiting for Hiashi, to go in first, Jiraiya walked into the Hokage's office, closed the door behind him, and sat down in front of the desk of Konoha's ruler.

Tsunade was different as well. She looked… tired. There was no other way to put it. Her calm exterior was gone, replaced by someone who was simply buried under too much work, not enough time, and problems that were continuously building up. Mind you, in this particular case the description was true.

The Hokage just looked at Jiraiya, and asked "Jiraiya, what was the result of your mission?"

The Sage could feel the full tired weight of Tsunade's gaze focused on him as he paused. After a moment, he said "I'm not sure whether to call it a success or a failure."

Tsunade only raised an eyebrow, which Jiraiya took as a sign to continue. "In part, it is a success, since the Word of Kemmler is now in the possession of the Toad Summons, however it can also be considered a failure since with two exceptions, including myself, every ninja involved in the mission was killed by Naruto."

Tsunade quickly took charge, a fire born in her eyes as she asked "How much of the money did you…." Tsunade was cut off as another voice overrode her, not a louder voice, but definitely a more powerful one. That voice said "Do you mean to tell me…."

Sage and Hokage both turned to look at Hiashi, who was standing at the side of the room, panic in his eyes as he said "Do you mean to tell me that both of my daughters are gone?" Hiashi's voice lowered at the last few words. Jiraiya knew the look on that man's face, he had seen it before. It was the look of a man who was holding on to his composure by his fingernails, someone that was as close to broken as you can be. It tore at Jiraiya's heart to know that what he was about to say was going to push him over that edge.

Jiraiya spoke softly, ashamed by what he was saying as he spoke, and he could see each word tear into the Clan Head's heart. He said "Hinata is the other member of the mission who survived, but she was captured alive by Naruto."

Hiashi stood there, he didn't say a thing. Jiraiya could see it in his eyes, he couldn't have hurt the man any more if he had put a sword through his gut and pushed it up to his skull, blunt edge first. It was obvious by that broken look in his eyes, he would rather have had ANYTHING happen to him, and whatever torments that would have come wouldn't have been nearly as painful as hearing what Jiraiya just said.

Hiashi just stood there, silent, for a long time. Then, finally, he choked out words, "I will go on my way Hokage-sama." Then the Hyuuga leader turned and moved to the door, stumbling once, but he left the room, silent tears rolling down his face, hurt beyond all compare.

Jiraiya and Tsunade just watched him go, and after the door had closed, Jiraiya turned to her and asked, quietly, "What did he mean by 'both of my daughters'?"

Tsunade looked down at her desk for a moment over steepled fingers and finally said "During the incident," she said the word as though it were the bane of her existence "a lot of rubble fell from damaged buildings. A lot of people died."

The Toad Sage just said "Hyuuga Hanabi was one of the casualties." It wasn't a question.

Tsunade just nodded and said "She was just taking a walk. Her team had finished a mission that day and she went to take a walk to help her relax before she went home. Then the bombs went off. A piece of rock half her size came off of the building nearby and hit her square on the head. She had no idea what hit her, death was instantaneous. It was just too quick, nobody could have reacted in time. A loud noise, a moment of confusion, then darkness. She didn't have a chance."

Jiraiya tried to speak but the Hokage continued "SHE DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE!" She slammed her fists upon the table, cracking it as she shouted "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO US! AGAIN AND AGAIN, TRAGEDIES RAIN DOWN UPON THIS VILLAGE! SENSEI'S DEATH, THE UCHIHA MASSACRE, NOW THIS MESS!" Then she subsided, her voice becoming quieter as she said "Why is this happening Jiraiya? Who did this to us all? What god cursed Konoha to this fate?"

Jiraiya did not say anything. He did not know how to answer her. How could he answer her?

Finally, the Hokage spoke once more "This is all my fault. All of this is my fault. The fault of my foolish pride, and faulty administration. I doomed us all."

The Toad Sage raised a hand and spoke softly, trying to console her "This isn't your fault, it's-"

He was cut off as Tsunade slammed her hands against the desk again, shouting at him "YES IT IS!" Then she slumped against her desk, her head in her hands as she continued, barely keeping herself together "If I hadn't gone against what that bastard wanted, if I became his ally when he gave us the chance, this wouldn't have happened. Everyone who died in those explosions would still be breathing, all those men, women, and children, their deaths are on my hands, and mine alone. This is all because I wasn't able to put the past behind me, and I doomed us all because of it."

Jiraiya looked at the woman for a long moment before he said, softly, "It wouldn't have made a difference."

Tsunade looked up at him, silent tears running down her cheeks, silently asking him to explain his words.

Jiraiya obeyed and continued "If you had allied with him, he would have obtained the book, he would be in possession of the Word of Kemmler right now. If he obtained the power he wanted, don't think that he wouldn't betray you. He would have stabbed you in the back the moment you were no longer useful to him. You made the right choice Tsunade."

The woman's face betrayed her anger as she said, her voice raised, "How can you say that I made the right choice, when all of THIS" she flung out an arm behind her, indicating the massive destruction of the village, "has happened! How can you say that I made the right choice when it led to all of this death!"

Jiraiya sighed and said "I know it's hard to hear, but it's true. This would have happened anyway. In fact, it might have been worse. Above all else Tsunade, you must remain strong. You are the Hokage, YOU are the pillar of strength that this entire village depends on. All of those people are looking to YOU for guidance in this crisis. This is what it means to be the Hokage Tsunade, to help these people when they need it, and to remain strong when everybody else is read to break. Now, what will you do? Will you lead these people? Will you rebuild what that bastard has broken? Or will you stand by, and let him win, let Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the Village built by Senju Hashirama be destroyed by that traitorous Hellspawn!?"

After hearing what Jiraiya said, Tsunade was quiet for a long while.

She stood up and turned to face the window, to look out upon the village below, the ruins of what was great only days before. After a while, she finally said "It took over a century to build all of this, but it only took twenty minutes to tear it all down. Maybe that says something more that I wasn't willing to take seriously before now."

Jiraiya didn't say anything, but listened quietly. She continued "After seeing this, I have to think to myself, that maybe Danzo is right after all. Maybe Konoha has grown weak, grown soft after so much peace. If anything, this proves it. What was once a great and prosperous city is now a wasteland, destroyed by an enemy who was allowed to waltz in freely because our security was too lax. Maybe Danzo isn't an old war hawk after all, and he's been right all this time. Maybe the time for peace is not yet upon us."

Tsunade turned and stalked to the door, new strength flooding through her as she opened the door and called to a nearby Chuunin.

Jiraiya heard what the woman said, and it intrigued him. An immediate council meeting to discuss their response to this new threat.

The Hokage went back to the window, and looked out upon the city once more, her features unseen by Jiraiya. Tsunade finally said "If Danzo is right, and peace is not yet upon us, then we'll have to make preparations Jiraiya. If this bastard wants a war, by God I'll give him one. I'll give him a war that he'll never forget."

Jiraiya could not help but point out a major flaw in her plan. "Tsunade, if you want to rebuild this village, much less start a war against Tsuchi no Kuni, you're going to need money. Even the most meager armies can't be formed without supplies, even the worst soldiers won't fight for nothing. Konoha is drained, and it's impossible to say how much money you'll get from the Daimyo and the lesser lords for such a conflict. Where are you going to get the money you'll need for a campaign?"

Tsunade turned and said something unexpected. "That's exactly what that bastard Naruto probably has in mind. 'If they don't have any money, they can't fight me'. Well he's right, and he's wrong. He's right that if we don't have money, we can't wage a war, but he's wrong if he thinks we're poor!" Then Tsunade ripped the necklace from around her neck.

She held the gem in front of Jiraiya's face, the surface glistening in the light as she said "Don't you remember? This gem is one of two in the entire world, an heirloom of the First Hokage. This necklace is worth three gold mines and the mountains on top of them. If he thinks we're poor, he's badly mistaken. I'll show him that he can't do such things with impunity, that he can't take us for granted."

Tsunade put the necklace into her pocket, and headed for the door. She said "I'll make him regret the day that he thought to destroy the creation of the First Hokage, my grandfather's village!" Then she ripped open the door, and left, slamming it behind her.

Jiraiya watched her go is shocked silence. The old man couldn't remember the last time he had seen this much fire in the woman, and then he silently wondered 'What new monster have I unwittingly unleashed upon this world?'

Then the Toad Sage stood up and moved toward the door, after all, he knew that he was expected to be at that Council Meeting.

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With Sasuke

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Sasuke tossed the file to the bedside table in irritation. He couldn't make heads or tails of the damn thing.

The Uchiha and his team were currently making their refuge in a hotel in a small town in Kusa no Kuni, they had to keep on the move otherwise someone would find them and they would have all sorts of problems. As such, they had made their way to Kusa no Kuni in the hopes of finding something about Naruto. There were rumors that he once had a base here, and they wanted to see if they could find anything that might give them a clue.

Sasuke himself was in the hotel room while the other three were out searching the countryside by various means. Naruto's former base was supposedly pretty close by, but it was being difficult to find. Sasuke had been spending this time by going over the ATW blueprints that he found in Naruto's file. So far, the whole thing had been a bust.

There were a few diagrams and basic structural plans that he easily understood, but every bit of writing had been complete jargon to the Uchiha. Chemical formulae, mathematical equations, angles, proportions, instructions on forging individual parts, no matter how much he looked at everything, it was all way over his head when it came to engineering.

The file contained everything needed to make this weapon, ingredients for the explosive agents used, specific instructions for the creation of each individual part and detailed instructions on how to put it together, which included tools that Sasuke didn't recognize the names of, as well as the mixtures that would be used as the ammunition of the weapon.

Sasuke picked up the file again and looked at one of the diagrams. The thing itself looked more or less like a spear, or more accurately a lance. The major point was that the tip of the lance was a projectile, the entire thing was meant to be set and then launched. It was also very heavy, the initial estimates put the weight of the entire thing at above thirty pounds. Anyone who was carrying the damn thing wouldn't be able to move very quickly, wo they would probably have to be more heavily armored to protect them, which would slow them down even more.

The tip of the lance was the projectile, a heavy shell that packed an extremely powerful blast, which fired off of the end of the lance and into the tank, ripping through its armor and then exploding, taking the thing out from the inside. If a human got hit with it, there wouldn't be enough to fit into a matchbox. The only issues with the thing were the fact that it was so heavy, and the fact that it wasn't the most accurate weapon in the world, the projectile supposedly had a tendency to go a bit off course, so you could end up hitting the target a few inches from where you wanted to hit it, or missing it entirely. It was to be expected however, the model shown was only a prototype, but Sasuke knew that it was the best chance he had to counter the new enemy weapons.

The Uchiha laid on his back and looked at the ceiling as he thought 'The problem is that I don't understand a quarter of the stuff that's in here, and I know that none of my 'companions' do either. I need someone who knows enough about this stuff that he would be able to make one, an engineer, someone who knows about this stuff and would know what to do in order to make one of these things. The problem is 'where do I find someone like that?''

Sasuke closed his eyes and thought about it for a moment, eventually coming to the only conclusion possible. 'The only people who would know enough about this to make one would be the people who developed it, the people who were meant to make them. Of course, those people all work for Naruto in Tsuchi no Kuni.'

It was at this time that Juugo walked into the room. He took one look at Sasuke and said "We found the place." Before walking out of the room again.

Sasuke swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, putting the ATW file into his robe for safe-keeping, he walked toward the door. As he left, he thought to himself 'It looks like I have no choice. If I'm going to learn enough about these things to make a difference, there's only one place I can go. The belly of the beast, Houfu, Tsuchi no Kuni.'

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Fifteen minutes later

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Sasuke and his team were standing outside of a large cave, it's depths beyond view in the endless darkness. Suigetsu asked "Oi Juugo, you sure this is the place?"

The large man looked at the water ninja and said "Yes. The birds are afraid of this place. They say that there was once a horribly sinister chakra here, and then one day it vanished. The time frames match up to when Naruto dropped off the map several years ago. Odds are that it was during that time that Naruto and his group made themselves at home wherever they are based in now. But I have no doubt that this is where Naruto once made his home."

Karin took over from Juugo "Not to mention those corpses we found around here, remember? There were four of them, all barely recognizable. Two of them were hardly anything but blackened bones, and the other two were cut up pretty badly, but one of those two mauled ones had a number on his leg that matched the numbers tattooed into all of Naruto's soldiers. There was a battle here, and four of Naruto's creatures died. In addition to that, there's that corpse out in the woods, the one without a head. Its blood is an exact match for one Suzushiro Haruka, dead for several years now, who was confirmed to be one of Naruto's subordinates. She was killed nearby here, probably defending this place. This cave was once Naruto's home, there's no doubt in my mind."

Sasuke only shrugged and said "Even if this place once served as Naruto's base, if there's one thing that I remember about that bastard, it's that he was thorough. I doubt we'll find anything that he left behind, unless he wanted it to be found. We have to go in there with extreme caution."

The other three nodded and they all walked into the cave, into the former home of Naruto the Corpsetaker, the former home of the man who destroyed an entire country.

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With Naruto

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Naruto had left everyone else behind and had walked down to the dungeons of the Castle, all the while thinking about his new appendage. The thing may be his arm, but it was his shadow that he attached to his flesh. It had all the possibilities his shadow did. Naruto smiled a little at the thought 'It is what I want it to be, whatever that may be. An unpredictable weapon.'

Naruto's smile vanished as he continued to walk, until at last he stood before the entrance to a very particular cell. The cell of one Hyuuga Hinata. He took a breath, took a key from his pocket, unlocked the door, and went inside, closing the door behind them.

The inside of the cell could hardly be called clean, the walls had moss on them, and there was a decent amount of dirt on the floor. Hinata was held by a pair of thorn manacles on her wrists, chains from the manacles being looped through a ring of steel upon the wall. There was a pile of straw in one corner of the room, and a bucket. Nothing else. There was a slot in the door for meals to be pushed through, that was it. The only contact with another being she would be experiencing before she was turned over was the occasional zombie that would come it to collect dishes and empty the bucket each day. Aside from that, she was to be left completely alone, by Naruto's orders.

The girl looked up sullenly, and her eyes went wide with shock and horror as they beheld the person that stood inside the door. Then, she lowered her gaze and said in a low tone, spitefully, sullenly "What are YOU doing here?"

Naruto put a hand to his heart, pantomiming being stabbed as he said "That hurt Hinata-chan, is it a crime to come visit an old friend? This IS my Castle you know, I can come and go whenever I please, and nobody would dare to question me."

Hinata didn't look up, she just spoke "You are no friend of mine, not after what you've done, to me and others."

Naruto leaned against the wall as he said in a mocking tone "Aw, are you angry because of what I did to you? Are you mad because I threw you away like that? I never thought you would be the type to hold a grudge."

The girl looked up, faint tears in her eyes as she shouted "Who COULDN'T hold a grudge after what you did!?"

Naruto smiled even more as he remembered the past, specifically the past he shared with the girl chained before him. Of a time when he was still a Konoha ninja, when Hinata watched her cousin and his team train on the grounds of the Hyuuga Manor, and what she admitted when he confronted her for spying on them.

Naruto spoke wistfully, "Honestly, I really had fun back in those days, the happiness of youth, but then you grow up, and you have to tackle the real world, in all its horrible, unbendable truth, unable to put it aside any longer. Those really were the days of fun and roses for both of us, weren't they? The conversations we had, the meals we shared, the secrets. Well, the secrets you told me at least, the ones I told you in return were just blatant lies. Tell me, how was life after I left?"

Hinata looked up at the man she thought she once knew and sadly spoke "You said that you loved me, and every action you took did nothing but reinforce those words. You were so kind, so gentle. I was in shock that you suddenly vanished like that, and I almost had a heart attack when I heard what you had done since then. What happened to the man I cared for? Where did the REAL Uzumaki Naruto go!?" the girl cried, her eyes watery as she implored him for an answer to a question that had been eating at her for years.

Naruto's smile turned cold and he said "That person never existed Hinata-chan. I went along with what you thought me to be, fulfilling the fantasies you held about the man who so easily outclassed your cousin for the sole purpose of ending my boredom. I wasn't learning much under dear old Gai-sensei, may he burn in hell, so I decided to take on a side project to stem the immense boredom I felt as the other two struggled to increase their skills in hopes of one day matching me. You were my method of quelling the boredom in my spare time. I must admit, it was quite exciting. Having a secret girlfriend that nobody knows about, not the girl's father, not the Hokage, not your sensei, and especially not your actual girlfriend at the time. It was a very fun experience now that I think about it. Maybe I'll try something like that again sometime, maybe with Temari or Tayuya, it would definitely spice things up around here, that's for sure. What do you think?"

The Hyuuga heiress looked at him with utmost loathing as she said "I think that you're an utter bastard! Is this what you captured me for!? To mock me that I was so naïve as to love a monster, and still love him for YEARS after he had left me behind!? Is that why?!" she shouted, venting all of her frustration and anger onto the man before her.

Said man merely shrugged and said "Of course not. I captured you to trade you to Kumo as a show of good faith in hopes of forming an alliance with them."

He couldn't have gotten a more shocked and fearful expression from her if he rammed a sword into her heart. She asked, her voice barely more than a whisper "What?"

Naruto smiled, a cold, cruel smile as he brought the girl's worst fear to life. "I said that I plan to give you to Kumo as part of an alliance. They will be of much help once I finish building up my armies and finally march south. It will make things so much easier with another village by my side. Don't you think?"

Hinata shook her head, trying to deny the bitter truth that was looking her dead in the face as she backed up against the wall. "No, no, no, you can't do that! Do you have any idea what they would do to me!?" she screamed, terrified beyond belief.

Naruto shrugged again and said "Odds are the first thing that they would do is slice you open, and remove your ovaries from your abdomen, freezing the eggs inside so that they can later create Hyuuga children by artificial insemination. You know that the reason they went after you instead of a Hyuuga male is because of that right? I mean, if a Hyuuga man had a child with a non-Hyuuga woman, the odds of the child having the Byakugan are only about fifty percent. If it's the other way around though, with a Hyuuga woman and non-Hyuuga man, the odds of the child having the Byakugan are guaranteed, one hundred percent. After they take out the ovaries though, they'll take several blood samples and remove your eyes for examination and testing. After that, you'll be killed. It's as simple as that."

Hinata held her head and curled up into a ball, shivering with fear at what Naruto had just said. More than anything else, she feared being captured by Kumo. That incident in her youth had been more than enough to impress that fear upon her. Being capture by Kumo was, literally, her worst nightmare. Naruto knew that, but he was planning to do it anyway. Why? Because he deemed it necessary, it was the most convenient way. The fact that he was killing a woman that once sincerely loved him, and making her worst fears come true before her death meant less than nothing to him.

Naruto looked at her for a moment, in her terror, before he spoke again and said "If it makes you feel any better, it's nothing personal. If there was someone that Kumo wanted more, I would give them that person. The fact that the only person that really satisfies their goals is you is just bad luck. I wouldn't have any fewer qualms about giving them Perona or Haku is that's who they wanted. Anything to further my cause."

She looked at him with newfound loathing and said in an incredibly scornful and hateful tone "You're a monster!"

Naruto shrugged and said "Perhaps. I'm not really sure what I am nowadays. But there is one more thing to take care of before I go."

He took a step forward and said "I took everything from you Hinata. I took your secrets, I took your love, I took your peace of mind, but there's one thing that I never took from you. I intend to correct that before the end." He raised his right arm, and four tendrils emerged from his forearm. Then he said "You should thank me, after all, wouldn't it really suck to die a virgin?"

Hinata's eyes went wide with horror as she backed up against the wall as much as she could. She said, her voice increasing in pitch and volume in her terror "No, you wouldn't, NO!"

Naruto just smiled and said "Yes." Then the tendrils rushed forward and wrapped around her arms and legs, immobilizing them as he calmly walked forward towards her.

Hinata struggled, and then screamed in pain as she tried to use her chakra, only for the Thorn Manacles to kick in and drain her of her strength.

Naruto smiled as he stood above the helpless girl, the girl he once kept a straight face for as he told her he loved her as he laughed at her inside. He just said "I am king here Hinata, everything inside of this castle is my property and I can do with it whatever I wish. Whatever that may be."

"NOOOOOOOO!"

Nothing but screams could be heard from that cell for the next hour and a half, until Naruto left the cell, locking the door behind him, his clothes looking a bit out of order as he left the dungeons, leaving behind him a girl, a woman, shattered beyond all repair.

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That is the end of the chapter. What do you all think? I particularly want to hear about my work with Jiraiya meeting Tsunade, and the last scenes with Naruto and Hinata. Just so you know, I am a diehard Naru/Hina fan, but I cannot and will not let my favorite pairings influence my writing in this story. As for you Naru/Hina haters, I don't want to see any celebrating in reviews, you HAVE BEEN WARNED. With that, review and tell me what you thought about this rather long chapter.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	85. Chapter 85

Well, it's that time again. Welcome to Kage no Naruto chapter eighty five.

I have to admit, the amount of feedback I got last chapter was the second highest amount in this story's history, being bested only by the number of reviews for a chapter around the Forest of Death bit. I was amazed. And by the look of those reviews, that chapter did what I wanted it to do.

You see, despite everything that I have done, huge numbers of my readers continued to see Naruto in a likable light. They sympathized with him and saw him as a fellow human being, kind of. That was not what I wanted. When I said 'True Evil Naruto' in the summary, I meant every word. Half of the point behind this was to make Naruto into someone to be hated, to have him commit acts so vile that nobody could feel an ounce of sympathy for him. But no matter how many I slaughtered, people continued to like him. So I took action. People have become so de-sensitized to violence that it no longer inspired hatred, so I had to bring in even more vile acts to achieve my goal of hatred. I started this story with the goal of making the most evil version of Naruto this world had ever seen. The most corrupted, sinful antithesis of what people could possibly stand for and still call themselves human. So, I have to say to myself, after reading those reviews, 'job well done'.

Enjoy the chapter

Note: Sorry this chapter took awhile. Trust me, reorganizations SUCK! I've been pulling all-nighters for weeks, and it's STILL not done!

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NARUTO SPOILERS  
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Right, Naruto completely ignored Hinata, AGAIN. He spent the thing talking with fucking Sakura. Hinata wasn't even shown for God's sake! Then Tazuna and Inari show up for the first time since the Wave Arc, which was a bit of a surprise really. Then they brought up Sasuke, after all they didn't know what happened to him, then Naruto gave a supremely watered down answer as to what happened, really playing it off.

Then, those Kumo ninja show up at Tsunade's tent with that letter, but long story short, Danzo shows up, says that he is the new Hokage and that Tsunade no longer held the title. Then he took the letter and the scene switches.

The last bit was Kiba telling Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi that Tsunade has been dismissed as Hokage, and Danzo was made the new Hokage. Finally, he tells them that he gave permission for Sasuke to be hunted down as a Missing-Nin. This of course brings up the question, 'what the fuck did Tsunade do about him?' Honestly, it sounds like she ignored him completely up until now.

The last scene is Naruto hearing that and looking pissed. So, with any luck, we'll see Danzo put Naruto in his place next chapter.

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Summary of last chapter

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Tsunade has finally decided to take the initiative and take the fight to Naruto. Planning on selling the Shodaime Hokage's necklace to help with funding, Tsunade prepares to strengthen Konoha to fight back against those that threaten it.

In other news, Sasuke can't make heads or tails of the weaponry file he found, and his team has found Naruto's old base in Kusa no Kuni. Finding the corpses of several slain Soldier Zombies that were, unknown to them, killed by Itachi and Kisame years ago, and the corpse of Suzushiro Haruka, long dead traitor to Naruto, the team of four enter the cave where that tragic betrayal occurred in search of clues to use against their enemy.

Finally, Naruto spoke to Hinata and tormented her with knowledge of what was going to happen to her, then tormented her with knowledge about how he used her in the past, how he abused her trust and made a fool out of her, how he used her for his own gain.

Then, he used her in the worst way that a man can use a woman. Without consent.

With that, the eighty fifth chapter begins!

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Konoha, Council Room

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The Council of Konoha was called in upon the Hokage's order. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Koharu, Homura, Danzo, Shikaku, and Chouza were all in attendance. Everybody noticed as soon as the meeting started that two members were absent. Everyone knew about Hiashi's breakdown after his daughter's death, and it only got worse after word of Hinata's capture got out, but nobody knew where Inoichi was. That was the first question Shikaku asked Tsunade when the meeting started.

Tsunade looked at Shikamaru's father and took a breath before she said "When the bombs went off, Inoichi was taking a nap in his bedroom. One of the bombs was in the ceiling directly above him, he was buried under the rubble, crushed in an instant. He never knew what hit him."

Both of Inoichi's comrades cursed under their breaths at the news. Sure, their friend had been missing since the incident, but they were hoping he was just buried under the rubble somewhere, still alive. Their wish came true, only he didn't survive the experience.

With the formalities aside, Tsunade got to the point of the meeting. She stood and began her address "I have called the Council today to discuss something very important. As is obvious, Konoha has recently taken a brutal blow from one of our enemies, and though we have suspicions, we are not yet sure who did all of this."

Danzo took the moment to speak "Tell us something we don't know Tsunade. All of this could have been avoided if our defenses were higher, our sentries more alert."

Tsunade stopped speaking and looked over at the old ninja and then said the last thing anyone at that table, save one, expected her to say "Danzo, you're right."

Everyone in the room had the look of a guppy at feeding time, in varying degrees. This was the first time that Tsunade had ever agreed with Danzo, the first time ANY Hokage agreed with Danzo. It was a shock like no other.

That shock only got worse when Tsunade continued "After this debacle, I have seen things in a new light. Perhaps the age of peace my grandfather and my sensei dreamed of is not as close as I hoped it was, and that hope brought this tragedy upon us. Perhaps, the policies of my grandfather, my great-uncle, and my sensei were too idealistic, too premature, the policies of weakening ourselves and strengthening others in hopes of maintaining a balance of power were naïve. After this, I have to say that all this time, Danzo was right. The time for peace is not yet upon us, and it is foolish to weaken ourselves and hope to maintain the balance. After this, it is clear that the other villages don't see us as they did so long ago. When Konoha was founded, it was feared, it was respected, all of the other villages at the time, Kiri, Kumo, Iwa, Suna, all of them banded together to take us down, and they failed. Since then, times changed. Suna became our ally, Kiri destroyed itself in civil war, and Kumo and Iwa have been as remote as ever. Since then, every Hokage, myself included, forced our ideals of being equal to everyone else upon the village, and as a result this current age of fake peace was brought up. What was the result of this? Three years ago, Suna betrayed us and Orochimaru killed my Sensei, the Sandaime Hokage. The malevolent organization Akatsuki was formed, and Konoha is weaker than ever. Now, we were so drunk on peace that our sentries became so lax that an enemy agent caused all of this damage. There is no excuse for this. Danzo was right all this time, the time for peace is not yet upon us, we cannot be lulled into a false sense of security, for fear of further incidents like this. We must remain strong, and regain the strength we forfeited just so we can continue to survive in this world. Look at what we have been reduced to! In the days of my youth, numerous ninja from this village were reknowned and feared. Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, myself, Uchiha Fugaku, we had numerous warriors who everyone knew on sight. Who have we now to replace them? Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, everyone that we thought we could rely on is dead. The supposedly great ninja of the current generation have been cut down, and the ninja of the new generation are being cut down before they are ready by an enemy who wants nothing more than to see us dead! We need to strengthen ourselves to fight off this threat, less we be consumed by the same monster that destroyed Iwagakure! Danzo was right, peace is not yet upon us, we must be strong, and that is why I have called this meeting."

Tsunade took another breath and took a brief moment to enjoy the looks of shock at her speech before she continued "This meeting will serve one purpose and one purpose only, to restructure this village. This destruction has given us a crucial chance, the chance to reorganize Konoha into a village to be proud of, the chance to rethink ideas that have grown old, replace what needs to be replaced in order to survive. This meeting is to reorganize Konoha into what it needs to be, a place that we can proudly call home, a military power that others will respect and fear, a true ninja village so strong that nobody will DARE strike at us like this again!"

Again, there was silence. Expressions of shock still littered the room, with two exceptions.

The first was Jiraiya, who knew that all of this was coming, and though he was troubled by just might be coming in the future, he would go along with it.

The other was Danzo, who was sitting in his chair, and wearing an expression that nobody had seen in a very, very long time.

Danzo, the infamous warhawk Danzo, was smiling, from ear to ear.

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With Sasuke

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The Uchiha was standing outside of the cave that was once Naruto's home, a look of disgust upon his face. There was nothing inside.

Nothing to indicate anyone was living there, nothing that might indicate where anyone who was living there in the past may have gone, no indications of what had been done there, there was absolutely NOTHIN in that cave worthy of note.

The only thing that indicated anything other than an animal presence in that cave was a ratty, moldy copy of one of that pervert Jiraiya's books. Well, parts of one of those books. Apparently some of the mice and insects had taken a liking to the thing and ate about half the pages, that and a number or roaches were using the thing as a home for some reason. They were only able to recognize the thing by the color of the thing, a few characters on the cover that weren't eaten, and the content of the book.

So, long story short, they hadn't found anything useful. There was one singular piece of evidence indicating a human presence, but that book could have been left there by anybody. It could have been left there by some husband who wanted to make sure his wife didn't find it, for all Sasuke knew. As such he was left with zero leads as to where Naruto was now, and he had no clue where his main headquarters was.

Sasuke sighed as he came the inevitable conclusion. He needed answers, and when it came to Naruto there was only one place that you could get answers, the lands that he had conquered.

The young Uchiha turned north and indicated for the other three in his merry little band to follow him as he took the trees, setting a moderate pace of travel.

While they were moving, Suigetsu called forward to Sasuke "Oi, where the hell are we headed?"

Sasuke didn't look back at his erstwhile subordinate, but he answered "We're going to the one place that is guaranteed to have clues regarding our prey's movements. We're headed for Tsuchi no Kuni."

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With Naruto

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Naruto was sitting in his study, looking over the glass case that held his collection of Benz knives. Each one was one of a kind, and each one was incredibly valuable, despite the price some of them got. Also in the room was Anko, who was on the border of fidgeting while Naruto stared at the masterfully forged blades. She knew better than to speak. Naruto would talk to her when he wanted to talk to her. She knew all too well what could happen should she speak out of turn. Naruto was cunning, but he was unstable at the best of times. If a fit of rage overtook him, worth as an ally wouldn't matter at all to him, she knew. He could, and probably would, bash her head in with that case, shouting obscenities at the top of his lungs. She had to be patient, above all else.

Finally, after a little over an hour and a half of just standing there being uncomfortable, Naruto finally said something. Just a single word. "Ferrovax"

Anko took a breath, and then another, not sure what to say in this situation, she didn't know what would get her safe from the potential violence that loomed in the near future. Finally she asked "What is a 'Ferrovax' Naruto-sama?"

Naruto spun around in his chair to face her at a very quick speed. As he did so he asked, or rather borderline shouted "How do you know that name! Who told you?!"

Anko's back immediately stiffened, immediately recognizing the danger she was now in. She stuttered out "Y-you just told me Naruto-sama." Hoping, praying, that she would live after this.

Naruto stared at her for a long moment, and then raised his head and sniffed at the air, as though making sure of something. Then he looked at her again and murmured "That's odd. I don't smell a lie. You're actually telling the truth. Hmm, weird." Then he shrugged and leaned back into his chair, staring at her again.

Finally, Naruto started speaking "Ferrovax is a dragon Anko, the very last dragon to be specific. He has been around for who knows how many millennia and is generally considered one of the more powerful beings in existence today. With things of the Nevernever, with age comes power, and he's been around for at least two generations of Faerie Queens, so at this rate I would put him on part with a God of middling power. To be honest, even if I had the book and performed the Darkhallow, I still wouldn't be a match for him, which is why this is so irritating."

Before she could say anything, Naruto took a breath and continued "Supposedly, the Word was stolen from Jiraiya before he and his group met me outside of Nyuusatsu, and the name that was given to them was one Mr. Ferro, which is a commonly used alias by Ferrovax when he decides to take human form for whatever reason. This worries me deeply. If Ferrovax of all people has the book, I won't ever be able to take it from him by force, no matter what I have on my side, short of a God. The Faerie Queens, all of them together, couldn't defeat him. Hell, without the Word I doubt that I will ever be able to rise to the level of strength equal to even a Demi-God, much less one of middling power. If Ferrovax has the book, I'm fucked."

Then he looked Anko straight in the eye, for just a moment and said "That is of course, if he has the book." Then he quickly broke eye contact, letting the words hang in the air.

Anko considered her options carefully, thinking about Naruto's mood and his expectations of her at this point, very aware that he was at an unstable moment for some reason or other. Probably the loss of his arm had brought about this period of mental instability, but arm of shadow or no, he would still be able to kill her in the most horrible of ways without trying all that hard. Finally, she decided to take a gamble and ask "Why would he not have the book Naruto-sama?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment, and for that moment Anko's heart put out about two hundred beats a minute, wondering whether she was talking to the metaphorical Jekyll, or Hyde. Finally, Naruto smiled a small smile and said "Why would he not have the book? Because he would not want it."

Before Anko could ask anything, Naruto went on "You see, dragons have a very materialistic nature, they enjoy wealth and guard it judiciously. They hoard their valuables in immense treasure troves, and guard it with their lives while taking every opportunity to expand it. This is the major reason why Ferrovax is the last dragon, all of the others were killed for their possessions. They weren't killed by the first to try, doubtless, but the continuous challengers eventually killed the dragons off, one by one, until only Ferrovax, the eldest and most powerful dragon, remained."

Before Anko could risk her life and say anything, Naruto continued on "Then the question is 'why would he not want the book?'. The reason is simple, it's drab, it's shabby. Sure, it holds power, but nothing that Ferrovax couldn't crush on his worst day, so he shouldn't be bothered by it. Dragons love SHINY things above all else. Gold, silver, highly polished brass and bronze, precious gems, things made of those are adored by dragons. They love those things, more than life itself. I can sympathize with them in that regard. Something as shabby and dull as the book would be unseemly to a dragon, it wouldn't fit in with the myriad treasures it already held. So, it wouldn't want it. So you see, even if Ferrovax DID take the book, consciously aware that it was valuable, his nature as a dragon would tell him otherwise, his heart wouldn't want it, and as it often said by lovestruck fools and yaoi fangirls 'the heart wants what the heart wants'. Ferrovax wouldn't want the book, and so he would most likely discard it, or give it away, assuming it was really him that took the book."

Anko hoped she wasn't making a mistake and asked "Um couldn't he take it anyway? Conscious decision is all that matters, right?"

Naruto stared at her for a moment, and again Anko feared for her life, unsure what he was about to do. Then Naruto smiled slightly and said "Wrong, Anko, very, very wrong."

Naruto looked at the ceiling, as though considering the pattern the stone blocks made before he went on "Beings of the Nevernever, Faeries, dragons, ghosts, phages, all of them have one distinct difference from humanity that is uniform through them all, and that is their immutability, the fact that they do not change. Humans are capricious and fleeting, they go from one thing to another, sometimes over the span of hours. Beings of the Nevernever aren't like that, they can't and don't change themselves that quickly, they can't. Simply put, they are what they are, no matter how horrible they may be. Nature and instinct are at the forefront of almost any decision made by such a being, conscious decisions are secondary. So even if Ferrovax had the book, he might not have it for long, he may not even have it now, assuming of course that he was the one who took it, which is unlikely given that he didn't buy anything else in the auction, no matter how shiny and valuable."

Again, Anko was cut off when Naruto went on "So, the only conclusion that I can reach is that someone else, someone with at least a bit of power, disguised themselves and Ferrovax and stole the book, hoping that I would be fooled into thinking it was Ferrovax who took it. They were probably hoping that I would go ahead and kill myself challenging him like an idiot. Whoever did this did a piss-poor job of it, that's for sure, not learning a thing about the nature of a dragon, and Ferrovax's personality before imitating him."

He looked at Anko once more and said "So, with all of that said, here is your assignment. You are to lead a group of my Midnight Visitors, and find out who on this world stole my book that day. You are to leave no stone unturned, no suspect uninvestigated. You WILL find my book if it is there to be found. Do you understand?"

She nodded and Naruto said "Good, you will meet the group I have ready for you in the entrance hall. Dismissed."

Anko turned to leave but stopped when Naruto spoke again. "Oh, Anko, send in General Gomorrah, would you?"

It was as Naruto commanded. Ten minutes later, the six-armed dark-skinned General was standing before his master, waiting patiently for his orders.

Naruto looked at the eight foot tall Zombie before saying "Your mission is simple Gomorrah. You will go to Kumogakure and arrange a meeting between myself and the Raikage. Tell him that I've got something to trade."

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With Kirabi

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Kirabi, the younger brother of the Raikage and Jinchuuriki of the Hachibi, the eight tailed beast, was headed home. Having finished his mission given by the Daimyo to assassinate a lord that was planning a coup d'etat, he was headed home at long last. Three weeks of stakeout, planning, preparation, and the completion of the job itself had taken a lot out of him, so he was moving as fast as he could, running through the countryside toward home, munching on a couple of standard issue ration bars on the way.

That was until, he was blasted out of nowhere by an invisible rush of force.

The Jinchuuriki went through the air, spinning once or twice before slamming into the ground, hard.

He grimaced and pushed himself up from the ground, and when he looked up, there was a man with orange hair before him, holding a black sword to his throat.

Kirabi noticed that the man had eye with a concentric ring pattern before the man spoke and said "Jinchuuriki of the Hachibi, come quietly, and contribute to everlasting peace."

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I know, I know, I'm fucking terrible. Short chapter, bad cliffhanger, I know before you say it. But it's like I said at the start of this chapter, I have been BUSY lately, I haven't gotten more than four hours of sleep at a time in almost a month, so you can't really expect the longest of chapters in this environment.

Anyway, it's for those reasons that I have finally made this decision. As of this chapter, I am taking my first, and hopefully last, hiatus.

I can't be expected to do my job at this time, and still do regular updates on this story, I just don't have the time. So until this whole mess calms down, I'm taking a break. It won't be long, a month or two at the most, but I can't do this with any of my usual quality and still be expected to put in twelve hours a day making sure everything doesn't go to hell, which it easily can right now. Sorry, but between this and my job, the job comes first. That said, I'll see you when everything calms down.

Until the next update, whenever that may be,

Artful Lounger


	86. Chapter 86

No, it is not some kind of sick dream you're having. No you are not hallucinating about your most pleasurable fantasy. No, it is none of those things, what you are seeing at this moment is very real. I AM BACK!

Sorry it took so long to get this up, but like I said in my last update, things are going to hell nowadays and things have a habit of getting pretty hectic really quickly. And of course I have to deal with that, it's my job. But that aside, I am back. So you guys can at the very least expect an update every now and again. I don't think that I'll be able to keep up with my old pace, since I'm still pretty busy, but I'll at least be able to get a chapter uploaded when I get a chance. It's better than nothing, isn't it?

With that said, let the usual stuff begin

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Summary of last chapter

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Tsunade began the rebuilding of Konoha, re-forging the village into a military power, not the friendly village that she grew up in. The shock of the destruction made her see the logic in Danzo's so called warmongering and made her change her political stance.

On the other fronts, Kirabi is attacked by Pain, and Sasuke is headed for Tsuchigakure in search of information.

Finally, Naruto has begun a book-hunt for the stolen Word of Kemmler, trusting Anko to carry out the search.

What shall happen? What will Naruto's madness cause him to do? How shall the world change through these momentous events? Read on, and find out.

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Latest Naruto chapter

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Okay, this is how it is. I fell way behind on my summaries of all the latest Naruto chapters and the like, and I'm not even going to pretend to have the desire to catch up on it, so as of this chapter, the latest Naruto chapter summaries and opinions are officially canceled.

Sorry to those who enjoyed me flying off the handle at Kishimoto's idiocy, but I've just lost any and all will to continue on pointing out that man's mistakes in this story. Hope you all understand.

Now then, with that said, let the chapter begin

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Dark Heaven Castle

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Hogback was in his medical laboratories, looking through data on some of the more recent tests, his blank expression hiding what was going through his head.

Those thoughts were thoughts of worry. Specifically about Naruto's latest orders which made him go back to this almost forgotten line of work.

Years ago, Naruto and Hogback had worked together to create a line of RNA retroviruses, a number of extraordinarily deadly micro-organisms that were without a doubt among the most lethal in all of recorded history. They had used one of the minor ones to infect one Aburame Shino, and he had gone on to infect his entire clan, which brought about its complete extinction. The only reason that all of Konoha wasn't infected was because of quarantine procedures carried out by Aburame Shibi. This was all theoretical of course, but in Konoha's records the deaths of the clan were a large mystery. Nobody knew what exactly happened within those sealed walls before the compound exploded. Naruto himself wasn't sure, but the series of events that Hogback was given was the most likely scenario.

The line of viruses had been a success, they had sufficient fatality ratings to cripple the human race. However, shortly after they completed the testing, Haruka betrayed Naruto, destroying all of the organisms and stealing away one of Naruto's favorite pawns, the Jinchuuriki Yukino. Several years worth of work was thrown out the window in just a few minutes. Or so Haruka thought when she left her job unfinished.

While the traitor had destroyed all of the actual specimens, she neglected to destroy all of the records and journals that both Naruto and Hogback had written as they went about the creation of the organisms. The fact that these critical documents remained allowed Hogback to re-create the viruses without much difficulty. It just took some time.

It had been almost five years since Haruka's betrayal, and now Hogback had finally finished his work that had been slowed due to the creation of the Special Zombie which had been taking up so much of his time for the last several years. But now, after all of this time, Haruka's betrayal had been rendered pointless. The deadly viral organisms had been replaced. But those were not what Hogback was working on at that very moment.

What the great doctor was currently going over was the information on the genome of the most deadly organism they created, a lethal virus with an immense infection and direct mortality rate. He was going over that information for one purpose- to create a vaccine. Specifically, a vaccine meant to protect four and only four people from the virus should Naruto decide to spread it across the world. Zombies had no fear of disease, they were dead already. Four doses of vaccine, four Enigmas. Naruto, Hogback, Perona, Absalom. Those were who the vaccine was meant to protect against a viral outbreak dangerous enough to plunge the world into chaos.

Hogback knew that his life was forfeit if he disobeyed, but still it bothered him just how heartless Naruto could be sometimes. If things went badly at any point in time, badly enough to make Naruto pull out this last ace in the hole….

Hogback's eyes narrowed behind his glasses at the thought. If that happened, every one of Naruto's human followers would be subject to the disease. It showed beyond all doubt who Naruto thought was important in the group. It showed who were the important ones, and who were the pawns.

If it came down to it, pawns could always be replaced.

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Fields of Kaminari no Kuni

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Kirabi, Jinchuuriki of the Hachibi, looked down the blade of a sword black as the night sky and into the grey eyes of the man who held it. Pupils surrounded by concentric patterns of rings stared back at him. He wore the black and red of a member of Akatsuki and he radiated all of the power that such a person was supposed to have.

Pain looked down upon his target and said "Get up." He kept the tip of his sword at Kirabi's throat, careful not to accidentally cut the artery it was touching. He had absolutely no intention of killing Kirabi or letting him die, but his target didn't know that. As long as he didn't know that he wouldn't be allowed to die, he could maintain some level of control in this situation. In reply to the command, Kirabi gingerly rose to his feet, keeping his hands visible as thoughts raced through his mind. Thoughts of escape and counterattack.

The Akatsuki leader calmly said "Be still." And watched as another man with the same Rinnegan eyes appeared behind Kirabi, holding a set of iron manacles covered in seals meant to suppress the demon within him. It was at that moment that Kirabi acted.

He leaned forward just a little, leaning forward a bit and yelled as loud as he could not two feet from Pain's face. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Pain, surprised despite himself, flinched back just a little, and that was all the Jinchuuriki needed as he leapt backwards, planting an elbow into the second body's face as he did. The Human Realm Pain fell to the ground, dropping the manacles and struggling to recover its balance. Two other bodies emerged from the ground next to God Realm, specifically Hungry Ghost Realm and Animal Realm. The three of them faced their enemy as the fourth rose to his feet.

Kirabi calculated odds in his head as he reached for two of the several swords strapped to his body. Most people didn't think he was that smart, but in this line of work, you HAD to be. Sure, he fooled around and occasionally got drunk, but he was still a Jounin. He knew what it took to survive on the battlefield. And right now his instincts were telling him to avoid a fight here if possible. The members of Akatsuki were no pushovers, and there were four of them that he had never even heard of. He'd be fighting four on one when the enemy most likely had some information on his abilities. Fighting with odds like that were a great way to get killed. So Kirabi's priority became to escape these guys and get back home. His big brother would know what to do. With that decided, he steadily started to inch back, getting as much distance as possible before making a break for it.

He had no sooner made a movement than the one with the long hair rushed him. Kirabi drew one sword, slapped aside a punch, and stabbed with the blade. He nicked the skin over the body's heart, but was forced to jump back to avoid an attack by the shorter Pain when he launched himself into the fray. Kirabi's hands flowed from symbol to symbol in an attempt at Ninjutsu, a distraction, but before he could complete it, he heard something behind him.

It was the slightest of rustles, but Kirabi heard it regardless and jumped to the right as the thing rushed past him. When he saw what it was, it was another Akatsuki member, another person with those strange eyes. They knew what he knew. They knew that they would follow him wherever he ran. If he wanted to escape, Kirabi knew that he had to kill at least one of these bastards.

"Fine then," He muttered as he drew two swords. "You guys are dangerous, but I won't make this easy for you. Expect me going kicking and screaming."

One of the five bodies spoke "It matters now how loud you are, or how anything you are as long as you come." Then it tilted its head to the side juuust a little and added, in a perplexed tone "Why do you despise peace so much? To fight it this hard, you must have an immense hatred of the very concept. It is one of the major failings of the Ninja world as it is. Don't worry, things will change. With your death, we will be but one step away from eternal peace."

The talking was a distraction, a distraction that Kirabi had anticipated. He jumped to the side as one of them, the one that held him at sword-point moments ago, rose his hand and muttered "Shinra Tensei". The Hachibi Jinchuuriki felt a current go through the air, just missing him. Then he was forced to retreat because of the combined physical assault of two other Akatsuki members, the fat one and the one with long hair.

Kirabi stepped back from a punch, and then threw the sword in his left hand at his face. The man flinched back as his partner, the fat Akatsuki, threw his next attack. Kirabi was ready for it and grabbed the man's wrist, pulling him forward as he brought the blade in his other hand down on his opponent's forearm.

The blade bit deep into flesh, but he wasn't able to sever the limb as he had hoped to. Before he could do anything else, he was forced to retreat again to dodge a blast of fire.

Ignoring the searing heat that lingered in the air from the burst of flame, the Kumo Jounin quickly glanced over at the source and saw that the Akatsuki with the ponytail had summoned something. It looked like a large lizard, and it was about the size of a dog, its shoulders at knee height. Then it opened its mouth and another stream of flame came at him. Again, he avoided it.

Out of pure reflex, he slashed the air with his sword, and heard the sound of bones cracking as he knocked something out of the air. A quick look showed him that it was the Akatsuki with long hair, who now had a broken bone in his forearm along with a deep cut.

The one with long hair and the fat one both rushed him as another surge of fire came from the lizard. One of the two remaining Akatsuki, the one with the spikes in his head, held his forearm and Kirabi was surprised when his arm came OFF at the elbow towards him! The last Akatsuki, for some reason, seemed content to watch.

Kirabi grabbed the two that were coming toward him, avoiding both of their punches, and grabbing them. The fat one, he threw into the incoming fire ball. The long haired one however, he held onto and put in the way of the other Akatsuki's incoming arm. He was really surprised when the flames, instead of engulfing the fat Akatsuki, actually VANISHED, as though sucked into him. His eyes narrowed at that. 'Immune to Ninjutsu?' he thought. It wasn't unheard of. There were individuals in history that were impervious to Ninjutsu, but they were few, far apart in time, and rarely lived long. Anyone with such abilities was seen as a huge threat in the ninja world and eliminated. Apparently Amegakure, judging by the headband, allowed one such person to live.

He had to hold onto his captive tightly to keep him from ripping free, he was _strong_, and then he felt the impact of the Akatsuki's fist through his human shield and was propelled back a good six inches. He had heard and felt bones shatter from the impact.

He dropped the Akatsuki the moment the attack was over, barely sparing him a glance to make sure that he was dead. He was. That fist went straight into his chest, shattering the sternum, collarbone, and four ribs. The thing was buried into the guy's chest so far that it might have been touching his spine. He wasn't getting up. Ever. Kirabi turned his attention toward the fat Akatsuki, noting him as the most dangerous in the long term.

He drew another sword and ran forward toward his new target, and was suddenly blasted from the side with a terrific force, blowing him onto his side and sending him skidding several feet before he regained his feet and stopped himself.

He immediately started running for the fat Akatsuki after he got up. Fire and projectiles tried to stop him and the fat Akatsuki tried to maintain his distance, but Kirabi was too fast, and he knocked him to the ground, shoving the sword into his back, into his kidneys, before pulling it out and sidestepping a burst of flame.

He turned, palmed a knife from a pouch at his belt and threw it straight at the Akatsuki summoner, and then started running as fast as he could toward Kumo. With two of the enemy dead, he had a fair chance of avoiding capture.

The three remaining Pain bodies watched him run for a moment before Demon Realm started running after him, his arm flying through the air and rejoining itself to the stump, Animal Realm and God Realm right behind him. They left the two bodies where they were.

Then, about a minute or so later, a figure emerged from the ground. A square jawed man with orange hair and the eyes of the Rinnegan, wearing the Akatsuki cloak. Hell Realm.

Kirabi didn't realize that before long, his number of pursuers would be doubled, and he would have to fight again. And again later. Until he was finally worn out. Hell Realm smiled a little as he began healing his two fallen brethren. They never realized that they could get tired until it was too late to make a difference. The Jinchuuriki stamina would be their downfall.

After all, the tactic had worked in capturing three other Jinchuuriki, and Kirabi would make four.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was in his office, going over maps, papers, and lists. He had been going over the figures of his small empire.

With the people of Tsuchi no Kuni enslaved, and all of his materials free due to that slavery, every bit of money that he made was profit. As a result, he made money hand over fist. If he wasn't already the most wealthy person in the world, he would be soon. The Elemental Countries were all buying his goods, and using his train routes. He had done what he planned on doing, and had changed the continent irreversibly. With industries created, and an infrastructure made, the world would never be the same. The signs could already be seen. From a morally based society seeking to make a living to a world focused upon results and profit. It was the sort of place where he could, and would, thrive.

Hogback and his assistants, he had been recruiting from the maids, had completed the bodies of the soldiers of Tsuchi no Kuni. It wouldn't take long to animate them, since he had the shadows of the other half of the army to do that. He would have a sizeable army of zombified soldiers before the month was out. That combined with the weaponry and artillery now being produced in Tsuchi no Kuni would mean that within six months, he would be able to start his conquest of the Elemental Countries. There wasn't much left to do.

After he secured the alliance with Kumo, which would secure his left flank, he would take the lands that were between Kaminari no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni. That was important because it was those lands which housed Dark Heaven Castle. The sooner he secured his hiding place, the sooner he would be able to expand without worry.

After that, the combined forces of Kumogakure's ninja and Tsuchi no Kuni's soldiers would start taking the smaller countries, avoiding the bigger countries like Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni for as long as possible. Then he would take those two and complete his conquest of the known world by sending out an armada to Mizu no Kuni. There were a couple of island nations to be taken after that, but those would only be an exercise. With that done, all he had to do was betray the Raikage and he would have carved an empire out of a land that couldn't remember the last time that they truly had peace. And that was what he wanted.

With the flesh whole and unharmed, he would go to work on the soul. Violence would become a thing of the past, while he ran everything without contest. That was the plan at least. Once he had control of the planet, he would be able to increase his strength to the levels that it had to be if he was going to conquer the near reaches of the Nevernever, the world of spirit. If that didn't work out, then he would be content to rule this lesser plane. The important thing was to realize when he had to cut his losses and accept that he wasn't going to get any more. That's what would keep him alive.

But that didn't change the fact that he would push as much as he could get away with to see if that limit was reached. No matter what happens, he still had his greed.

With that thought, he began scribbling on one set of maps, marking plans for troop movements and military facilities, and then began to write orders for the production of war materials. Timber, arrows, spears and javelins, and numerous things besides.

He planned to wage a war that would bring the Elemental Countries under his sole command. He needed to start stockpiling things that he hadn't already stockpiled. One could never be too prepared.

After a few hours, he had the orders taken to the factories in Tsuchi no Kuni. Then he read the most recent spy reports from Konoha. So far, things were going as expected. They didn't even know that they had been infiltrated. Nobody did.

But then, that was the point of a double agent, wasn't it?

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Outside Kumogakure

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It was a normal day for the people of Kumo. Assasinations were planned, robberies were sanctioned, and behind all the backstabbing, there was still more deception and espionage and mysterious deaths.

But enough about work.

In actuality Konoha was one of two of the villages to have a 'Council', the other was Sunagakure. The other three held entirely dictatorial governments, well two now since Iwagakure was ravaged to the ground. Here in Kumo, the Raikage called all the shots. The only semblance of a Council was a group of men who basically dealt with the matters that didn't require the Raikage's attention. Mainly matters like managing supplies, trade, and taxes. The only figures that the Raikage ever saw from that division was the results page. That and the occasional spy report when someone was skimming off the top. But that didn't happen often. The last three people who tried that were found hung from a tree.

So, with all the normalcy, you can imagine the surprise when someone showed up out of the morning fog, and tossed a bound and gagged dark haired girl to the ground outside of the front gate. The man wore a jacket that reached down to his ankles, and a ski mask.

He didn't say a word. He just held up a sign that said in big black letters 'I have an offer of alliance for the Raikage'. Messengers were sent almost immediately to receive orders on what to do.

Someone was sent out in twenty minutes at the Raikage's orders to talk to him. He came back in five minutes and told that the stranger would only talk to the Raikage. That, and that according to the stranger, the dark haired girl was the heiress of the Hyuuga.

Thirty minutes after that knowledge came through, the man was being led to a private audience with the Raikage.

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In Konoha

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Tsunade was making great progress in her remaking of Konoha. The main trick was to downsize. Mainly, downsize the town.

She had completely given up on rebuilding attempts on parts of the city that would serve no purpose. She had concentrated workers to rebuild a city the size of which would fit the new, smaller population. They could always expand again later. The results were much faster reconstruction of Konoha, and the trappings of normalcy began to return. Within a month or two, Konoha would be as prosperous as it had been before, albeit smaller.

With that said, the Hokage had been sitting down with Danzo and started plans for a new Academy, and new laws to be laid down before long. The Academy would be needed to train new Shinobi, and they would have recruits in spades. The new laws requiring all children of appropriate age to apply really helped in that regard.

Konoha would be an efficient military machine, and a powerful one. Tsunade would make sure of that. The only other thing that she was absolutely sure of was that that military machine was going to do one major thing, and that was kill the man who drove her to such measures.

The woman could be seen, in her spare time, looking out the window to the North, towards Tsuchi no Kuni, which remained the largest known location of their sworn enemy. You could almost see the gears turning as she went through old maps in her head, planning strikes and raids years before she had the manpower to make them real. She was utterly determined to destroy every aspect that the man had ever lived, no matter the cost.

'You sit tight behind that wall you ugly, rotten son of a bitch.' She thought to herself. 'I hope I'm there to see it when I drive a spear up that smug ass of yours, and drive it into your brain.'

Her hatred was such that the word 'Naruto' was practically a taboo within forty feet of Konoha's leader. Danzo could not have been more pleased.

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Okay, sorry for the shorter than usual chapter, but like I said I've been busy as hell.

I hope that you appreciate the breath of fresh air, again don't expect me to keep up my previous pace, but I'll get the chapters out to you when I can. Just be patient. This story WILL NOT be abandoned, no matter what. You have my guarantee.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	87. Chapter 87

Welcome my adoring public to the eighty seventh chapter of Kage no Naruto. It feels good to be back in the groove of things again. Sorry that work is being such a bitch, but I get paid to do it so it's all good.

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Summary of last chapter

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Naruto made plans for the worst case scenario, Pain attacked Kirabi, and Gomorrah began bargaining with the Raikage for an alliance, using Hinata as a bargaining chip. Tsunade's conversion of the devastated Konoha into a military state has begun in earnest. What shall happen? Will Kirabi survive? Will Naruto be assassinated in the middle of the night? Not bloody likely, but who knows?

With that said, let the chapter begin

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With Kirabi

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Kirabi spared a glance behind him as he continued running through the countryside, steadily headed northwards. He cursed under his breath when he saw no less than six figures following him. He was a bit baffled by the appearance and apparent health of the two members of Akatsuki that he had killed before he made a run for it. 'How the hell did those two survive? Was it Genjutsu? Did I kill a Bunshin that stuck around after it was killed? No, that would make no sense. It doesn't matter right now though, all that matters is that I'm even more heavily outnumbered.' "Dammit all." Kirabi muttered to himself as he continued to push forward. So far, things weren't looking that great. He was about three hundred meters ahead of the six of them, and they were steadily closing that gap. At this rate, he would be forced into another fight long before he got into safe territory.

He frowned as he considered the grim outlook of the situation as it was now. He didn't want to fight six members of Akatsuki at once, he had to get backup. He needed a distraction, something to slow down his pursuers long enough for him to put some real distance between himself and his enemies. Before long, he had a quick scheme in mind.

'Now then, all I need is some cover to pull it off.' he thought to himself, and then he spotted a copse of trees not too far away. 'There, that's perfect.' Without missing a beat, he quickly shifted direction to make it into the trees, the Akatsuki still following.

Then all of a sudden his leg went out from under him.

Kirabi had just set down his right leg, raising the left to take a step when a force suddenly took his leg out from under him. The result was instantaneous, the Kumo ninja landed flat on his back.

He immediately rose to his feet and sped a dirty look over his shoulder. He knew exactly which one of them did that, the one with the six piercings in the nose. But as much as he wanted to beat that guy's face in, he wanted to live more. So he continued on his course and made it into the trees, the distance between him and his pursuers more than cut in half by the little distraction.

Kirabi moved through the trees, and as he did so his fingers flashed through seals, somewhat slowly. It had been a long time since he last used this Jutsu.

He muttered to himself "Doton: Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu" as he released his chakra into the world and created ten exact copies of him, each of them forming out of the earth at his feet.

The ten copies split up. Seven of them hid themselves among the trees for an ambush. The other three followed him.

As he neared the end of the patch of woodland, Kirabi pulled several exploding tags from his pocket and spread them around. Another little surprise for his pursuers once they reached the area.

They just started to hear the 'CLANG' of steel meeting steel as the four Kirabi lookalikes emerged from the trees, and then scattered on four different paths that would eventually lead to Kumogakure. The real Kirabi took one of the more roundabout ways to get home. If he took the direct route, they'd find him almost immediately.

With the thoughts of the Akatsuki members' surprised faces causing some internal chuckling, Kirabi continue headed home, hoping to be rid of his pursuers before he got there.

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With Tsunade

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Tsunade was currently looking down from the Hokage Tower, watching over the ever so slowly rebuilding city. She couldn't help but be proud. After so little time after the disaster, they had the most important things already rebuilt. Homes had been built for the living, food was plentiful, so they wouldn't have to worry about starvation. Water was provided without trouble, the sewage, plumbing and the like being almost unharmed by the blast. All they had to do was replace a couple of main-lines that were damaged and they were golden.

Power was still out in most of the city, but the grid was repaired, all they had to fix was the wiring. The hospital had been restored to working order, not as well supplied or staffed as before, but nobody was going to die from the flu. They had everything that they really needed to survive. At this point they were working on getting things back to normal.

A Ninja Academy was already being built. It wasn't that difficult since most of the instruction was oral and practical anyway. All they really needed was a big enough building and they found that in a lightly damaged warehouse that was easily repaired. The only changes they needed to make were separating the wide space into classrooms and administration offices and they were set for the essentials. They already had the equipment and such set up.

All in all, things were looking up. Already, a new generation was at hand, a new batch of children born. They would be fine recruits into the new school where they would be taught to defend their home. Furthermore, the devastation helped bring the survivors together as a group, especially the ninja population. They also united in their hatred against the one who committed the evil act, and they all knew who to blame. Naruto's name, which was looked down upon before, was publicly blacklisted. Anybody and everybody who felt indifferent due to not knowing the issues now knew. His name was almost considered an insult. Everybody lost someone in the explosions, and everyone knew exactly where to throw that blame. Tsunade was counting on it. If the civilians hated Naruto badly enough, they wouldn't mind their children being taught to fight in hope of killing him. Already people were calling the disaster 'the second Kyuubi attack'.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Enter." She called out in response and then turned to greet the person.

"There's a stack of forms needing your approval ma'am." Natsuki said as she walked in and laid a small pile of papers on the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade nodded and thanked the girl as she left. The workload of the Hokage had really dropped since the incident. There was enough destruction to deal a powerful blow to the bureaucracy of leading Konoha. At this point she suspected that the entire thing was a stall tactic used by one of the now deceased Council members. She had to admit that it was rather clever if that was the case. Inundate the Hokage with paperwork so that she couldn't get in the way while we went ahead with the important things, and make sure that there are enough bills that, if signed, would give the council full reign so that she couldn't just sign them all without reading them. It had certainly worked on the Sandaime. That old man did so much paperwork that he barely had any time to lead the village. It was how the Council seized so much power to begin with. But that was under control now.

Tsunade had truly taken the reigns in the aftermath of the attack, the Council as a whole was no more. The only important ones remaining were Koharu, Homura, and Danzou, who acted as advisors. The various clan heads, both old and newly elected, were given preferred placement in the queue for an audience, but other than that they were treated no different than anybody else of their rank. They actually didn't have much of a problem with that, the only exception being the Hyuuga, but Hiashi really took control after things settled down, nobody controlled the Hyuuga clan but him, and he was a staunch supporter of almost anything that Tsunade did if it was going to help slit Naruto's throat.

She quickly read through and signed off on the various forms, making sure that everything was going the way that it was supposed to be going, and set them aside for Natsuki to take when she came through again. Things were looking up the Village Hidden in the Leaves. They were hurt, that was true, but not fatally.

'It's true what they say,' Tsunade thought to herself as she sat back in her chair. 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'

What Tsunade didn't say, not even in her thoughts, was 'and in twenty or thirty years Naruto, we'll be strong enough to kill you.'

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With Sasuke

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Sasuke and his merry men had spent the last several days heading steadily north toward Tsuchi no Kuni, and the journey wasn't the easiest ever undertaken. The thick jungle near Kusa no Kuni made life miserable and even ninja had to eat and drink, and given that they had Suigetsu with them, who needed about four or five times as much water as the average human, meant that water supplies didn't tend to last longer than a few days before they had to restock. That added to Suigetsu's need to rest often due to his long stay in Orochimaru's tank and the weight of the Kubikiri Houchou, meant that they were slowed down quite a bit. Karin's lack of physical endurance, compared to that of Sasuke and Juugo, didn't make things easier either.

So, the going was slow, and it was only made slower by Sasuke's decision to go around Hi no Kuni, rather than cutting through it. He didn't want to meet any Konoha shinobi.

The four of them were currently moving through Kusa no Kuni, and they were getting very close to their goal. Within a few days, they would be inside of Tsuchi no Kuni, and that was when things would be getting really difficult.

None of them knew Kusa no Kuni very well, so at that point they were following the train tracks north. After Naruto took over and started his technological revolution, train tracks had been built through several nearby countries, from Tsuchi no Kuni to Kaminari no Kuni, and also into Kusa no Kuni. Unfortunately, they were likely to end there since Ame no Kuni wouldn't allow them to build the tracks, and Kaze no Kuni didn't have favorable terrain for the tracks. The only other route was through Hi no Kuni, and they refused to allow him to build for obvious reasons. But that didn't really matter at this point. From Kiba no Kuni, a nation on a panhandle of land that was south of Kaminari no Kuni, Naruto had already built a shipping company and was planning to send goods by sea to Nami no Kuni, and other oceanic nations. Not many knew about what was going on, but he was slowly taking control of the world economy.

However, while Naruto may have been doing well in his endeavors, Sasuke was not doing the same. The road had been tough, and while they may have been ninja, they were still human. Mosquitoes had apparently declared open season on the four of them as they went through Kusa no Kuni's jungles, and there were all kinds of poisonous plants and numerous animals that would enjoy having a human snack. So, nearly eaten alive by bugs, clothes dirty and torn from the trees, ground, and marshes that they had to cross, they were looking eagerly for some semblance of civilization. They really needed it. Suigetsu needed water badly. Clean water. He had attempted drinking water from one of the rivers, but he had been sick afterwards. Luckily it wasn't anything serious.

Karin sneezed as they continued their journey north. That fall into a swamp hadn't done her any good. Apparently all the life in a swamp made it harder to cross than an ordinary stream, since all of them but Suigetsu had fallen in when they tried to walk across it. Suigetsu had a grand time laughing at the three of them as they plucked leeches from their skin afterwards. Unfortunately, Karin didn't come out of it with just injured pride. She had apparently caught some kind of illness. She was already running a fever, and had a difficult time on their journey; twice already she had become weak enough that somebody had to carry her. Much to her chagrin, it was always Juugo who did the carrying.

That was one of the reasons why Sasuke was looking for town of some kind, they needed a doctor for Karin, they needed new clothing, they needed supplies. They had to get out of the wilderness for a while. So with that in mind, the three of them pushed north as quickly as they could, hoping that they might find a city near the tracks, and praying that the next town the tracks reached to wasn't Korin. Korin was the major city at the very edge of Tsuchi no Kuni that acted as the train depot. Every train entering or leaving Tsuchi no Kuni went through Korin. Needless to say it was heavily guarded.

For the next day and a half, they had no luck. They continued north, but every day the going was slower as hunger and exhaustion continued to set in.

Sasuke considered his situation bitterly as they continued on. He really did not like his odds if they were forced into a fight at this point. 'Damn. We need to find a town quickly. Anyone with power would be able to take us down right now. How long is it until we find a town!?'

Suigetsu interrupted Sasuke's internal rant as he shouted "Hey! There's smoke!" He looked over and saw Suigetsu pointing in the distance. Sasuke looked and sure enough, there was a column of smoke rising from the woods in front of them, Sasuke guessed that it was maybe a mile away. Nobody needed to be told what that meant. Where there was smoke, there was fire, and where there was fire, there were people. Everybody was smiling except for Sasuke as he said "Let's go." And then increased the pace.

The four of them moved forward along the tracks as fast as they could, but in a few minutes they heard a very weird sound. Karin was the first to ask "(pant) Hey, what's-pant- that sound?" Sasuke took notice of her shortness of breath, that illness was getting to her, but he was definitely concerned about the noise. It sounded like a very shrill, high pitched whistle. He wasn't sure what it was.

Then all of a sudden, a single bright light came from the darkness ahead of them, and suddenly Sasuke understood what that noise was. "EVERYBODY OFF THE TRACKS!" he shouted and then dived to the side, rolling down a small hill that the tracks were on top of. The rest of them, not understanding the danger, followed suit immediately. If Sasuke wanted them off the tracks, there was probably reason enough for them to move off of the tracks.

They had been off of the train tracks for about five seconds when a long metal contraption shot down the tracks headed south. They all realized what it was then, it was one of the trains that Naruto employed to carry his goods to various markets. The locomotive was colored crimson, as were all of the cars, and it puffed out thick black smoke as it continued south. Furthermore, every inch or two, on both cars and locomotive, were long spikes. It helped discourage potential stowaways.

Before long, the cacophony of the wheels as they met the steel of the tracks, and the shrill whistle of the train began to grow softer as it moved farther away, leaving the four ninja alone once more.

They all went back up to the tracks, Karin still looking flushed, and Juugo rubbing a scraped elbow from the sudden dive. Suigetsu looked north and muttered "Damn it, so that's what that smoke was."

The other three looked toward where the smoke column was before and saw that it was gone. Then they realized the unfortunate truth, the smoke was the column sent up by the train that just passed them, not by any human settlement. They were still alone out there in the wilderness.

Sasuke cursed silently, and then continued to move north. The others, somewhat reluctantly, began to follow him. They were all hoping for the same thing, that they would find a town before one of them died out there.

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With Pain

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The six Pain bodies ran into the patch of woodland, following their quarry. This wasn't going to be easy. They may be animated bodies, but they still had a limit of endurance. There was only so long they could run before they had to rest, or before they eventually left the signal given by the real Pain, and they had to wait for the real one to catch up to the six. Fortunately, or unfortunately, that wouldn't occur until they got very close to Kumogakure, and if it got that bad, odds were that they wouldn't have succeeded anyway. While Pain was fairly confident that he could go toe-to-toe with either the Hachibi Jinchuuriki, or the Raikage, he held no illusions that the two of them working together would probably rip him apart. As such, it was imperative that the Jinchuuriki be caught before he got within twenty miles of Kumogakure. Unfortunately, they were only about thirty miles away at this point. He didn't have long.

Then, before they got within twenty feet inside of the trees, a number of kunai rained from the sky toward the six. This hardly posed an inconvenience however, as the six of them simply jumped back, maneuvering so that Hell Realm would be at the back. They all looked in different directions, doing their best to locate their attacker.

They didn't have to wait long before Kirabi launched himself from the branches of one of the higher nearby trees, shouting at the top of his lungs "OOOHHHH YEEAAAAAAH!" as he moved into a drop-kick aimed right at the Hungry Ghost Realm Pain.

Now, while that might have been a dangerous attack, it would probably have destroyed the Hungry Ghost Realm if it hit, it was nowhere close to perfect. That was the thing about aerial attacks, it didn't matter how much muscle you had, nor how much power or chakra. If you were in the air, and you didn't have any wings with which to put any of your power to use, you were in the hands of Mother Nature, and Sir Isaac Newton.

With that said, God Realm raised his hand, and muttered "Shinra Tensei" as he sent a blast of invisible force that smashed the Jinchuuriki into the tree behind him, stopping his attack, and shifting his attention toward not immediately falling.

Or at least… it should have.

Instead of scrambling for some kind of hold, the Hachibi Jinchuuriki maneuvered himself and pushed off the tree with his legs moments after he collided with the plant, pushing himself back toward the enemies, hurtling through the air.

This time, Demon Realm took care of it, raising one arm and firing a volley of kunai from one of the hidden compartments inside of it, knocking Kirabi off balance, as well as causing multiple stab wounds. Nothing fatal, of course.

Then the Jinchuuriki hit the ground, and Pain realized that he didn't have to be gentle. Kirabi splattered into a large mud puddle shortly after he struck the ground. Pain realized immediately what his foe had done.

It was then, at that precise moment, that another pair of Tsuchi Bunshin threw a rain of kunai, while the other four clones revealed themselves in the nearby wilderness, and began to move in.

As one of the clones went through handseals, and shot a bolt of lightning at Demon Realm, and being subsequently absorbed by Hungry Ghost Realm, Pain realized that if he didn't get through this ambush quickly, then he wouldn't be able to reached Kirabi in time.

"Damn it" Pain muttered, far away from the battle, as the six Paths of Pain waded into the battle, hoping to end it quickly.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was currently in his chambers at Dark Heaven Castle, sketching out routes and plans for various assaults that would one day certainly occur. Assaults upon the capital cities of the various nations, as well as against the Hidden Villages. There was no end to the lists of individuals who would have to be eliminated in order to subjugate the populations, the occupation forces that would have to be stationed, there were all kinds of logistics that would have to be dealt with. Most of all was the problem of manpower, but that was going to be relieved somewhat before long. Hogback had recently finished the project of transforming half of the army of Tsuchi no Kuni, their corpses rather, into corpses that would be useful as Zombies. All he had to do was take the shadows of the still living half of the army to animate them, and they would have an army of experienced army veterans, ready to take the field.

It wasn't nearly enough, but it was definitely a start. They would have to begin conscripting once they took some of the smaller nations and solidified their hold over them.

However, future military operations weren't the only things on Naruto's mind at the moment. He had sent for a few specific individuals, and they were knocking on his door right now. He told them to enter, and the door opened to admit the remaining members of the Sound Four.

Naruto looked them over; they hadn't changed much over the years. They had grown a couple of inches, but that was about it. They still wore the same uniforms that they wore when they served Orochimaru, which seemed like a long time ago to everyone involved. But now, for the first time in a long time, he had a job for them.

Naruto spoke "I have a job for the three of you. A scouting mission."

They remained silent as Naruto stood up and went over to a large map of the Elemental Countries that dominated one wall of the room. The thing had every city, village, and town marked upon it, as well as existing roads and the population or every settlement. Several were circled in red. There were other such maps around the room, showing things such as geography, elevation, resources. Charts, maps, reports, the room was damn near impenetrable except for four or five main paths through the bundles of paper.

Naruto pointed out several locations on the map. Kusagakure, Konoha, Tanzaku Gai, as well as Jigosu, which was the capital of Kusa no Kuni, and Inaba, which was the closest town in Kusagakure, it was the first stop for any train from Korin into Kusa no Kuni.

After he pointed out the locations, he said "I want you to scout each location, their populations, their defenses, their leaders, their armed forces. If there are Missing-Nin, list them and their power. I want to know everything you can tell me about these locations. Any questions?"

There weren't any questions, of course. Asking questions was a good way to get Naruto angry, and when Naruto gets angry, whether for good reasons or not, he went into an unpredictable rage. People tended to get hurt easily when Naruto got like that.

Naruto nodded and said "Then go. I want you back here within two months." The three of them nodded and left the room, leaving Naruto to his plotting.

The blonde smiled a bit once they left. Then he opened a drawer in his desk, and pulled out several files. The files contained every bit of the information that he had just asked the Sound Four, or Sound Three, since Jirobou was long dead, to find. The information was compiled by his Midnight Visitors a long time ago. He had every important location well scouted, and he already had rumors being planted that would cast suspicion of corruption upon their current leaders. It would make it easier to take over if they were already on the brink of an internal war.

So the question remained, why did Naruto send the Sound Four out to those locations on a pointless mission? The answer was simple. They had outlived their usefulness, as far as Naruto was concerned. They were strong, but not strong enough to make any real difference in the battles to come. If he ever got his hands on the origin of the Curse Mark, Juugo, then every one of his Zombies would far surpass them. Long story short, they were expendable, they didn't produce much, and he questioned why he even took them in years ago. He was asking himself similar questions about his other living followers.

So the point of the mission was simple. They weren't meant to accomplish anything; he knew everything that they were going to attempt to learn. They just weren't supposed to come back. He had a nasty little surprise waiting for them in Kusa no Kuni, and then the Sound Four would be only a memory.

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With Gomorrah

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The General was surprised at how easy the negotiations were. The Yondaime Raikage was actually very agreeable to the idea of invading Konohagakure. It turned out that he already had been building up arms in hopes of one day invading.

The two were seated in a private meeting room, the only people there being the Raikage himself, an immensely tall black man with white hair slicked back, and a mustache, Gomorrah, and the bound and gagged Hyuuga Hinata. It hadn't been hard to hammer out alliance terms once the Byakugan was on the table. Figuratively and literally. Hinata was actually laid across the table in front of the General.

The Raikage looked up toward the ceiling and said, in a deep, gravelly voice "With Konoha weakened as you say it is, and Kiri as conflicted as it ever was, though it is starting to pull together with the new Mizukage, the might of Kumo, and the might of your kind may indeed have a chance of winning out. I look forward to meeting with this Master of yours and finalizing the terms of our agreement, so that we can together bring peace to this land.

Gomorrah nodded. "Indeed, between us, the only forces we need fear are those of the Gods themselves. This alliance shall produce the greatest army in the history of the Elemental Countries.

The Raikage nodded, and turned his gaze toward the bound girl on the table. "So, when will I be able to speak to this Naruto in person? We must be able to discuss our mutual strategies if we're to come to any meaningful alliance. We must discuss how to utilize our forces to the maximum."

The General shrugged and said "The Master does as the Master does. But you will likely be able to meet him in the near future. He will want to talk to you as much as you want to talk to him. This is a very important alliance Raikage-sama, the sooner that the agreement is finalized and the forces put into motion, the better."

The leader of Kumo nodded, but before he could speak any more, someone knocked on the door. A muffled voice came through "Excuse me Raikage-sama, but this is very important news that you must hear."

The Raikage shouted through the door "What is it Shii!? I'm in a very important meeting!"

The voice came through the door once more "I'm sorry Raikage-sama, but our scouts have reported that Kirabi has been spotted running toward Kumo, he's being pursued by no less than six members of Akatsuki!"

"SIX MEMBERS!" the Raikage exclaimed in near disbelief. He then brought his hand to his forehead and muttered "Kirabi, what the hell did you do now?"

The Raikage stood up and said "I'll have to apologize envoy, but this is something that I will have to see to personally." Without another word he stood up and walked out the room, and started headed for the village wall.

Once he got there, he was surprised to meet the envoy a few minutes after he got there. The Raikage asked "Why are you here envoy? This is the business of Kumogakure, and nobody else."

Gomorrah looked up at the Raikage, which was rare given how tall the General was, and said "Consider my assistance in this matter a gesture of faith toward our impending confederacy Raikage-sama. Plus, the Akatsuki are no friends of ours. It will be my pleasure to assist you in destroying them."

The Raikage looked at the envoy and shrugged. "Do as you wish." He said as he removed the hat and coat that were the uniform of his office. With that done, bare-chested, he leapt down from the wall to the area below, where one could see Kirabi in the distance, six members of Akatsuki no far behind him. After a moment, Gomorrah leapt down as well, to help face the dangerous foe.

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Well that's the end of the chapter. I told you guys already that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my old schedule, but an update later than what was once usual is a lot better than no updates whatsoever, right?

Anyways, with the latest machinations out the way, I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	88. Chapter 88

Greetings and salutations oh unknowing slaves, I, I mean willing readers that haven't at all been enthralled to continue reviewing my story through a spell I cast on my story data using Black Magic. Yes, definitely the second one.

Right, with all of that Black Magic stuff out of the way and forgotten (I COMMAND YOU TO FORGET!), enjoy the latest chapter of Kage no Naruto. Sorry it took so long, blame my job, the bad economy, and the cursed addiction that is Tales of Vesperia.

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Summary of last chapter

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Pain continued chasing Kirabi, both of them getting closer and closer to Kumogakure, to the point where Kirabi can expect some backup, which is being presented by the Raikage, and General Gomorrah, the two having finished their alliance negotiations until Naruto meets the Raikage in person.

On other fronts, Konoha's reconstruction and reorganization is going very well, and Sasuke's pride parade is miserable, hungry, and in Karin's case sick from slogging their way through the dense jungle of Kusa no Kuni, heading north towards Tsuchi no Kuni, the seat of Naruto's empire.

Finally, the remaining members of the Sound Four have been deployed on a scouting mission by Naruto, unaware that the information that they were sent to collect was already gathered by Naruto's Midnight Visitors, and that they aren't meant to come back from the mission. Naruto has begun to prune his group of the unnecessary.

Will Sasuke and his band live? Who shall prove triumphant, Pain or the trio against him? Will Konoha's recreation go as smoothly as Tsunade might want? Will the Sound Four survive the impending ambush meant to cut them from the mortal coil? Read the chapter and find out.

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Mountains pass, one and a half miles south of Kumogakure

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Kirabi was smiling, he couldn't help it. He had actually gotten home, despite the pursuit. Or at the very least close enough that he could expect help in the inevitable fight. He could just barely see the front gate of Kumo, and that was all he needed to see. Now the odds were a little more even.

Unfortunately for him, his enemy also realized that the tables were close to turning, as things were no longer going as there was a rumble beneath the earth.

Kirabi almost lost his footing as the ground beneath him shivered. He barely had any time to defend himself before the ground beneath him exploded upward, revealing a nothing less than a monster.

He was tossed into the air as the thing beneath him surged up after him, and snapped its jaws shut over him before plunging down into the earth, the ground trembling as it moved away underground.

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Kumogakure gate

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The Raikage shouted out "What the hell is that thing!?"

Gomorrah, standing beside him, saw what it was. The ground trembled, shifted, and underneath Kirabi the ground seemed to explode before the beast trapped him. It was a massive thing covered in brown fur, and every so often on its body, a long curved black protuberance burst out of its skin. He realized what it was when he saw the massive claws on its forelegs. 'It's a summon! A giant mole!'

Before the General could say anything though, the enormous subterranean summon snatched Kirabi and escaped below ground to make its escape.

With the ground trembling beneath them, Gomorrah could distantly make out six figures, standing side by side and staring at the two of them. He could see only black with the occasional speck of red at that distance, but it was enough to tell him who those people were. Members of Akatsuki. By the look of rage, he could tell that the Raikage saw them too.

He could barely make out some kind of movement from one of the figures, and then a moment later it disappeared.

The two of them started running toward the remaining five enemies, realizing that the situation had turned very grim indeed. Kirabi was just dragged underground by a summoned creature, and it was moving at high speed away from them. Gomorrah, despite his lack of information, could deduce that Kirabi couldn't win the fight; if he could have then he wouldn't have been running in the first place. They had to find out more about what was going on, where that summon was taking Kirabi, and possibly capture or kill some of the Akatsuki members before them. Gomorrah had no idea that there were so many members of the organization. There were only ever ten, according to the various records and reports. Orochimaru was gone, so were the members Deidara and Sasori. That left only seven. Of the seven, five were accounted for in Itachi, Kisame, Hidan, Kakuzu, and from what they learned from stolen records in Kusa, a man named Zetsu was also among their number. That left only two unknown members.

But even from this distance, he could tell that none of the five people standing there bore any resemblance to the eldest Uchiha or the strongest of the Seven Swordsmen. He also knew that none of them was the man from Kusa, Zetsu. Neither Hidan nor Kakuzu were anywhere to be seen.

So, there were six members before him, and none of them match the descriptions of known Akatsuki members. The implications chilled the General to the bone. Even if two of the six were the unknown members, that still meant that the Akatsuki had found four new members, of which their abilities were completely unknown. The enemy had become stronger than ever before if the four had abilities coming anywhere close to those of their predecessors. This was a deadly serious threat, and half of them were here.

Before Gomorrah could think any more upon the conundrum, he could barely discern a shrill whistling sound. The Raikage also heard the noise, but they couldn't see it when they looked around them. Then both of them looked up.

They saw about a dozen large, round objects headed straight for them out of the sky.

They didn't think about it, they just did what instinct told them to do, and jumped as far back as they could to get away from where the things would drop.

A few seconds later, about a dozen large yellow spheres dropped to the ground in front of them, and took on a bright glow before they exploded.

The two moved, jumping backward to avoid the explosion, and as they moved, Gomorrah heard that shrill whistle again, this time much closer.

He looked toward the Raikage just in time to see the massive, black feathered bird descend upon the Raikage, its beak was long and pointed, and made up nearly a third of its body length. It had three legs, and its eyes were a pupil surrounded by concentric circles.

Before Gomorrah or the Raikage could do anything, the bird broke out of its dive and snatched the Raikage in its beak as it broke out of the dive, flapping quickly to gain altitude. As it soared upward, it dropped l number of the large yellow spheres around Gomorrah.

'What the hell!?' Gomorrah shouted in his thoughts as the things landed very close to where he himself reached ground before leaping away again. 'A fucking bird summon that lays exploding EGGS! Who the fuck is this guy!?'

Before the eggs exploded, he looked over at where the five Akatsuki members were standing before, and saw nothing. Every one of them had disappeared.

It their place was a massive three headed dog with a reddish color to its fur. There were several black protuberances on its body, and its eyes, all six of them, had those same concentric circles as the bird. The eggs exploded, and the dog began running toward the General. It would be there in less than a minute.

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With Kirabi

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Kirabi was in a minor form of shock at the sudden change in scenario. One moment, he was running toward home, within sight of his brother no less, and the next moment, all he knew was a horrible pain around his waist as something sank its teeth into him before getting dragged under the ground.

Now, all he could see was the earth as he was being dragged through it at high speed. His lungs burned with the need to breathe, but he couldn't open his mouth for fear of having a load of dirt shoved down his throat. But there were consequences for not breathing. His vision began to darken as the lack of oxygen and blood loss from his bite wounds began to kick in. The shock, the pain and blood loss, the lack of air, and most of all the exhaustion from running so far so quickly, it was all ganging up on him right now and forcing his body to take a rest, a break which in all likelihood would be fatal since he was in the jaws of some mysterious beast.

What he needed most of all was air, but an adrenaline boost would have done just as good for a temporary measure, and that was what his tenant had in mind to provide.

He heard a voice inside his mind, a deep voice that drove all other sounds from his ears, even though it was only inside his mind. The voice said "**Come on kid, you're going to give up that easily?**" and then, without warning, inhuman power flooded through his limbs as the chakra of the Hachibi restored his strength.

He smiled as he easily brought his arms and hands together, despite the onrushing force of the passing earth trying to part their company. His fingers formed a complex sign as he thought 'Raiton: Kaminari no Tsurugi'! When he did, he brought his right hand forward and pointed it directly at the beast's eye; he was in the beast's jaws so seeing it was easy. A beam of light went from his outstretched palm, to the beast's eye, to whatever lay behind that orb as the ray of light burned through flesh and bone.

The creature roared as brilliant pain spread through its body, and as it roared it reared up, shifting the earth around it through its movements. The creature rose from the ground as it roared in pain, Kirabi dropping to the ground as the Hachibi healed him and landing on grass before hastily rising, and going through the same chain of handseals as he did before, sending another ray of light through the creature as it was distracted by its pain. This time he sent the ray through the thing's heart, and swept it through the beast, almost cutting it in half. Fatally wounded, the summon vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving Kirabi alone as his wounds sealed up.

However, he was not along for long.

Kirabi jumped forward, spinning to face the foe who almost stabbed him a moment before. A black blade was in the hand of his opponent, and it was occupying the space taken up by his abdomen seconds before. If he hadn't moved he would have been impaled.

The man was one of the Akatsuki members from earlier, the one with the ponytail. He didn't say anything, he just went through five quick handseals and muttered "Kuchiyose no Jutsu". And in that instant, it went from one on one to six on one once again.

This time the ponytailed Akatsuki member spoke "Your resistance was hardly necessary. It was about to rise and deposit you here anyway Hachibi Jinchuuriki."

Kirabi cursed under his breath as he reevaluated his odds and planning once again, and then gave up on trying to escape. He wasn't sure where he was now, he had no choice but to fight, regardless of the odds.

The Hachibi Jinchuuriki smiled and said "Well, you trapped the beast boys, but do you have what it takes to take him down?"

The brother of the Raikage drew two of his swords and through himself forward toward the six members of Akatsuki, prepared to go all out to defeat this foe.

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With the Raikage

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The Raikage was in the beak of the bird, being carried steadily higher, most likely in preparation for a fatal drop.

Unfortunately, the bird made the mistake of not catching both of the Raikage's arms, and it didn't gain enough altitude fast enough after catching the lord of Kumogakure, at this point a fall wouldn't be fatal, it probably wouldn't even bother him.

So, barely five seconds after the Raikage was caught, electricity flowed through the man's body as he gazed at the creature with contempt. He raised his free right arm and shouted "You stupid buzzard!" as he smashed his forearm against the beak holding him, shattering it into dozens of pieces as the structure broke like glass.

The bird shrieked in pain and anguish as the top half of its beak was broken, and the Raikage got loose from its grasp, falling to the ground.

As the Raikage fell, he reached up with his right hand, and a bolt of lightning arced through the air, going through the bird's heart and causing the beast to vanish with a final cry. The Kage then maneuvered himself through the air and landed heavily on his feet. When the small cloud of dust from the collision settled and the Raikage shook off the slight shock from the collision, he immediately found the envoy, Gomorrah, and ran off in his direction.

He could see a large shape closing in rapidly upon his potential ally, and he was determined to help him. After they defeated that creature, they would hunt down and kill the man foolish enough to attack the brother of a Kage.

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With Gomorrah

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The General Zombie immediately jumped up and back, putting distance between him and the exploding eggs below. And not long after he left the ground, the spheres glowed bright yellow before detonating, removing the top layer of the ground around the area where they fell. Gomorrah landed not long after the blasts subsided, and focused his attention on the incoming threat, namely the gigantic three headed dog coming at him at a full lope.

Gomorrah unbuttoned and removed his coat, exposing his bare chest and freeing his other four arms from their constraints as the summon ran even closer before jumping, hoping to land upon him, claws and teeth first.

The undead warrior saw this tactic coming however, it was obvious when the beast got ready to leap. He moved forward and slightly to the side, so when the creature landed, he was beneath its front two paws, looking up at the thing's chest.

The dog couldn't see Gomorrah smile as he took a deep breath, and exhaled upward. Only instead of air, he exhaled a noxious bile green cloud which soon enveloped the beast's chest. Wherever the gas made contact with fur, skin, or anything organic, it sizzled and spat, and the material was quickly eaten away. Before the creature could do anything to defend itself, already the acidic cloud was eating into its rib cage and vital organs.

If it was anything else, it would have been dead for sure.

However, rather than dropping dead when its internal organs were getting eaten away by an acidic substance, the dog split in two. Rather, the thing split down the middle, discarding the parts that were contaminated by the acid, and the middle head split in two, resulting in two two-headed dogs rather than one three-headed dog.

The two new creatures growled at Gomorrah, who stood beside the discarded flesh, still rotting away from his attack. The General glanced at the two of them, revising and re-evaluating his strategy to deal with the creature. 'So, it can divide, eh? This is going to be annoying.'

But rather than focus on his irritation, he instead moved back, putting distance between him and the creatures as he prepared his next attack. The necessity to use it came much sooner than he would have liked as one of the two creatures jumped at him while he was backing away.

In response, while the thing was still in the air, Gomorrah put two of his hands together and thought 'Suiton: Suppai Senbon' as he formed and released numerous bright green needles from his mouth, showering over the summoned dog, piercing deeply into its flesh.

No sooner were the needles embedded in flesh than they dissolved, and then the flesh surrounding the wounds immediately began to take on a sickly color, and parts started to sink inwards as the muscle and bone beneath the skin was dissolved and eaten away. The needles were the same causing toxin as before, this time frozen into needles with low melting temperatures using Water-element chakra. The heat from the opponent's body quickly melted the needles, releasing the acid into the area around the wound. Within moments, the entire front half of the two-headed beasts was dissolving. With both of the heads getting eaten away, the thing couldn't split up and so it just vanished from whence it came.

When the smoke from the banished summon cleared, Gomorrah was standing alone, facing a single dog once more, and like before it hand three heads. The thing had divided again while he was dealing with the first one.

Without warning, two of the heads seemed to leap out of the main body, and before he knew it, there were three dogs instead of one, and each one leapt at him from a different direction.

Gomorrah wasted no time. He raised two of his hands, and sent his webbing straight into the eyes of two of them from the organs in his palms, while another set of hands came together, molding his chakra as he spat out another acidic cloud, this time engulfing the head of the third, unblended creature.

As the beast howled in agony, Gomorrah turned his attention toward one of the two blinded dogs, not wasting any time or chakra as he bounded forward, leaping up to the thing's head as it scraped at its own face trying to remove the webbing he blinded it with. The thing felt his presence upon its head, and immediately scratched at him, but he moved to the back of the neck, just below the skull, and without warning spat a puddle of green liquid before jumping away. The potent liquid acid immediately ate into the flesh, and the bones below. Unfortunately, he laid the acid directly above the creature's spinal cord, and that was what the acid ate into once it got beneath the skin. Within moments, the creature was immobilized and killed.

The General quickly turned his attention to the third dog, hoping to finish it off before it could divide again, but he needn't have bothered. Barely more than a few seconds after the second dog vanished upon its death, a shout could be heard in the surrounding area. A loud battle-cry with all the confidence of a God of war. Accompanying that cry was a large man, engulfed in lightning as he fell from the heavens, landing upon the third dog's head and smashing through its skull with his fist. The summoned creature immediately vanished.

Neither of the two asked the other a thing. They just looked at eachother, nodded, and immediately set out in the direction from which they could feel the most chakra. That was where they were most likely to find Kirabi and the vanished Akatsuki members. Anything else could wait until later.

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With Kirabi

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Before Kirabi could make any sort of preparations, two of the six people before him launched at him through the air. Specifically the one with the long hair, and the one with the ponytail. Long-hair swept in from the right, Ponytail from the left in a pincer attack as the other four stood back and watched.

He turned to deal with Longhair, ready to grab him and toss him into his buddy, when all of a sudden his legs went out from under him. Kirabi looked quickly and saw the one with six nose piercings lowering a raised hand. 'That's twice you've done that, I'll repay you tit for that.' Kirabi thought/rhymed to himself as Long-hair jumped on him while he fell.

Longhair didn't do much, he just immediately went for his arm. He pressed the falling Kirabi into the dirt, grabbed his right arm, and pulled, forcing the limb straight up at an uncomfortable angle. A moment later Ponytail tried to do the same with his left arm.

Unfortunately, Kirabi was not so easy as to be pinned like that. He pulled his arms back toward him with a vicious strength. Longhair actually managed to hold on, he was strong, but Ponytail wasn't as might, and Kirabi freed his left arm, which he used to immediately punch Long-hair in the gut, forcing him back and freeing his other arm as he got to his feet, not daring to remain on the ground.

He got up just in time to see the weird looking one, the one with the bald head and spikes, move the last couple of inches toward him and punch him in the face.

Weirdo was STRONG. The Hachibi Jinchuuriki went flying back, smashing through one of the trees before he stopped moving, and the moment he stopped moving, Weirdo closed in for the finishing blow.

Kirabi got back to his feet in time to move aside from the guy's punch, returning the favor with an elbow to the jaw, stunning the Akatsuki. He immediately drew one of his blades, lightning flowing through it as he moved to slice through the odd-looking Akatsuki.

The moment before he did so however, his target vanished in a puff of smoke.

Kirabi desperately looked for his escaped victim, and soon found him standing beside the one with the ponytail, both of them staring at him. The Hachibi Jinchuuriki cursed under his breath. 'Damn it, that one can even summon his buddies to help them escape me. This is going to get really annoying.'

The brother of the Raikage let a grim smile grace his features as he said "Alright, it looks like I won't be able to handle this the way I intended. I can't hold myself back.** AAAARRRRRGGGGGHH!"**

As Kirabi yelled, a dark purple chakra wound around him, in moments it soon formed a chakra cloak, seven tails waving behind him as it took form.

The six Akatsuki members looked upon the transformation without any emotion. No fear, no anxiety, no trepidation, they simply watched, calculating, waiting for him to make the first move.

Kirabi smiled and held out his right arm. Upon his will, the chakra shifted and moved, forming two large horns. He shouted "Rariatto!" and then darted forward.

None of the Akatsuki there were ready for the sheer speed Kirabi possessed right then. He closed the distance between them in less than two seconds. Despite this massive increase in speed and the swiftness of his approach, his target, the one with the ponytail, managed to move in an attempt to escape, jumping into the air towards the trees. Kirabi shouted "No you don't!" and jumped up after his target, the horns of chakra moving closer and closer to the man's chest.

Before he could strike the final blow to the Akatsuki member however, a sudden gale of force blasted him into the trees, saving the man with the ponytail.

Kirabi rolled with the strike, coming back up immediately, which showed just how much he had trained and practiced, to be able to do such things without even thinking about it. He saw the one with the six nose piercings, and his patience went from short to shorter when it came to his assailants. Every time he managed to come close to killing one, one or more of the others did something to save him. It was really getting on his nerves.

"Okay then," Kirabi muttered "If that won't work, than how about something like this?" As he spoke, dark power, chakra from the Hachibi, gathered and condensed in his palms. Before long he had two baseball-sized spheres of darkness. With a quick shout, he sent one such sphere straight toward the one with the nose piercings, and the second he sent toward the strange looking one. Without wasting a moment, Kirabi immediately charged the Akatsuki member with the ponytail again, desperately hoping to kill one of his enemies.

The targeted Akatsuki member clapped his hands together, and in a burst of smoke, the strange looking Akatsuki member appeared, summoned away from the blast Kirabi sent to immolate him. That Akatsuki member put out his arms, and tried to stop Kirabi's charge. The Jinchuuriki smiled at the attempt. The Akatsuki member, strong as he was, wasn't strong enough to stop him. Kirabi's arm, sheathed in the chakra of the Eight-Tailed Beast, passed right under the man's arms, hitting him in the stomach, and just kept going. Kirabi continued his charge, hardly slowed down as he ploughed through the other Akatsuki member, leaving him behind in two parts.

Kirabi was mildly surprised however, that instead of blood and entrails, the man he ripped in two spilled what looked like oil and mechanical parts.

The Hachibi Jinchuuriki put this out of mind as he continued his attack, focused solely on the Akatsuki member before him that had made killing the others so damned annoying.

Before he could do so however, a now familiar blast of force sent him flying toward the nearby trees.

Unlike the other times though, Kirabi landed nimbly on his feet, glaring at the origin of the blasts of invisible energy. The Akatsuki member with the six piercings in his nose stood there, meeting his stare without blinking.

Kirabi looked at the ground, wondering how the man survived the attack, and saw what happened. The trail of destruction left by his attack went straight to the Akatsuki member, but then split in two, one going to either side around him. The Jinchuuriki growled deep in his throat, irritated to no end at how resilient these people seemed to be.

It was then that a tall, dark-skinned man with six arms burst out of the trees behind him, spitting some kind of green liquid at the man from behind.

The Akatsuki member didn't even look, and the liquid was repelled back towards the one who sent it. Whatever the liquid touched fizzled and spat, and the six-armed man was no exception as the liquid ate through his skin and muscle for a few moments before the entire thing turned into mud and lost its form.

At that moment, while two of the five were staring at the destroyed Tsuchi Bunshin, one was staring at Kirabi, and the other two were scanning the forests, a gigantic man dropped out of the sky, slamming the Akatsuki member with the ponytail into the ground with his fist, crushing the man's skull.

At the same time, fine gossamer threads, invisible in all but the right angle of sunlight, could just barely be seen as they wrapped around the long-haired Akatsuki member's neck, pulling him upwards suddenly and without warning. A slight 'snap' told those with good enough hearing that the man's neck was broken by the sudden movement and force.

The remaining three Akatsuki members immediately regrouped as the one who killed the ponytailed man stood beside Kirabi and said "Sorry it took us so long to get here little brother."

Kirabi couldn't help but smile at the words of the Raikage. The tables had turned.

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With Naruto, Dark Heaven Castle

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While Gomorrah fought alongside the Raikage in an attempt to strengthen the potential alliance, Naruto was doing what he did best, preparing for future events.

At that moment, he was lying upon a surgical table in Hogback's lab while the doctor prepared himself to perform the operation that was requested of him. He was quite nervous, he had never even attempted doing something like this before, and to be quite honest he never anticipated doing it again. This was a one of a kind procedure.

Naruto asked, impatience clear in his voice "Are you ready Hogback?"

Hogback's voice came back a moment later "Almost Naruto-sama. I'm just preparing the necessary drugs. I will be there in a moment."

Naruto narrowed his eyes in annoyance but held his easily lost temper in check. Hogback was his most valuable asset, the only crucial element in his entire organization. As long as he had Hogback, he could rebuild no matter what happened. He wouldn't harm the man, even in the worst of his rages. Naruto's sanity was not yet that far gone.

This operation was another point of value for the old doctor. It was just something that he could not do himself. Naruto closed his eyes as he went through the logic behind this journey to the operating table.

'My greatest enemies, the Uchiha remnants, all possess or have the potential to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan. One of its abilities is a devastating illusion. On top of that, both Itachi and Sasuke have taken to using Genjutsu as their primary weapon of choice. Most of these are visual Genjutsu, they occur by sending chakra through the target's sense of sight. So, I need a way to defend myself completely from such Genjutsu if I am to nullify the threat. That is something I cannot do as I am now. Even the powerful can be tricked, so I must prepare. I must be ready. Every angle must be covered, every possibility dissected, analyzed, and neutralized. My personal safety comes first and foremost. For that, this is a small price to pay.'

At that moment, Hogback came back in. Kagerou walked beside him, pushing a small cart that held a large jar and several surgical instruments.

Naruto looked sharply at the doctor, his impatience showing as he asked "Are you ready Hogback?' Hogback swiftly nodded, fearing the punishment that might ensue should he not meet Naruto's expectations. Naruto nodded and said "Then let's get this over with. Begin."

The ancient doctor nodded and took from the cart a syringe needle and a small vial of clear liquid, with which he quickly filled he syringe.

He put the vial aside and took a napkin from his pocket to wipe his forehead, he was so nervous at what he was about to do that he was sweating despite the cold temperature of the castle.

He approached Naruto, who continued to gaze at the ceiling, and though he was nervous, his hands stayed steady from years and years of experience, and he gently, carefully, put the needle to Naruto's right eye, and pushed it into the sphere, pressing down on the plunger, releasing the fluid, a potent painkiller. Hogback quickly withdrew the needle moving quickly. He could see Naruto's jaw clench in discomfort at the unfamiliar pain, but that lessened quickly once the drug started taking effect.

It was a good thing it did too, for then Hogback took his scalpel, and went through with the first part of this bizarre operation as he pressed it into, and carved out Naruto's right eye.

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CLIFFHANGER! It's been a while since I got you guys with one of those. Anyway, with that said and done, I'm sorry that this chapter took so long, but my reasons are already mentioned. So then, what shall become of the battle with Pain? What is the purpose of this black surgery? Well, you'll have to review this chapter and be patient to find out!

Until the next chapter

Artful Lounger


	89. Chapter 89

Greetings one and all to the thing you have all been having dreams about, the one and only Kage no Naruto chapter eighty nine! Thank you for your patience about the delay, but I think you would enjoy it more if I actually took the time and effort to do this right rather than slapping something together to appease the masses. I believe that we can agree on that.

With that said, here's the previous chapter summary for the dullards that have already forgotten.

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Summary of last chapter

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The Raikage and Gomorrah defeated Pain's summoned creatures after he abducted Kirabi and then followed, interrupting a battle between said ninja, where they saved Kirabi and destroyed three of the six bodies. Now the tables have turned as Raikage, Jinchuuriki and Zombie General alike face off against the leader of Akatsuki's three remaining bodies.

Elsewhere in Dark Heaven Castle, Naruto is undergoing some bizarre surgery to nullify the powers of the Sharingan Genjutsu.

What is this procedure? Shall it cripple the standard tactics of the Uchiha? And what shall happen to Pain with the forces arrayed against him? Read on, and find out.

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Kaminari no Kuni, with Gomorrah

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The situation had changed. In one fell swoop, the numbers advantage of the enemy had been neutralized. Gomorrah stood beside the Raikage and his brother, and against them stood three members of Akatsuki. Rhetorically speaking of course, in truth only the two brothers were standing against them, Gomorrah was hiding in the trees, waiting for his moment to strike.

He watched as the Raikage walked forward, as he moved he snarled "You guys made a big mistake coming here. Attacking my brother, interrupting my meeting, I'll rip your heads off you Akatsuki scum!"

Upon the last word, the Raikage blurred as he moved forward, lightning encasing his body as he swung a massive arm at the fat Akatsuki member's head. However, something distinctly odd happened in that moment.

In the second before the Raikage's fist made contact, the electric aura surrounding him, the Raiton chakra molded into his armor, disappeared. When it did so, it slowed the strike to the point where the enemy ninja caught his fist and turned, using his own weight and leverage to throw the Raikage over his shoulder and into the ground with a heavy THUD.

The combined shock from the loss of his armor and the unexpected counterattack knocked the Raikage's breath out of him. Momentarily stunned, he wasn't able to defend himself when the same fat Akatsuki member went for his throat with a kunai.

However, he was not alone at that critical instant. Instead of following through with the attack, the Akatsuki member whirled, his kunai meeting the electrified blade of his brother. It was not electrified for long however, within a moment of the two blades meeting, the chakra flow through the blade stopped, the blade losing the protection and strength of the Raiton chakra of Kirabi, and without that strength, the Akatsuki member sliced through the metal like butter, driving the kunai to the hilt into Kirabi's left leg.

The Jinchuuriki let out a short cry of pain at the knife embedded in his thigh, and tried to move back, but he was intercepted by an invisible force, drawing him in. At the same moment, the Akatsuki member with the lined face and the fat Akatsuki member drew kunai and dove upon the downed Raikage.

The leader of Kumo didn't miss a beat, sending the enemy flying with a savage backhand to crash into a nearby tree, shaking leaves from its heights. As the leaves fell, the Raikage wasted no time getting to his feet and turning to his enemies.

The scene before him wasn't a good one. The Akatsuki with the six nose piercings had a black blade in one hand as he dashed for Kirabi, who seemingly couldn't move his limbs as he soared through the air TOWARD the man. But there was an opportunity, the other Akatsuki member, the one with the lined face, was also attacking his brother with one of those black blades, his back turned.

The Raikage called upon his armor, and rushed forward at immense speed toward the pair of Akatsuki members. But before he could drive his fist through the back of the man's head, he jumped to the left, nimbly dodging the fatal strike. At the same moment, the Akatsuki drawing Kirabi in let him fall and jumped to the right, barely avoiding a stream of green hissing liquid that fell there a moment later. As they dodged, the pair twisted in the air, the one with the lined face through his sword at the Raikage, while the one with six piercings through his blade into the trees like a javelin before landing.

The leader of Kumogakure, with his Raiton armor, had no equal when it came to reflexes. His arm blurred through the air, the black spear of metal shattered upon his bracer as it was swatted contemptuously from the air. The other blade found no mark, soaring through the tree's branches and falling to the ground. However, in that crucial moment where the Raikage's attention was focused upon stopping the incoming attack, the Akatsuki member raised his hand and muttered "Shinra Tensei".

The Raikage was given no warning as he was blasted through the air with a terrifying force, crashing through a tree and into the ground, the wind knocked out of him, he heaved in a gasp of surprise and pain. He didn't dare to spend time catching his breath, he immediately jumped to his feet and lunged forward toward the Akatsuki with the lined face, at the same moment, Kirabi pushed forward off of one leg toward the enemy with the six piercings.

Kirabi's target stared at him coolly as the distance between them closed, but before his blade could make contact, Kirabi was blasted backward into the trees with an invisible blast of force.

While that happened, the Raikage closed in on the other remaining Akatsuki, lightning covered fist prepared to rip through the man's head, or chest. It didn't really matter, anything struck by the Raikage at that point was not going to be working afterward.

As the Raikage moved forward, the Akatsuki member shifted to the side, moving swiftly across the ground. However, though the first punch was dodged, the Raikage stopped suddenly, using his momentum to bolt toward him, once again prepared to end the man's life.

Before he could do that however, a figure appeared in front of him, between the Raikage and his target. It was the fat Akatsuki member. His jaw was clearly lopsided, obviously broken badly, but he still imposed himself between the Raikage and the eldest looking Akatsuki member.

The moment that the Raikage's fist entered a certain distance away from the fat Nukenin, the aura of electric chakra around his hand vanished. However, this time the Raikage was ready for it, and so his fist continued on, breaking through the flimsy guard and landing right on his chin in a brutal uppercut. Even without the Raiton armor, the Raikage was still a furiously strong individual, and bones could be clearly heard breaking as the Akatsuki member flew up to land sprawled upon a branch from a nearby tree.

As soon as the blow was struck, the Raikage's eyes returned to the escaping Akatsuki member, and he looked just in time to see the man lean back as he moved through the air, a bullet of liquid flying through the air not an inch in front of his nose, passing right through the space where, moments ago, the back of the man's head resided.

The Raikage nimbly moved out of the way as the liquid ate its way into the ground. At that moment the Raikage's only through was 'How the hell did he dodge that? It came from straight behind him!'

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With Naruto

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Naruto was sitting in his office, his coat resting upon the back of his chair. He had taken it off to enjoy the coldness of the island. He enjoyed the cold, the cool, and the damp of the island. It was why he disliked his location in Kusa no Kuni so long ago, as warm and humid as it was. He despised it and was more than happy when he moved to Dark Heaven Castle.

At that moment, he was sprawled in his chair as he read a report from Hogback. Specifically, he was reading it with his left eye only. The right side of his face was swathed in bandages. He was slightly concerned about it actually. With the healing properties that he had enjoyed all of his life, he should have recovered, even this soon after the event. However, he put it out of his mind in favor of the problem presented to him by the report.

The paper read '_My Lord, I have been working upon the new General according to the blueprints that you and I have agreed on, but there is a shortage of parts of the quality necessary for the construction of General Class frames. I fear that this will put a halt to all manufacture of General Class Zombies from here on out until new material can be found. I ask that you prioritize the procurement of such material as soon as possible in order to help the growth of your forces. Sincerely, Hogback.'_

Naruto crumpled the note in his hand once he had finished it, his mind dissecting the problem at hand. He had always known that eventually his supply of high quality parts would run out, it was only a matter of time. The highly trained limbs of skilled warriors, the seasoned skin that was tough enough to withstand hits that would break bones in normal people without bruising. Those high performance parts were crucial to creating strong Generals. They had tried substituting lower class parts before, but every attempt turned out to be a failure, that was how the Colonel class was created.

The problem was that there wasn't that much talent in the world anymore. The legends of their time were mostly gone, and those who were remaining stayed under heavy guard as they went about their business, the strongest ANBU Captains and the Kages of the great villages were the only ones who could be guaranteed to have parts that met the quota for strength and suppleness needed to be used in a General Zombie.

This bothered Naruto, he could not create nearly as many Generals as he would like if he couldn't obtain the parts necessary to create them properly. And stealing a body was out of the question, he doubted that any existed anymore. He lucked out beyond all belief when he stole the corpses of the Shodaime and Niidaime Hokage. They thought that the corpses were so well hidden and well guarded that the fools didn't bother to cremate them in order to 'preserve the memory'. Every other corpse he stole from Konoha was that of a civilian. All he found in the graves of Ninja were jars of ashes and occasionally a box with a weapon inside. So most of the soldiers from back then were made from civilian and ninja parts mixed together or from a body from someone that Naruto had killed.

But this was a time where he would not allow anything done halfway. This Zombie was going to be _special_. He had put the finest parts he had into its construction, it was going to be the strongest General he had ever made, even stronger that GZ-00, the one he had made to be the crown jewel of his forces, it was going to be the most powerful part of his forces, such power packed into a single frame that it would rival or, with time, even surpass the Special Zombie when it was finally brought to life. This Zombie was meant to be Ryuuma's replacement, the central piece of the hammer that the General Zombies were meant to be. It was to be a paragon of high quality parts and engineering, the greatest weapon Naruto would ever wield.

But that could not happen unless he could obtain high quality parts to form this individual, the puzzle pieces of perfection. He sat there and turned the matter over in his mind, deliberately covering every method and alternative to obtain the high quality parts that he needed in order to create this Zombie.

Then, he had an epiphany.

Upon realizing the solution to his problem, he quickly summoned the ones that would assist in carrying out this plan, this idea. Within minutes, the three that he had sent for stood at attention before him, not wavering in the slightest. They had fear in their eyes, but then almost everyone did. The only ones who were completely at ease in his presence were Absalom, Hogback, and Perona. Even Haku was slightly wary of him nowadays. 'I wonder why that is.' Naruto thought to himself as he gazed upon the creatures he had brought before him.

In front of him stood three of his General Zombies, Zabuza, Grievous, and Hatake Sakumo.

Naruto steepled his fingers before him and spoke "Gentlemen, I'm afraid that we have a bad problem on our hands. To make a long story short, we lack the high quality muscles and organs in order to create powerful General Zombies anymore. And the only way that I can think of in order to obtain more is to take over another village, and that's something that I want to avoid at all costs. We have to lay low until the noise from the Tsuchi no Kuni takeover finally blows over; I don't want the entire world as my enemy."

He took a breath and said "So, I have come up with a plan in order to obtain a number of high quality body parts, certainly enough to create the upcoming General, maybe even two if we use them right, and you three are critical in this plan, without you it wouldn't be possible."

The three couldn't help but feel a small amount of silent pride at Naruto's praise. Everyone knew that the Generals he valued the most were Samson, Gomorrah, and Sodom. Hashirama was a close second, but those three were his right hand in important missions, like the top ANBU Captains to a village Kage, trusted with the most important assignments. That it was the three of them, NOT one of Naruto's favorite trio of Generals was a show of trust, it made them believe that the gap between those privileged four and themselves had shrunken, how much nobody could be sure, but they had gained ground. That was the feeling that those three experienced at Naruto's words.

Their master continued "So, there is one thing that I need of the three of you, that only you three could provide."

Grievous bowed deeply and asked "And what is that, Master? Ask and we shall obtain it for you."

Naruto looked at the three of them and said "It is quite simple." He waved a hand at the three of them, and all at once they began to feel badly nauseous. "I need you all to die."

Grievous and Zabuza seemingly vomited a thick stream of black upon the floor, which quickly rose up to the ceiling and disappeared as the two of them sank to the floor, but Sakumo fought and held his hands to his mouth, struggling to hold the shadow, his life, in. But it was for naught however, as the material flowed between his fingers. He cried out "Why!?" before he was silenced forever and he fell to the ground, a lifeless corpse once again.

Naruto looked upon the three of them without pity and called for the Soldiers outside his door to bring the bodies to Hogback. 'Why?' he thought to himself 'Because you three were my most pathetic Generals, the lowest of the low. Your bodies were wasted on you, so I am giving them to someone more deserving.'

With the three fallen Generals removed, Naruto turned his sight to the ceiling above as his thoughts turned to a more personal matter. 'Why hasn't my eye healed yet? By my standards, it should be perfectly fine by now. What's wrong with it?'

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With Gomorrah

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The General was looking down from the trees at the two remaining members of Akatsuki, one of them had just dodged an attack that came from directly behind him, it was impossible to have seen or heard it! 'Could it be the smell of the acid? No, that's impossible, I'm downwind of him, how on earth did he know the attack was coming? HOW?!'

Gomorrah looked down upon the field of battle, Kirabi was limping, but he was a Jinchuuriki so his leg was already healing. He was moving in unison with his brother, working together in order to separate the two remaining members. Kirabi was trying to corner the one with the lined face, most likely the weaker of the two. The Raikage was, quite wisely in Gomorrah's thinking, handling the stronger of the two, the one with the six piercings in his nose.

The spider-like General had been carefully watching the fight until now, and he believed that he had deduced the power of the Raikage's opponent. 'He must be able to control attraction and repulsion forces, able to draw things toward him or send them flying back at will, that's the only way that all of what he has done makes sense. And from what Kirabi must have done before we got here, he can probably repel chakra attacks as well as physical things. That could be dangerous if he sends my acid flying back at me.'

Then he turned his gaze to the other one. 'That one on the other hand, has not yet shown his ability. Either he has yet to get the chance to, or he has chosen not to, and both of those worry me. If he hasn't gotten the chance to, then it means that it may require some condition to be fulfilled before it can be used, and all abilities with something like that are more powerful to reflect that inconvenience. If he has chosen not to, then he believes that he does not need to, that he isn't in enough danger to require it, in which case there is some sort of plan or tactic that he thinks will defeat us, something that I will have to watch out for. In either case, it is important that he dies immediately.'

With his plan set firmly in mind, two of Gomorrah's six hands shifted into seals, and in the bushes below, a clone of himself rose from the mud, hidden from view. With a thought, the copy crawled up a tree, moving carefully to avoid being spotted by either of the two remaining enemies. Neither showed any reaction as they continued to keep their gaze fixed solely upon the obstacle at hand, paying no attention to their surroundings. With that, the clone slunk through the branches, nimble and alien, moving with an inhuman grace and speed through the plant-life to a position as close to behind his target as possible. Directly behind was impossible since there wasn't a branch there.

The clone sat completely still and utterly patient as Kirabi continued to slowly move forward, seeking some opening that would guarantee a hit, as well as buying time for his leg to heal over. The Jinchuuriki was confident in his victory, but the enemy had shown considerable skill at avoiding attacks before, and he didn't feel like chasing him down.

Then, suddenly and without warning, the Akatsuki member threw a kunai straight at Kirabi's face, jumping off to the side as he did so.

Kirabi knocked the dagger aside and prepared to lunge after his intended victim, but then saw that it was unnecessary.

In the Akatsuki member's haste to escape, he had not realized that the direction he jumped in wasn't clear. He had unwittingly leapt straight toward Gomorrah's clone. He could not believe his luck as he raised his hands and strings of thick webbing shot forth and adhered to the man's clothes and skin. No time was wasted as the clone pulled him in, latching his arms around the Akatsuki member in an inhumanly strong hug, crushing the man's arms to his sides as he bit into the man's neck.

The other Akatsuki member looked over quickly when he heard the man cry out, but he was immediately assaulted by the Raikage once he did so. He thrust his hand toward the Raikage, and the leader of Kumo was once again blasted by invisible force. With the Raikage dealt with, he turned to the tree where he could see his ally held in the clone's arms as his head fell from his body, his neck dissolved by the acid.

The last remaining Akatsuki member frowned and began to edge backward. Gomorrah noticed this and realized that he was planning on making his escape. He wasn't surprised at the thought of escape, but he thought it would have kicked in much earlier. But none of it made a difference in Gomorrah's mind.

The man held out his hand and blasted Kirabi away when he leapt at him, and then bolted for the edge of the trees, seeking to get into open fields and then escape.

Gomorrah held out his hands, preparing to trap the man, but he needn't have bothered.

A man shaped figure shot up out of the ground in front of the man, delivering a powerful uppercut with a lightning coated fist, and the snap of bones breaking was audible to everyone nearby. The clone of the Raikage looked down at the broken form, its neck gruesomely stretched from the massive force, grunted once, and then vanished in a puff of smoke.

The actual Raikage, meanwhile, got up from where he was blasted by the Akatsuki, and swept off the dust from his arms. He called out "Oi, Kirabi, you alright?"

The Raikage's younger brother groaned and sat up "Yeah, a bit rattled though, that guy could sure as hell knock a guy around." Then he looked around at the trees surrounding them and shouted "Hey, you can come out now. Quit hidin'!"

Gomorrah took one last look at the six bodies, and finally dropped out of the trees about two feet behind the Jinchuuriki. Said host immediately jumped out of surprise about two feet forward, turning as he did so. "Whoa! You're good, I didn't know you were there!" Then he took a look at the man before him. Someone taller than his brother, which was rare, and his six arms. "Who are you, guy? You don't look like anybody from Kumo that I ever met."

Kirabi's brother spoke up "That's because he's not someone from Kumo, Kirabi."

He looked over to the Raikage and replied "Okay, then who the hell is he then? Don't tell me you two lovebirds were just out for a forest stroll when I was attacked by the Akatsuki here."

The Raikage just looked at him and said "I may be your brother, but I AM the Raikage you know, don't make me do something you might regret. Don't make me ban you from any karaoke bar you haven't already been kicked out of."

"What!? How could you possibly block my professional singing from reaching the ears of the public? You couldn't do that; you'd have riots in the streets!"

"Those wouldn't be riots, they'd be thank-you-Raikage parades."

Gomorrah just watched and heaved a small sigh as the two brothers continued bickering. Kirabi heard the sound and looked over. "Oh yea, you still haven't told me who this guy is yet."

The Raikage stopped mid-tirade, looked over at Gomorrah, and said "This guy's Gomorrah, a General sent as a messenger from the new Daimyo of Tsuchi no Kuni. He has been sent to request a formal alliance between our two forces for our mutual benefit."

Kirabi looked Gomorrah over again and said "Ooooh, so this is one of the top dogs of the guys who took down Iwa? No wonder I didn't feel him there." He held out his hand to Gomorrah and said "I'm Kirabi, the Eight-Tailed beast. No doubt you've already heard of me, possibly by aliases such as 'the greatest singer of all time' or perhaps 'the Master of Enka'. Thanks for helping us out here, guy. You can have my autograph, free of charge."

Gomorrah took the offered hand, trying to be polite since it was the brother of the Raikage and the holder of the second most powerful Bijuu as well. As of this point, he couldn't be sure how much clout Kirabi had in the village politics, or how much sway the man had over the Raikage's decisions. It was very possible that the Jinchuuriki's view might help or condemn the plans for the alliance.

Gomorrah looked over at the Raikage and said "Raikage-dono, I must request that we return to Kumogakure. There may be more enemies out here that we are unaware of."

The Raikage snarled and said "If any of those bastards shows his face here, I'll rip them limb from limb!" Then he seemed to calm down, he took a deep breath before saying "Yes, I believe you are right, General. Kirabi! We're going."

"Yeah, yeah." Kirabi turned toward Kumo and stretched out his now healed leg. "Man, I'm always stiff after I heal up, it's really annoying."

The Raikage massaged his neck with one hand as he replied "If you don't want to be stiff, then don't get stabbed you two-bit impression of a ninja."

Kirabi turned toward his brother, riled up once again. "What did you say, you lightning-struck gorilla?"

Before the Raikage could reply however, a spike of black iron shot out from the nearby bushes and embedded itself deeply in his side.

Gomorrah and Kirabi were too slowed down by the shock of the sudden attack, and the Raikage too stunned by the sudden burning pain to react when a figure leapt from the same direction as the spike and grabbed the Raikage by the throat slamming to the ground and burying another spike into the man's shoulder, pinning him to the ground like a butterfly to a card.

Gomorrah quickly looked the man over. He was of standard height, and shirtless. His pale skin was slightly rippled with muscle, and his red hair went down to the nape of his neck.

The man's body was riddled with piercings.

Through his ears, in his sides, his arms, his legs, black iron piercings were plunged through almost every other inch of skin. Most of them were curved into sharp points. The ones through his hands near his knuckles were especially like this. The longest spikes were in his back, lined up with his spine. They were longer than the others by at least six inches, and seemed to be spaced between his spinal vertebrae. Like most of the others, they tapered into sharp points. Then the man turned towards him, and Gomorrah saw the man's eyes. They were just like the six Akatsuki members that they had just finished off.

The man didn't smile, he just said "I must congratulate you, you're the first to ever defeat the Six Paths, but now you will have to come with me, Hachibi Jinchuuriki."

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With the Sound Four, North of Konohagakure

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Sakon was watching the North wall of the village through a pair of binoculars, carefully scouting out each new face, paying close attention to the new buildings that had been erected since the last attack upon them. "Wow, I have to give these guys credit, they don't give up. It seems like they have guard shifts every four hours, with eight ninja watching the gate on each shift, two just inside the wall on the other side, two on top of the wall, and the other four are hidden in the bushes nearby."

Kidomaru grunted "Big surprise, that's how the guard was arranged at the other gates too. The only difference is that the East gate has a Jounin watching over every shift since it's the biggest entrance. And there's no proof that there isn't a Jounin watching the other three gates that we just haven't managed to locate yet."

Sakon looked back at his long-time ally and asked "Has anybody ever told you that you're incredibly skeptical and suspicious?"

He looked back and said "Being suspicious keeps you alive, one day you'll trust the wrong information Sakon."

Sakon shrugged and took one last look at the gate before he said "Right, let's head back to Tayuya, we're about done here. Tomorrow, we finally head back home."

Kidomaru nodded and the two of them vanished into the trees. It had felt like ages, but with this site scouted, they had finally completed the mission that Naruto had given them. All that was left was to go back and report.

After a short while, they reached the area where they had been camping while they scouted the area outside of Konoha. It was a fairly ordinary clearing, but it had a large tree that was hollow, so they could sleep inside there to avoid being seen.

However, somebody wasn't there, who should be. Sakon raised his voice slightly "Hey, Tayuya, where are you?"

He waited a moment without a response, then growled and said "Damn it, where is that bitch? She was supposed to be here before us!"

Kidomaru shrugged and said "It doesn't matter. We'll wait one hour and then go back if she doesn't show. In the meantime, we might as well get a head start on compiling that report for Naruto."

Before the conversation could go on any further, a figure dropped out of the tree above them, and slammed a blade through Ukon's head, going through Sakon's neck and into the ground as he did so. While this happened, the figure simultaneously grabbed Kidomaru and shoved him into the ground beside his other victim. Before he could struggle, the man had already pulled his sword out of Sakon and ran it through Kidomaru's heart.

The Midnight Visitor straightened and looked down at the two fools, hardly able to believe that they were so easy to kill. First the red-head came all along and made an easy target when she started scribbling in that book, and now these two stood next to eachother, it was amazing.

However, he did not have the luxury of time to spare, so he quickly used a Doton Ninjutsu to hide the corpses, making sure to slit open their bellies first so that the graves wouldn't burst open later.

Then, he took a quick look around the campsite, looking for anything he might have missed before he headed back to report his success. He had already checked the recon notes that they had, and they hadn't discovered anything that his fellow Midnight Visitors had not already found out, but he had to make sure to remove any signs of his presence here, along with the Sound Four's belongings.

Finally, he found something in the nearby bushes, and recognized the thin red volume as the book that the girl was writing in.

Out of sheer curiosity, he turned to the last page, the page that she was writing when he ambushed her.

It read

'_Dear Diary,_

_Today we finally complete this mission for Naruto-sama and we can go home. Also, I have finally made my decision. I have gotten sick and tired of all of the jokes and teasing made by those morons Kidomaru and Sakon, and am sick of touching myself to Naruto-sama's image every time I get turned on. I'm finally going to confront Perona and Haku to try and get into their little deal. I realize that those two have experimented, and Perona definitely has ideas for me and her in the sack. I mean, she showed me her ass and invited me that one time! But although I'm definitely uncomfortable with the idea of having sex with a… girl, I'm hoping that I won't have to accommodate her that much in order to stay with Naruto. Orochimaru always told us to hide our emotions, but he's dead from what I've been told and even if he wasn't, I no longer have any obligation to him, so I can finally say it. I, Tayuya of the Sound Four, am head over heels in lo—'_

That was where the note ended; the line of ink ran off in a jagged line to the end of the page. That was when he attacked and killed her. She had let her guard down so thoroughly it was embarrassing, her thoughts clearly elsewhere.

Just out of curiosity of what would happen, he took the book and stowed it under one arm as he opened the way back home.

He was wondering what the Master's reaction would be to that girl's writings.

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So, the chapter ends. Again, sorry that I've been so late. When you have to work on Christmas Eve, day, Boxing Day, and New Year's, you don't get much chance to write. So with that said, review with your thoughts, and happy New Year to everybody who does so. To everyone who DOESN'T review, may you get dynamite instead of coal next year!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	90. Chapter 90

Welcome one and all to Kage no Naruto chapter ninety. Dear God this thing is long, and it will be even longer by the time I'm done. Also, on an unrelated note, several people as of late have compared me to a guy called 'Perfect Lionheart'. I'm not sure whether this is a compliment or an insult, so if you wouldn't mind, those who know anything about the guy's work, I'm too busy to check myself, please leave a review to clear that up thanks. With that said, enjoy the chapter and the Omake at the end.

Also, I received several reviews asking 'Why is Nagato able to fight when his body is so weak?' The thing is, I'm NOT following Kishimoto's idea on Nagato's original body. It's not going to be some emaciated corpse hooked up to a machine. When I said that his muscles showed last chapter, I meant in the way of someone who works hard, not someone who hasn't eaten in a month. That's all I have to say on the subject.

Also, again sorry that this chapter took so long. All of the usual stuff, in addition to being sick as a dog. Life conspires against me, I'm rather sure of it.

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Summary of the last chapter

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Gomorrah, the Raikage, and Kirabi worked together to kill the Six Paths, but are then assaulted by the original.

Sakon, Ukon, Tayuya, and Kidomaru are all killed by a Midnight Visitor after their recon is completed. The Midnight Visitor is taking Tayuya's diary to Naruto, the book where she poured out her hidden feelings for the man. How will he react?

Also, Zabuza, Grievous, and Sakumo have been killed by Naruto in order to harvest their bodies for high class parts for a new General, the replacement for Ryuuma as the strongest General Zombie. So now, there are only four Generals still alive, Samson, Sodom, Gomorrah, and Hashirama. However, there will soon be a fifth, one more powerful than the others. What will this General Zombie be like? What will his abilities be? Who knows.

With that said, read on my slaves, I-I mean fans, and review at the end to tell me what you enjoyed, what you didn't, advice, that sort of thing. It all helps. Enjoy the chapter

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With Team Hawk

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Sasuke and his followers had been on the road to Tsuchi no Kuni following the tracks for several days. The four of them were still walking, hoping to come across some semblance of civilization.

Suigetsu was hardly at his best, just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and trying to ignore the never ending plague of insects that inhabited the jungle. Sasuke was little better, but he hid it well. He managed to put up a pretense of indifference toward the circumstances, knowing that in front of these individuals, especially Suigetsu, he had to put up a strong front. He needed their help, and Suigetsu was the most likely to leave if things turned out badly.

Juugo was doing the best of the four, he was used to the jungle of Kusa no Kuni, he had been there before in his travels before he found Orochimaru, hoping to find some sort of herbal remedy for his 'condition'. He was the one who gave them hope when he told them that there was a town nearby, proven by the fact that the birds informed him of it not long ago. Before long they would be able to resupply and rest in peace. However, since he was doing the best in this environment, he was the one carrying Karin on his back.

Karin wasn't doing well at all, she had caught something during the long trek through the wilderness. Possibly from a bug-bite, possibly from something else, but she had been insisting that she was fine and continued going on, despite her fever. It was only about an hour ago that she collapsed, and Juugo was forced to carry her.

Suigetsu managed to say "Juugo, about how far away is that village you mentioned?" then almost tripped before he recovered his balance.

The source of the Curse Mark just looked over and calmly said "It should be about a mile away now. We should just follow the tracks until we get close enough, then cut through the trees for the rest of the way so that we don't get seen by people at the station. They'll most likely have medicine for Karin, and all the other supplies we'll need. Until now, they were the ones who traded the most with Tsuchi no Kuni, being so close to the border. If we hurry, we'll get there before sundown."

Sasuke didn't say anything, but felt ecstatic at the news that they would soon be somewhere where they could get supplies and rest. Sure, they could set up camp if they wanted to, but there were wild animals that made a constant watch necessary. And with the never ending supply of bugs to pester them, sleeping without nets, which they did not have, would almost guarantee that they would wake up a dozen times during the night. No, resting now would only be a waste of time, especially considering that they didn't have much water left. They didn't even have enough for three people, and counting Suigetsu's unnatural thirst, they needed enough water for seven. And every river and stream in this jungle was suspect of carrying something. Sasuke didn't want to take that chance.

So, they continued trudging onward, thankful that there wasn't any rain, and that the ground near the tracks wasn't as damp and muddy as the rest of the place.

Finally, one hour later, the group, tired, hungry, thirsty, and not at all well, finally made it to the gates of a town of middling size, two miles from the border of Tsuchi no Kuni. They trudged through and headed for the first inn they saw. Juugo quickly purchased a room, and the moment they laid down, Sasuke and Suigetsu collapsed, happy that with the nets there, they needn't worry about the insects. Juugo set Karin down in a bed of her own before going to sleep himself. He knew that the difficulties were only beginning.

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With Gomorrah

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Gomorrah was shocked at what he just saw. In a moment, the Raikage was injured, too badly injured to truly be of help. Gomorrah's mind was racing 'Even if he gets back up, his movements will be slowed down, and his right arm won't be at full strength.' While he thought this, he quickly gauged the threat posed to him now. The man was about as tall as Kirabi, with red hair that reached his shoulders. Black iron bars tapered into sharp spikes permeated his body, almost every joint was spiked in this manner, including the knuckles and especially the spine. Those spikes were longer, curving slightly upward as they reached out. Attacking him front behind would be more difficult because of it.

However, although the man was undoubtedly skilled, he overlooked the opponent that he had just downed. While he pierced the Raikage's right shoulder and pinned it to the ground, he completely forgot about the man's left arm.

The Raikage grabbed the man's calves with his free left arm, pulling his legs together and causing him to lose his balance.

Kirabi immediately seized the opening, pulling two of his eight blades into his hand, he surged forward.

The enemy fell forward, which was what the Raikage wanted. If the man fell backward, he himself would have gotten skewered by the spikes of metal protruding from his back. Kirabi ducked low as he swept his swords in toward the throat, while with the second blade he aimed at the back of the neck.

Neither attack reached its target.

While he fell, he raised his hand toward the Jinchuuriki and spoke two familiar words. "Shinra Tensei."

An invisible force blasted Kirabi backward, and he flipped in the air, landing on his feet as he faced his opponent, throwing one of the blades at the man, lightning coursing through it. This time, the man did not use his Shinra Tensei to blow the sword away. Instead, he put his hands on the ground, and using that leverage he slipped his legs out from the Raikage's grip and propelled himself sideways, leaving the blade on its course toward the Raikage.

Kirabi was panicked as the sword sped on toward his brother, but his fear was unnecessary. Even though his right shoulder was pierced and pinned to the ground, and he had another spike of black iron in his side, his reflexes were still razor sharp. Without flinching in surprise from his enemy's escape from his hold or his newfound circumstances, his hand darted forward as the blade neared him, and grabbed it by the hilt.

He didn't miss a beat either, the moment he grabbed the blade, he threw it again straight at the enemy who was just landing at this point.

Said enemy saw the blade coming toward him, but he felt no fear. He simply batted the blade aside, the iron spikes protruding from his knuckles being the only part of him to touch the metal directly. He received a slight jolt, but nothing more as the electrified sword lost its charge when it embedded itself near the base of a tree.

The Raikage wasted no more time in pulling the spike from his shoulder, quickly removing the spike from his flesh with a grimace and getting to his feet, holding his side where the other spike was implanted, wincing as blood flowed from the open wound in his shoulder.

He glared at the man who had ambushed him, and looked down at his side where the other spike was. It was rather bad, a few inches upward and it would have hit internal organs, but he got lucky and it was angled down, hitting his pelvis, but not an organ. With a grunt of pain he slid the spike out of his side, putting his left hand over the wound as he crouched down.

The Akatsuki member immediately took the opening, rushing toward the downed Raikage, only to be intercepted by Kirabi. He ducked down to avoid a slash toward his throat, but didn't escape danger entirely. Another blade sliced into his stomach when he crouched down. The red-haired man was in shock at this, he was holding the blade using his leg! Holding the handle between his calf and thigh. The man instantly blew Kirabi away, only for the Jinchuuriki to land on his feet and come straight back at him.

Wasting no time, he went through several handseals and murmured "Fuuton: Daitoppa" as he launched a blast of concentrated air at the Jinchuuriki, halting his charge and blowing him backward once more.

He set his hands together, to put his plan into action, but before he could, the Raikage blindsided him, his Raiton armor back up as he smashed his fist into the side of the man's head, sending him flying with the force behind the blow.

Once again, his experience showed. As he was flying through the air, he still managed to turn himself so that he could land feet first on a tree trunk. It was when he tried to jump off of it however, that he realized how much trouble he was in.

He tried to jump back to the ground, but his feet wouldn't leave the tree. He glanced down and immediately saw why. There was a white substance upon the tree that he had landed on. It prevented him from jumping.

He glared down, at the overlooked Gomorrah, who just smiled back at him. Gomorrah said "I think it's best if you just stay put."

The Akatsuki member didn't try to jump away again, but instead put his hands together as his chakra flared.

Before either the Raikage, Kirabi, or Gomorrah could do anything, a large figure rose up out of the ground. It was white and wore a crown with the symbol for Heaven upon it. It opened its mouth, and six ethereal arms surged out of it, each one grabbing the corpse of a fallen Akatsuki, and drew it back into the creature's mouth.

After only a moment, it's body flared back like a cape struck by wind, and from it jumped the six Akatsuki members that they just defeated, among the living once more.

The creature disappeared, and from his place upon the tree, he smiled and said "Did you truly believe that you could defeat God? We are Pein, we will not be defeated by mere mortals."

Then the Six Paths of Pain attacked.

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In Konoha

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Tsunade was looking out from her office over Konoha, the reconstruction nearly complete. She sighed slightly as she had just completed another long day's work of managing the finances, budgeting, and mission distribution of the massive village. There was also the matter of an envoy sent from Suna in hopes of aiding Konoha's reconstruction.

The money was more than welcome, they needed everything they could get, but she couldn't shake the lingering doubt that had been there ever since the incident where the Kazekage was captured, and one of her best teams was almost butchered by a wind user. She couldn't help but frown at the memory. That mission turned out well enough, but the sneak attack always prevented her from trusting Suna as much as she should. Another cause for her distaste for the memory was that almost everyone from that mission was now dead. Gai, Lee, Tenten, Sakura, Kakashi, all of them were dead. The only one from that mission who was still alive was Sai, who worked for Danzou. However, since they were now actively working together, she didn't mind that the man had more resources than she expected. In fact it was quite welcome.

But still, the more she thought about their losses to Naruto over the years, the more enraged she became. Of the 'Rookie nine' as they were known, everyone but Yamanaka Ino was dead. She and Sai were the only young ninja of any real talent left. There were others of course, but Tsunade knew that they wouldn't obtain any sort of real strength in time to be of help. And of the Genin, the only ones who had promise were the teammates of Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon, and they weren't going to be a threat to anybody for quite a while, much less a threat to Naruto.

The more she thought about the situation, the less she liked it. They were at a disadvantage. Finally, she admitted something that she didn't want to admit to herself, and decided to do something that she was saving as a last resort. She immediately called in Natsuki.

The girl entered within moments and found the Hokage at her desk, rapidly writing something down.

"Umm, you called for me Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade didn't look up, but she responded anyway "Natsuki, I can't believe that I'm about to do this, but at this point we may have little choice. I think that the situation is desperate enough for us to take a gamble. If it works, then we'll be able to make some new allies, good ones."

"Allies, Hokage-sama? Who do you mean?"

Tsunade stopped writing and quickly put the paper into an envelope which she quickly sealed. "One, three, four, five, six. Those are the ones that they've caught."

Natsuki was getting a bit troubled at this point, she was starting to wonder if Tsunade had cracked. "What are you talking about Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade said with a bit of hope "The Jinchuuriki, they've caught the Ichibi, the Sanbi, the Yonbi, the Goubi, and the Rokubi. The Niibi, the Nanabi, the Hachibi, and the Kyuubi have remained free. The Hachibi and Niibi are in the hands of Kumo, and the Kyuubi is needless to say out of our reach, but the Nanabi might still be out there. Maybe we can contact him. And there's also one other ally that we might be able to make, and that's the purpose of this." She flourished the letter.

She stuffed the paper into Natsuki's hands and said "Right now, we have Suna on our side, after a fashion, but that won't be enough. There's one other group that, according to rumor, Naruto has wronged. It was a long time ago, but he stole something important from them." She got a serious look in her eyes as Tsunade said a single word. "Kiri."

She walked back to the bookcase as she continued rambling "Kirigakure has a new Mizukage, someone who might be willing to work with us. I'm hoping that we can forge an alliance with them as well and forget the damage that we've done to each other. Maybe even with Kumo as well, once we spread the word about Naruto's deeds. We'll unite the entire world against that bastard if we can. We will make him regret everything he's done over the years. Go now and make sure that message gets to the Mizukage, put an ANBU team in charge of the mission. We'll continue training the Academy students and Gennin and try to rebuild our forces. With any luck, in a few years, we'll be able to challenge Naruto with a hope of winning."

She looked at Natsuki for a moment before saying "What are you waiting for? Go! Now!" She watched as Natsuki scurried out of the room before she went back to watching out of the window. She mumbled to herself "Just you wait you bastard, we'll kill you yet. All it takes is a bit of persuasion."

Then she set about looking up information about the Nanabi that terrorized the villages to the West years ago.

All the while she continued to occupy herself with thoughts about how they would defeat Naruto in the end, and how she would convince the outcast Jinchuuriki to help them. Any thought to turn her attention from the grim truth in the back of her mind. The truth that this was a truly desperate move. She didn't want Kiri's help, she NEEDED it.

Even with the reorganization to a military state, ninja needed time to gain experience. It would take years for the current Genin to become Chuunin, and longer to become Jounin. Those were years that they couldn't get on their own, Naruto would destroy them before that happened. They needed help, and she couldn't trust Suna, not yet. The attack on Kakashi still had her very nervous about the village hidden in the Sand. She didn't trust Kumo since the Hyuuga incident, and none of the minor villages would even be able to help.

The Nanabi was a gamble of the same scale. She knew literally nothing about the Nanabi Jinchuuriki beyond the fact that he was free, affiliated with no village and not captured by the Akatsuki. If they could gain his help, perhaps in exchange for Konoha's protection from Oinin and the Akatsuki, he would be a definite asset in the battles that were sure to come someday.

She would never admit it out loud, but if neither Kiri or the Nanabi helped them, Tsunade knew in her heart that they wouldn't survive long enough to do any real damage to Naruto, he would crush them while they were still weak if Konoha didn't have allies to cover them while they recovered.

The situation was completely out of her hands, and she despised that all she could do was hope for a favorable reaction from the two who might just well have Konoha's fate in their hands.

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Dark Heaven Castle

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The Midnight Visitor tapped Naruto's door with his knuckles, patiently waiting for a response from his master. Ten minutes later, he got it when Naruto called "Enter"

The shape-shifter tentatively opened the door of rich dark wood and stepped into the room that Naruto used as his workplace. As he stepped in and looked around, he noticed that it hadn't changed much. Still a small bookcase holding the books that he didn't want anyone else to read. Still the rich dark wood furniture and cold stone walls. Still with the display case of uniquely shaped knives behind and to the right of the desk, still the three crystal globes by Naruto's desk.

At the moment, Naruto had just finished writing something in a massive tome, putting down his brush and looking at him as he closed a different, smaller book that laid beside the gigantic one. Naruto just asked "What do you have to report?" boredom was evident in his tone, he already knew the answer to the question.

The Zombie bowed at the waist somewhat stiffly and said "My lord, the four that you demanded to be killed have been dealt with." He didn't rise, and he wouldn't until he received permission to. Doing anything else could put him in danger.

Naruto meanwhile simply nodded, made a 'shooing' gesture with one hand and opened the small black book again, flipping to a certain page, staring at it intensely, and then he wrote more in the massive book before him. He continued doing that for a while, until he flipped the page of the smaller book. When he did that, he looked up and asked "Is there anything else?"

The Midnight Visitor simply said "Yes sir." As he deepened his bow by another two inches. Then, still bowing, he reached into a pocket and pulled out the small volume that he had found in the Sound Four's camp, offering it out to him.

Naruto glanced at the book, and said "Well, bring it over here then."

He obeyed, walking forward with the book offered outward, still bowing at the waist. After a short while, he stood directly before Naruto's desk, gaze lowered as he offered the book to his master. While he did so, he couldn't help but glance at the writing in the large book before him. The characters were upside-down, but he still made out a few phrases. He quickly closed his eyes, dearly wishing that he did not.

Naruto either didn't see him take a glance at the book, or he didn't care as he didn't say a thing when he took the book. He glanced through it until he got to the last two or three pages, which he read in full. After that, he was silent for a moment before saying "I really wish that I had this information before I sent you out. It would have changed how I did what I did."

The Midnight Visitor managed to keep surprise from his voice as he said "Truly sir? How so, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

Naruto looked down at the Zombie bowing before him, and after a moment he turned to his left and tossed the book into a nearby fireplace. As he turned back to what he was doing before, he said "If I saw that beforehand, I would have fucked her before I ordered her death. Oh well, lost opportunity. You're dismissed."

The Midnight Visitor backed away, still facing Naruto, still bowing at the waist. But just before he reached the door, Naruto said something "After you leave, inform your brother in Anko's group that it's time to fulfill his orders." Then he turned back to his writing as the Midnight Visitor deepened his bow even further and slipped out the door.

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Patch of woodland southeast of Kumogakure

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Nagato channeled his chakra with the skill and swiftness of years and years of experience as he moved it through the spikes in his body, through the air, and into the piercings through the Six Paths. He quickly had the Demon Realm, Human Realm, and Hungry Ghost Realm bodies attack the Raikage and the Hachibi Jinchuuriki, those two were by far the greatest threat. The other three bodies stayed back in order to support the other four should they need it.

As the three obeyed his iron will and assaulted the two with a barrage of attacks, long range from Demon Realm, while Human Realm and Hungry Ghost Realm provided short range attacks and protection from attack respectively, Nagato leaned backward and grabbed a branch of the tree to which he was currently stuck, pulling himself out of his shoes and up to said protrusion, escaping the trap laid by the six-armed man.

Through the view of his Rinnegan however, he saw what Hungry Ghost Realm saw when he looked up toward the branch he was on.

The Rinnegan could see chakra, and could see how it was molded even more perfectly than the Sharingan could. Nagato's eyes could tell how the enemy was going to use his charka the moment it started to twist and swirl, and he could easily see the geometrical shapes of chakra formed by barriers and seals. In addition to that is a heightened awareness of things that weren't simply physical, he could see the spirits and ghosts that still haunted this world, and the swirling energies that made up everything that was. It was a terrible burden, almost like he was living in two different worlds at once. All who knew of the Rinnegan thought that it was never seen again after the Rikudou Sennin died. That simply wasn't true. The fact that Nagato himself was still alive was a testament to the fact that the Sage had children. The fact was that the burden of the Rinnegan was great. The user of the Rinnegan could see everything that happened around himself, all the beauty and all the horror, it was impossible to shield the truth of something, no matter how much one might want to, even the bearer of the Rinnegan himself.

All the beauty, all the horror of human society, of nature, all the things that went creeping unseen in the dark that played their games with humans none the wiser, whispering into ears that didn't know they were listening, stealing things away that people never knew they had, or were made to forget they ever had. And even what those people themselves were, beneath the skin. One could see unending beauty in the purity of a young maiden, and the filthy corruption in the heart of an old tycoon. The greed, the fear, the hopelessness, the desolation, the sadness, and the rage, all the rage and pain and sorrow, nothing could escape the unblinking vigilance of the Rinnegan.

And that clarity, that unblinking, unchanging, unforgettable truth drove the bearer of those cursed eyes Mad.

It wasn't that the descendents of the Sage of the Six Paths didn't exist, it's simply that they weren't capable of handling the blinding truth that the Rinnegan showed them, and they would never forget. Some fled into the wilds and became hermits, forsaking all contact with humanity. Some killed themselves. Others tore out their eyes to escape the pain that they were shown and wandered the world as blind doomsayers, preaching the corruption of humanity and the end of the world that was inevitable for such a hideous race. All of them were descendents of the one man who brought the first semblance of peace to the land.

Nagato's grandfather was one such old preacher, a deranged lunatic. His grandmother was a business woman raped one day by that insane old man, beaten while he screamed his lungs out at her evil, meting out 'justice' for those whose hopes she had destroyed. The trauma, the horror, it was all too much for the woman and she collapsed into a coma from which she never awakened, despite her pregnancy. Her daughter then went into the world as an orphan, knowing not who either of her parents were, and was lucky enough to have died before the 'gift' of the Rinnegan awoke.

But Nagato was not so lucky, he had those cursed eyes and he could bear the truth he saw. And with those eyes he saw the trap laid for him upon that tree branch.

Four slips of paper, four seals laid in a square around him, covered by cloth of the exact color and texture of the wood to be rendered invisible, the oldest ninja trick in the book. Those four seals acted as a seal, and they activated when Nagato entered their perimeter. And then, they exploded simultaneously as the trap went off, reducing the tree upon which they were planted to splinters and kindling.

However, in those seconds after Nagato saw the trap and before it activated, he defended himself, or rather Animal Realm defended him.

Flipping through those same motions, the Animal Realm Pein summoned Nagato to his side before the explosion could bring him to harm.

Then the second stage of the attack began.

It started with Kirabi throwing a single sword straight at Animal Realm's head, from which the puppet leaned back and so avoided as the blade plunged into the earth behind him. Then, while one body was distracted, the Raikage dashed forward towards Demon Realm as Kirabi threw three more of his swords at Hungry Ghost Realm, Human Realm, and Hell Realm, once again all of which were avoiding with the minimum of effort, but while they were avoiding an attack, they weren't stopping the Raikage, whose insane speed while he was clad in his Raiton Armor allowed him to close with Demon Realm in a moment and bring the thing's skull into his grasp.

Before he could crush Demon Realm's skull like an egg however, God Realm flipped a hand towards the giant of a man, and blew him away.

Only for him to dissolve into a puddle of mud while Kirabi lunged at Hell Realm, his speed almost rivaling that of his brother.

Nagato realized that God Realm couldn't defend Hell Realm, but since he dodged the attack he had Hungry Ghost Realm dashing towards them, and he was able to himself between Kirabi and Hell Realm.

Before the Jinchuuriki could enter Hungry Ghost Realm's field of absorption however, he was suddenly jerked into the sky, the only hint as to why being the shimmer of gossamer thread shimmering in the air as it pulled the man away.

Kirabi neared Hell Realm, his strike already in motion to crush the bones of Hell Realm's face and neck, taking the Realm of healing out of the equation. But Nagato retained his own power, though God Realm still needed to recharge, as it were. With a quick gesture and a pair of spoken words, Kirabi was blown back by invisible forces of energy. Unfortunately for the leader of Akatsuki, he closed the gate on his own trap.

The Raikage, the real Raikage, emerged from the ground before him, head, shoulders, and one arm reaching toward the sky as the rest remained underground. He shouted "NARUKAMI!"

Lightning coalesced in the Raikage's hand, and arced in a square pattern. And to Nagato's horror, he saw that each arc of electricity struck a sword stuck in the ground, thrown in an exact pattern by Kirabi for that exact purpose. The lightning arced from the Raikage's hand to the four swords in the ground, and from each sword to the blades adjacent, forming a distinct perimeter.

Then, from the Raikage's hand and the four blades came electricity as powerful as that of thunderstorms, bound into that tiny space, climbing upward as it sought freedom, incinerating everything that it even came close to touching.

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Again, I'm sorry that this chapter took so long everyone, but again, life seems to conspire against me. Review regarding the fights and developments as always. And until the next chapter, lie awake at night wondering 'what was it that Naruto was writing?'

Until the next chapter

Artful Lounger

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OMAKE

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The True Vampire

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Naruto had just moved his followers into Dark Heaven Castle, and was looking through the library for any useful information. In one of the sections, he found one titled 'Various types of Undead, a History of'.

Somewhat curious, he opened the tome and found what he expected. 'Lich', 'Wraith', 'Revenant', 'Zombie' and many others. But there were several dozen sections under 'Vampire'.

One of those caught his eye, 'Twilight Vampire'

He read aloud "The Twilight Vampire is one that nobody wants to believe was once real. Unlike normal vampires, they despise drinking human blood and tend to fall in love at random. They do not have any vampire weaknesses, and sparkle in sunlight. Their only true ability was to apparently convince hordes of stupid, easily placated people into believing that they were actual vampires. They no longer exist as every member of the species was single handedly hunted down by a mysterious figure calling himself 'Alucard'. For more information on this figure, check the book 'Hellsing Chronciles'.

Naruto looked down at the book, shook his head, and put it back in the shelf. He walked away mumbling "They sparkled in sunlight? What a load of shit."


	91. Chapter 91

Greetings one and all to another new chapter of Kage no Naruto. Once again, sorry about how long it's taken to update, blame life, or anything really as long as it isn't me. Now then, there is one thing that I would like to address before I begin the chapter. Someone asked whether Tayuya would be brought back, due to the entire 'harem' premise earlier in the story. I have to say that, looking back, that doing such a harem pairing would be in bad taste, and have decided that it wouldn't be in character for him to get into relationships with so many and decided to change the decision. What the final pairing will be, or whether there shall be any pairing at all, will be kept secret until it is published. I hope that nobody gets angry over this and that you continue to enjoy the story. With that said let the chapter begin, starting with a familiar sight.

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Summary of last chapter

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Team Hawk manages to return to civilization to prepare for their journey into Tsuchi no Kuni.

In Konoha, Tsunade has sent a missive to Kirigakure, and several teams to locate the Nanabi Jinchuuriki in hopes of gaining him as an ally in exchange for the protection of Konohagakure from Oinin. This is all done in hopes of beefing up the forces that she can bring to bear against Naruto when the time comes.

Naruto himself has been notified of the extermination of the Sound Four, and has been seen writing something in a large book, purpose unknown.

Finally, Gomorrah, the Raikage, and Kirabi have continued their battle against Pein, the last scene in the chapter being the Raikage attacking almost all of the bodies at once with a large-scale electrical attack.

Did Pein survive? What is that book that Naruto is writing? All these things and more shall be revealed… eventually. So read this chapter hoping that they're revealed here instead of in chapter ninety two.

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With the Raikage, Kirabi, and Gomorrah

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The storm of lighting ripped through the air, directed outward and then upward by Kirabi's blades and the Raikage's will. When he did so, six of the seven Pein bodies were caught inside the blast. The only one who wasn't inside that storm of electricity was the Hungry Ghost Realm body which Gomorrah pulled away to prevent him from absorbing the attack.

Kirabi stood back and enjoyed the sight of the people who were chasing him minutes before getting fried, while Gomorrah focused more on breaking the Hungry Ghost Realm's neck. The assault of deadly lightning only lasted a few seconds, but those seconds were more than enough to fry anything inside the enclosure. And surely enough, six blackened, charred bodies fell to earth inside the enclosure or in the surrounding area.

The Raikage, exhausted and still half buried in the ground, simply let his arm flop to the ground and let out a heavy sigh of exhaustion. Kirabi let out a cheer of victory.

Gomorrah was reeling in the broken body of the Hungry Ghost Realm. When he had it upon the tree branch, he quickly pulled out a scroll from his pocket, the one he had just in case he had a corpse he needed to bring back. Every General had at least one, just in case. He sealed the corpse into its writing to give to Hogback. If the trick behind the thing's absorption could be harnessed and reproduced, his Lord could surely make use of it. With that piece of business concluded, he turned his attention to the Raikage and his brother.

What none of them saw was the man crouched in the bushes several yards out of the way. Nagato had managed to escape from the dangerous blast, but he did not escape unharmed. His left arm hung at his side, horribly burned. The skin was a mix of red, black, and pink, the flesh melted like wax and withered, clinging to his bones. The broken skin oozed with blood and clear fluid.

He was not sure if he should be thankful that it did not hurt.

But Nagato did know that he could not let this go without retribution. Though it was far more difficult with simply one handed seals, he still managed to call lightning into his hand and sent it darting forward toward the foe that had so mutilated him.

The Raikage was only spared because Nagato was so unused to unorthodox methods of Ninjutsu such as one handed handseals. Instead of spearing him through the heart like he had intended, it struck him in his right arm, the arm he had used to attack the bodies of Pein. It pierced through muscle and bone of the shoulder. As the Raikage roared in the sudden and unexpected pain of the lightning, Nagato cursed at his foul aim, but still took advantage of his strike, quickly drawing the stream of energy to the right, all but severing the arm, the flesh burning and bubbling where the focused bolt of lightning touched flesh before the lightning vanished.

Gomorrah and Kirabi immediately turned toward where the strike had come from and leapt into the bushes, heading forward quickly and purposefully, keeping a careful and wary eye on their surroundings. But there was nothing to be found. Nagato had made his escape the moment he had burned off the Raikage's arm.

When the two returned to the downed Raikage, he had ripped himself from the earth and separated the strand of flesh that kept his arm attached to him, letting the limb drop to the ground as he dressed his wound. He looked up at the two and said, in a tired, agonized voice "Take me back to Kumo, the doctors may be able to do something."

Kirabi wasted no time, quickly picking up his elder sibling under his arm, picking up the one from the ground to carry back as well. Gomorrah simply stood there, carefully observing the leader of Kumogakure no Sato.

Before Kirabi could haul the man off back home, the Raikage opened his eyes and looked at Gomorrah. He said "Tell your Master what happened here." Then he closed his eyes. Whether he drifted into unconsciousness or went into shock, who can say.

Gomorrah knew that Kirabi wouldn't have to look hard to find a rescue team meant for his recovery. Odds were good that the Raikage would make it back to Kumo without much incident. With that thought in mind, Gomorrah used the power of his Gem, using the darkness to travel from the patch of woodland, from there to the center of his Master's power.

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With Anko

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Anko was very much irritated.

She had been running around the continent looking for a book. She had a grand ten Soldiers in order to assist her with that task.

So, she had been using all of her patience not to strangle everyone she spoke to when she went about this extremely undesirable task, trying to find a think black leather volume. She checked the cities, which took weeks at a time to look through where the thing could have been and asking around. She checked the country, which was much easier half of the time when the people she was talking to couldn't even read and so didn't know what a book was, and harder half the time when she stumbled across some stern looking untrusting community with too many old people who wished she would burst into flames on the spot.

At the moment, she was at some moderately decent inn driving up her blood alcohol percentage. She couldn't help it. She was so frustrated from dealing with obnoxious city people for weeks and months who acted as if she couldn't turn them into a paste, and she couldn't DO just that because she didn't want to broadcast her location, and dealing with suspicious country hicks and their overpriced goods and constant stares, and dealing with the ignorant country hicks who couldn't tell you the difference between katakana and kana. It was simply all too much, and she needed some way to relax, so here she was gulping down sake by the bottle for an hour and a half, and planning to do so for another hour and a half before she stumbled, or crawled, up the stairs to collapse into the tatami mat she had upstairs.

And all of this because she was ousted from the one place she really tried to call home.

Being extraordinarily inebriated, she couldn't help but drunkenly go over her life, when she began her life as a wanted criminal. Going by the description of Konoha's populace that would be either the day she was born or the day Orochimaru left her behind depending on how bigoted the individual was. The people who actually knew something about her knew that it was the day she up and left with Naruto on the day Orochimaru attacked Konoha.

When she got her mind on that subject, her mind started to go over the events of that fateful day. About how she had tried to bolster the defenses of her home as best she could, killing almost half a dozen Sunagakure ninja before that massive snake bust through the wall and wreaked havoc. How the two ANBU cornered her and tried to kill her. She remembered the feeling of her heart cracking in two when they told her that they were under orders from the Sandaime, one of about five people that she actually trusted. She remembered how stunned she was and how those ANBU took advantage of her inner turmoil. Then she remembered HIM.

He swooped in like a girl's dream and saved her from those who would kill her. She remembered when he defended her from the flames of her enemy's attack, and how he subsequently cut them down. She remembered vividly how he offered her his hand and told her that he was leaving, and if she would like to come with him. And she remembered the joy and sudden hope when she took the hand he offered, and all that it led to. Meeting Temari on top of the Monument, Haruka and Yukino, Haku, and those individuals that were known as the Three Enigmas.

Never in her life had she met such a disconcerting group of people. She knew that they were the First of Naruto's followers. The ones who were with him since the beginning. And as much as she despised the thought she knew that she would never hold their standing.

She remembered hating those three, Hogback and his fat, rotund body and how he casually played with human bodies, human life. He reminded her way too much of Orochimaru for her to like him. Absalom and his perversion, she caught him peeking into the bath at her at least twice and there were probably many more times she didn't catch him. And as much as she wanted to punish him she knew that she couldn't because of several reasons. Naruto valued Absalom, his wisdom and experience. And above all else his strength. Anko had sparred with Guy and Kakashi, with Ibiki and Kurenai, with Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade back before Orochimaru betrayed them all. And with the exception of Tsunade's superhuman punches, she had never once seen anyone who could match Absalom's raw strength. His speed was above par, and she'd seen better, but his strength was so far beyond human it beggared belief.

And last but not least Perona. The one woman who had managed to draw Naruto to her, the one person who she envied more than any other. She was the one who laid claim to him first and had held on ever since. She was the one who commanded a full third of his forces. When in combat, she was all but invincible, an unstoppable freak of nature the likes of which Anko had never seen or heard of. She hated Perona and wanted nothing more than to see Naruto get rid of her.

But she knew that that would never happen. He valued her too much. He valued all of the Enigmas too much for that to happen.

She wasn't blind, she could see the hierarchy in that Castle. She had studied Naruto enough to know, a little, how he thought. And what she realized scared her. She realized that she was expendable. That EVERYONE was expendable. The Soldiers, the Generals, the Colonels, her, Haku, Temari, the Sound Four, all of them were expendable. But those three weren't. Hogback, Absalom, and Perona, she knew that he would never let those three come to harm if he could avoid it, they were the only ones that he considered essential. If he had those three than no matter what happened to everything else he could always rebuild. It might take decades, centuries, and those three could walk that distance with him without growing old. The Enigmas were the only ones he absolutely needed, in more ways than one.

Anko saw something more that attracted the four of them, something she couldn't become, at least not willingly.

All four of them were completely out of their minds.

It was perhaps most obvious with Naruto. His rage, his sudden shifts of mood and bearing. His inconsistency and his attitude. He was a twenty four karat lunatic, and the other three were no better, just less obvious. Absalom was obsessed with women, he preferred the living but the dead would do. She knew that his chambers were decorated with women. And not a one of them was whole. Hogback was obsessed with improving the perfect, the beauty of the human form, the fickle loyalty toward each specimen. Experiments that would never work that he tried anyway, to the agony of numerous people, for a near meaningless purpose. She saw what he did when he tried to make someone truly 'beautiful' and her pity for the people he did such things to had no bounds. Living or dead, both were subjected to his madness and neither deserved it.

Perona was either the most or least noticeable, Anko couldn't tell. Self-contradicting, fleeting from one subject to the next at times, sometimes not remembering such things. Her mind was elsewhere, always. She was completely unpredictable and completely mad. Anko could burn that girl to death and she would die giggling at the fire. But she had a remarkably well sense of detecting personal danger, all four of them did. That sense for when peril is about to befall them, and the swift and nearly instinctual defensive measures they took when that sense went off protected them until they could bring what little reason they had together to deal with it. Well honed survival instinct and personal experience, combined with the knowledge of how best to use them. Such things were what let people like the Enigmas stay alive for centuries.

That insanity, and the reflexes to survive it, was something that Anko couldn't have, and one more thing that she knew gave Perona her biggest edge over her in the lists of love. It was a connection that Anko would never be able to willingly duplicate. She wouldn't call what Perona and Naruto shared 'love' because that wasn't it. Rather she wouldn't dignify it by calling it love. No, the more Anko thought about it the more she came to the conclusion that the thing that most drew them together was the fact that they had similar, complementary insanities. It was the only way that Anko could think to put it.

The Enigmas relied on Naruto for his strength, his drive, and the sense of purpose that it gave them. It drew them like moths to a flame, and they couldn't have left him if they tried. Where would they go if they did? And in exchange, they provided Naruto with what he needed. The military force granted by Hogback, the strategic command of Absalom. Perona provided something as well, though Anko didn't know what. Stability? Caring? Some kind of balance? She had no idea what worth Naruto saw in Perona, but the fact remained that the Three Enigmas were the only ones that Naruto felt were indispensible. And that filled her with a dread she hadn't felt for a long time. The possibility of being sent to die for no purpose, She was afraid that the one who saved her might do as Orochimaru had done before him, and leave her behind in the cold while he moved on. And the thought of being alone terrified her more than anything else. She couldn't help but feel that same cold creeping up on her again, like she no longer belonged. She wouldn't admit it if you tortured her, but she was afraid.

"Mind you, it could just be the booze. Yeah… yeah, that's probably… probably it." She muttered to herself and she slammed down yet another bottle on the table in front of her. She managed to stagger to her feet, her face red as a tomato as she wobbled, or fell, through the door, idly muttering to the barkeep to put it on her tab. She threw up on the floorboards outside the bar and tried to get up the stairs, barely making it to the top thanks to the banister.

She knocked on the wrong door twice, but made it to her own room on the third try. The Soldiers were all out in the field trying to find the book, so it was just her and the mat on the floor when she stumbled into the room. She managed to close the door behind her, and considered changing into bed clothes for about half a minute before she muttered "Fuck it" and just stumbled onto the mat, curling up to sleep as she pressed her face into the pillow.

Drunkenly snoring away all the alcohol she had just consumed, she was out like a light and nothing short of repeatedly kicking her could possibly have woken up.

So, naturally she didn't notice the tall, suit clad figure that was watching her as she stumbled up the stairs. She didn't see the figure in her window as it watched her fall asleep.

She didn't hear the glass breaking downstairs, the sudden slamming of doors and windows being shut by unseen force and not opening no matter how much people tried to open them. She didn't hear the roar of the flames nor smell the smoke. She just lay there, drunkenly murmuring to herself the name of a man who viewed her as a tool. A broken tool.

A broken tool whose fears had come true.

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With Sasuke

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Sasuke woke with a start in an unfamiliar bed. He forced himself to sit up, where he hurriedly examined his surroundings. First thing he noticed was that he was in a pair of underwear and nothing else. The second was that he had a needle in his arm hooked up to an IV drip. He thought about taking it out, but decided not to until he found out more about what was going on. He scanned the room carefully, taking note of thee other beds, and all four of them were laid out in a square pattern that took up much of the small room they occupied. In one was Suigetsu, wearing as little as Sasuke was judging by the exposed chest. Karin was across from him, in a bra and panties judging by the lacy straps on her shoulders. The bed next to Sasuke was empty.

There was a table beside each bed, but the only things on them were trays of medical instruments, and vials of liquid held in racks. Taking it all together, Sasuke was able to make a guess that he was in a hospital.

As he took a second look around and saw that there was no window, his next objective was to find out why. 'The best way to do that' he thought to himself 'would be to just lie down and pretend I'm still asleep. Someone will show up eventually.' With that thought, Sasuke pulled the sheets over him and relaxed on the bed, keeping one eye slightly open and fixed on the door.

He was correct in the belief that someone would, eventually, show up. But he didn't expect that it would take almost two hours for it to happen.

When the door finally opened, Sasuke was at the point of drifting off again, but he managed to rouse himself to watch the new development. He was quite surprised at who showed up.

It was Jugo.

The massive man was clad in regular clothing, and closed the door behind him as he went to Sasuke's bed. He didn't bother with pretense, immediately saying "Stop playing Sasuke, I know you're awake." Then he pulled up a chair from behind one of the other beds and sat down near him.

Sasuke didn't waste any time. "Where are we, and how long have we been here Jugo?"

Jugo sat back in his chair and shrugged. "You've been here for about four days. As for why you're here, all three of you were pretty badly ill. I called in a local Doctor when none of you woke up the first morning we were here. He took a quick look at the three of you, and diagnosed all of you with some jungle sickness that I can't pronounce. He called in a few guys and had you carted over here in about five minutes. You're clothes were taken and burned, you were given what you're wearing now, and ever since then he's been giving you guys chemical treatments, antibiotics, all sorts of things. Karin had the worst of it, though you were pretty badly off as well. Suigetsu wasn't as bad, but they kept him anyway. He told me that if he got to you about a day later than he did then Karin would be dead for sure, and you two would be on death's door. As it was, all three of you made it, though for Karin it was a real struggle. We were lucky to get here when we did."

Sasuke absorbed that information for a moment. 'I almost died'. That revelation really shook Sasuke. He'd been sick before, but not with something potentially lethal. And even in the worst cases of illness that he could remember, he always had skilled physicians on hand. In Konoha there were the doctors and Medical ninja. Later on he had Orochimaru's corps of researchers. This was the first time that he'd been alone for such a thing. He grimaced when he thought 'I guess that's part of being a Nukenin.'

Then something struck him as odd. "Wait a moment Jugo, you said that this town was in the boonies, right? In the outskirts of the country, deep in the jungle. Hardly anyone comes here. So how do these guys have advanced medical supplies and skilled doctors? By the way you were talking about this place, I would expect that If they had a hospital at all it would be a one room, roach infested hut minded by some little one eyed witchdoctor in a loincloth or something. Where did this stuff come from?"

Jugo looked a bit sheepish, which seemed very odd for him. "Well, I had four days, so I looked around and asked some questions. You're right about the hut bit, the last time I came here it was almost exactly like that. This place was an absolute hellhole. Now it's a lot different. No city, but it isn't a complete slum anymore. I was pretty confused at first too. So I had a look at things, and it turns out that they managed to discover a copper deposit a few miles from the village. Or rather some people from Tsuchi no Kuni found it. When they did, they came over here and told them. Before long, they made a deal to sell the metal to the government of Tsuchi no Kuni. The only catch was that they paid for the first shipment in advance so that they could get started. The Tsuchi guys paid up, and they spent the money on mining equipment and people who knew how to mine to tell them what to do. They followed the advice they got and started to produce a lot of ore. They shipped it to Tsuchi no Kuni and have been making money ever since. And most of that money has been going into this hospital and people's homes. All the medicines they have are from Tsuchi no Kuni, though the doctor is from the capital of Kusa no Kuni. These guys are ecstatic about it all, they have money like they never believed and it's all because those guys up North decided to build the railroad near here and took a look around for useful metals."

Sasuke listened to all of that and almost exploded "Wait a minute! Are you telling me that the medicine that saved my life was made in TSUCHI NO KUNI?!"

Jugo winced "Yes. The medicine that saved you, some of it at least, is experimental stuff developed by a pharmaceutical research facility in Tsuchi no Kuni. By order of the State. It was given to these guys for free to field test it, since apparently they have the same disease in certain regions of Tsuchi no Kuni too. Nobody here except maybe the doctor realizes it, but that stuff could have had weird side effects, and the guys up North didn't want to test it on any patients from their country. You're lucky that you got the dose that does what it's supposed to do. There were seven other groups who had the same disease and five of them aren't doing nearly as well."

Sasuke just looked at him and Jugo explained "Well, two of them got the same thing you did, and they're alright. Three groups got another experimental thing, and two other groups got a third variant. The guys with the third one died within forty eight hours due to a sudden fever, and the guys with the second treatment are alive, but are currently puking their guts out. Either way, you'll be free to go in a few days, and if you're up then the others can't be far behind. We'll wait for a bit while we get what supplies we can and then head North to Korin."

Sasuke just nodded, his mind clearly elsewhere.

Jugo took the hint and got up. As he left the room he said "I'll tell the doctor that you're awake Sasuke. I'll try and get some clothes for you three for when you're released." Then he closed the door behind him.

Sasuke wasn't really paying much attention to that, too focused on the concept that he nearly died because of an illness. And that the cure could have just as easily killed him as it saved him. But that wasn't the thing that weighed on his mind the most. The fact that the medicine which saved him was made by Naruto, of all people, irritated him to no end. Directly or indirectly, the fact that it was thanks to him that his life was saved made him more angry than anything else he could remember. But Sasuke managed to calm himself. Despite his humiliation, he knew better than to go charging in. All he did was determine that he would be more cruel than he would have been when the time came for Naruto's throat to be cut. He stayed awake like that, imagining torments for this latest humiliation.

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With Naruto

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Naruto was still sitting in his office, just as he was for the last four days, writing furiously into that same volume. He stopped for meals, and to sleep, but that was it. He spent almost fourteen hours a day in that room, writing constantly. Until finally he had finished what he began days ago, and he set down the brush. He waited for the ink to dry, and then he closed the tome with a deep THUD. The characters were written very largely, to make it easier to read, and in a dialect that everyone in the Elemental Countries spoke to some degree. Everybody would be able to read what he had written.

Naruto took the book under his arm and left his office. He was pleased with the news that Anko had been dealt with, and he had been able to finally call off that ridiculous mission to search for the Word of Kemmler. He knew that it wasn't in the material world. His enemies had to know that if it was then he would be able to find it without difficulty. But it got Anko out of the way, and that was enough gain to warrant the operation. The fact that Pein disabled the Raikage was distasteful, but it didn't bother him. He obtained more information about the leader of Akatsuki and his tactics, and it also gave him a new angle to use when negotiating with the Raikage. The man would surely be much more agreeable than he would be otherwise when promised his missing arm returned to him.

Overall, things had gone well for Naruto on all fronts, and now he was about to make the biggest strike yet against the Elemental Nations. The knowledge he had copied down in the book he carried would be more than enough to weaken the world. It couldn't do much else.

So, he woke up a Colonel Zombie. He gave the creature the book and told him to go to Tsuchi no Kuni. They were to mass produce the book as quickly as possible. Then they were to distribute it as far as they could, keeping it out of Kaminari no Kuni if they could. The Colonel did what all Zombies did, he obeyed the order and brought the book to Tsuchi no Kuni.

Naruto returned to his office and sat down, looking thoughtfully at the map of the Elemental Countries, and the affect that his actions would have. Surely the five Great Ninja Villages and their nations would not fall, but the others had a very real chance of falling into anarchy within the next few months. It was one difficult job, but he still managed it. It was quite difficult translating German into Japanese.

He had spent the last several days writing, translating, copying the knowledge bound within the Blood, Mind, and Heart of Kemmler, the three books that held the darkest secrets he had ever seen. He put it all into one easily understood volume. The mindless, thronging masses out there, those that didn't realize the talents they had. How many would become curious and try the knowledge in the book? And when the first tried it and the knowledge spread that it _worked_. The book would be snapped up by all who wanted power. Those minor talents out there, one in a hundred perhaps, but numerous enough would seize the chance to no longer be the powerless piece of filth that they always had been.

With all of those people realizing their talents and getting their hands on some real Necromancy, there was no way that things would remain peaceful. Those who had discovered power would use it, it was human nature. With so many avenging themselves upon those whom they bore ill will, it was only a matter of time until one of these people attempted to seize the government of the country he happened to be in, certain that he would be a more fit ruler. It was possible that groups of these individuals would band together for that task. Countries would doubtlessly fall, Ninja Villages destroyed by the Necromancers who hated them. That in addition to what he had planned next would kick off panic on a massive scale, and weaken the world for when he was ready.

But for now, all he had to do was sit back and wait for the world to be destabilized, for the old to be threatened by the hundreds of Necromancers who Naruto just gave enough knowledge and power to finally be a threat.

He almost smiled at the thought of what Konoha would do when a gang of baby Necromancers showed up and knocked down the gates. He could hardly wait.

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And so, the chapter ends. Naruto continues to streamline his group. Sasuke has a near brush with death and misfortune. Pein is injured, the Raikage crippled, and Naruto prepares the first blow to the world in a way that they will never see coming. What shall happen? What is Naruto planning next? Who will rise to power with the knowledge that Naruto just gave the world? Read the next chapter and find out!

Again, sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. I'll try to be faster with the next one. I can't make any promises, life is a bit hectic as of late, but I'll do what I can. In the meantime, review my first chapter in over two months and tell me whether or not I've lost my touch. Hopefully I haven't.

Until the next chapter

Artful Lounger


	92. Chapter 92

Greetings, and welcome all to chapter ninety two of Kage no Naruto! Anyway, since you all no doubt have begun salivating the moment you saw the alert, I'll get straight to the chapter then, shall I? But first, a familiar sight.

On a rather IMPORTANT NOTE- I believe that I have been somewhat ambiguous as to how much time has been passing recently, so I'll clear that up. As of the first scene in this chapter, it has been about a month since the attack on Konoha. And before people ask 'why did Sasuke take so long' just attribute it to reasons including having to take roundabout routes to avoid Konoha Shinobi, fake leads that may have drawn him aside, and other possibilities. And before anyone asks about the Konoha restoration, they fixed the village really fast after both the Orochimaru and Pein attacks. It was less than a month before they were back in working order. Not perfect, but functional for the most part.

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Summary of last chapter

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Sasuke and Co. woke up at their destination, recovering from a disease they got in the jungle. Juugo is off retrieving information while the other three recover. Nagato was beaten by the Raikage, Kirabi, and Gomorrah, but before he made his escape, he struck out at the Raikage and removed one of his arms. Kirabi brought the Raikage back to Kumo, while Gomorrah took the Hungry Ghost Realm Pein back to Dark Heaven Castle. Anko got drunk and revealed her thoughts and opinions on the circumstances behind how she came to be, who she was working for and her thoughts of the others she had with her.

Finally, Naruto completed his project. The Blood, Mind, and Heart of Kemmler, three of the four books that contained the horrible secrets and teachings of a long dead Necromancer who almost conquered the world, Naruto translated and transcribed them into a single volume. That volume is to be published and distributed, those with talents that they barely know how to use, if they know about them at all, will have the opportunity to learn true Necromancy. He plans to sit back while the forces of Necromancy warp the minds of those who practice what's in the books, until that group of people, given power, seek out what they can take for themselves and throw the Elemental Countries into disarray. When they do, whether they succeed or fail to destroy and conquer, he shall be waiting for them to weaken his foes and he shall fall upon them with all the fury of a wounded bear. Another strike at the world is underway, it's only a matter of time….

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Konoha, Hokage's office, three days after Anko died

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Tsunade was doing more work than she had in ages. She went through mission assignments swiftly, sending the best teams she deemed for the job in question, as well as signing off on orders to authorize what needed to be done. The purchasing of building materials and equipment mostly, the village had to be repaired and reinforced, and while they were getting close to the first, they weren't nearly half done with the second. But Tsunade worked as hard as she could to try and finish that as swiftly and effectively as possible.

She was determined to make the village look good in the eyes of outsiders, merchants were encouraged to sell their goods here, and they did their best to get clients for missions from either their own country, or to steal them from other villages. Most would say that they didn't really need the money that quickly, that what they obtained from selling the Shodaime's necklace was more than enough to sustain them for some time. But Tsunade disagreed.

A few days ago they had another Council meeting, during which the expensive building costs were brought up. Specifically, several individuals complained about how making the building companies work faster caused them to charge more, and trying to convince her that if she gave them a bit of slack, they could save money at the expense of time. Tsunade quickly shot them down. She argued that if they let up and didn't prepare as best they could, they were inviting disaster. She pointed out the pattern that she had noticed to Naruto's attacks, the destruction of that power plant in days gone by, and the more recent bombing. Every time the attacks were all directed to cause immense economic damage by destroying crucial, yet expensive to replace, areas of town. His plan for years had been to drive them broke. Tsunade told them that if she altered the builders' work schedule, it would only be to speed it up. They needed everything that could be done to improve Konoha's defenses done quickly.

That was why Tsunade was working harder than she could remember, trying to get missions completed as quickly as possible. She always said that they needed enough money to counter another such attack. They would do everything to prevent it, but nobody's perfect. She would never let Konoha be weakened this badly again, she would gather and preserve enough money to be prepared for rebuilding again should it need to be done, but a lot more money went into making the buildings extremely durable, the number of sentries on the wall and in the forest increased. In other words, making Konoha as impenetrable as possible.

She looked out into the sky behind her, silently swearing not to let such destruction happen again, and terrified that it might happen anyway.

That was when an old man wearing a red vest like garment and white hair appeared near the top of the window, almost scaring the wits out of her with the sudden, unexpected shock.

While she probably shouldn't have been surprised, she didn't expect to see him back so soon. As Jiraiya opened the window and went to stand by the side of her desk, she gave him an irritated look. "Jiraiya, I thought you wouldn't come back within six months unless you learned something very important. So what is it?"

She really didn't want to see Jiraiya. If he was here, then something had happened. Something important. She couldn't survive it if Naruto moved against them now, they weren't ready. Her messengers had yet to return with responses from the various parties that she contacted, the rebuilding wasn't completed and wasn't scheduled to be for another two months. It was simply too soon. If Naruto was attacking them NOW, then they were done, it was over.

So, with that fact in mind, Tsunade waited for Jiraiya's response with baited breath, deadly fearful that Jiraiya's report was the prophecy of their destruction. Jiraiya waited for a moment, and then spoke "It isn't that Naruto is mobilizing, don't worry."

Tsunade let out a sigh of relief, her worst fear not realized. The Sage gave her a moment to enjoy the survival of hope before he continued "But in the last few days, I received some disturbing information."

She pierced him with a glare that made her feelings clear, but she enunciated them anyway "Get to the point already."

Jiriaya just gave her an infuriating smile before he grew more serious and said "Two days ago, a coroner identified the body of Mitarashi Anko. He used dental records that Konoha gave him in order to do it since she had been burned to death so badly that she was barely recognizable. The heat warped Hitai-ate told him where to look to find her identity. In addition to that, three Shinobi were discovered in unmarked graves in a forest near a town in Hi no Kuni. The three bodies were identified as once being Oto Ninja, namely three of the 'Sound Four' that escorted Uchiha Sasuke to Orochimaru's lair three years ago."

Tsunade looked at him, puzzled "Wait, Mitarashi Anko, wasn't she Orochimaru's apprentice?"

He nodded and said "Yes, she was at one time Orochimaru's apprentice. She defected from Konoha during the Suna invasion when Sensei died. Everybody assumed she died in the battle until she was later seen working with some of Naruto's Zombies. The Sound Four also vanished after Sasuke left, they disappeared during the mission and weren't seen again until they were spotted acting in Tsuchi no Kuni, again assisting Naruto's conquest there. It's more than safe to say that both the Sound Four members and Mitarashi Anko were all taken in by Naruto and have been working with him since they left whatever faction they previously supported. Now they're dead."

Tsunade's mind reeled at the possibilities and implications of finding several of HIS dead followers like that. The first thing she said was "Arrange to have their bodies brought to Konoha for more thorough examination." When Jiraiya said that they were already being moved, she waited and thought for a moment before Jiraiya interrupted her again.

"There's one more piece of information, this one is more important." Tsunade gave him a look and gestured for him to continue. "Yesterday, I was informed by a trusted spy that the Akatsuki had attacked the Hachibi Jinchuuriki in Kumogakure."

Tsunade's eyes went wide when she heard that "Did they-" Jiraiya raised a hand and said "No, they didn't capture him, the Raikage joined the battle and they managed to fight off the assailant. According to several witnesses, there were six members of the organization trying to capture him. And there's more." He interrupted Tsunade before she could spout implications. "The Raikage left with an individual that we have only heard described, and when they returned, the Hachibi was assisting the Raikage to walk, the leader of Kumo was missing his left arm."

The Hokage waited a moment for Jiraiya to continue, but as he didn't, she asked the first question to come to mind "Who is that individual that left with the Raikage?"

The Toad Sage sighed, this was the real reason he came back to Konoha. "The individual was described as having dark skin, and no hair. He also is supposed to have six arms. These descriptions match the descriptions we received from Tsuchi no Kuni during Naruto's conquest, and they all match the one photograph we have of the individual known as 'Gomorrah', one of Naruto's more powerful General Zombies."

If those other comments shocked Tsunade, this one knocked her on her ass. A General Zombie assisting the Raikage and the Hachibi Jinchuuriki. There were only two possibilities. The first possibility was that Naruto's agent acted to disrupt the Akatsuki, not help Kumo. That wasn't that bad of a scenario.

The second was far, far worse. The horrible chance that Naruto had some kind of influence in Kumogakure no Sato. They had very little information from Tsuchi no Kuni, but everything they could find out all pointed at one indisputable fact: that Naruto's country was stockpiling resources, creating new types of weaponry, and the rumors had more than that going on beyond those borders. But no matter what you heard, it all came down to the same thing, that Tsuchi no Kuni was preparing for war. Given what Naruto's creatures were capable of, all of that in addition to the output of Tsuchi no Kuni meant that they were in for a very difficult war, but a winnable one provided all four major villages came together.

If Kumogakure didn't join such an effort, they might have a chance with just Kiri, Konoha, and Suna. But if Kumo actually JOINED the enemy, then their chances of victory went from 'rather unlikely' to 'next to impossible'. Kumogakure's assistance was crucial if they were to have a fighting chance against Naruto's forces. The possibility of him forming a military alliance, or even a non-aggression treaty, crippled the possible forces that could be mounted against him.

Tsunade HAD to find out which it was, why one of Naruto's Generals was in Kumogakure and helped the Raikage fight off Akatsuki. So she asked Jiraiya "Jiraiya, what do you know about the situation before the attack? What was the Raikage doing, and where was this Gomorrah?"

Jiraiya closed his eyes, preparing to be the bearer of bad news. Then, with resignation in his voice, he said "According to every report I have in that regard, apparently the Raikage came out of a secret meeting with a heavily clothed man. I can only assume that this individual would be General Gomorrah." Tsunade's head sank as she felt fear race up her spine and despair flood her heat. There was every chance that things were completely lost now. If Naruto had won over the assistance of Kumogakure then it was very possible that the war was over before it even began.

Then Jiraiya said, his tone brighter "However, there is SOME good news regarding everything in Kumo."

The Hokage gave him a weary look and asked, her voice heavy with worry and anger over his apparent happiness, "What on Earth can POSSIBLY be considered good news in this situation? You've just told me that Kumo is all but guaranteed to either side with Naruto or remain neutral. In either case, winning the war became either extremely difficult or impossible depending on which of the situations is factual. So, enlighten me O mighty Sage, what is the good news of this accursed scenario?"

Said Sage smirked for a moment before letting neutrality govern his features once more. Then he said "I have managed to locate Hyuuga Hinata."

Tsunade looked like she just took a sledgehammer between the eyes. The other two bits of news knocked her on her ass, but this was actually GOOD news. Hiashi had been a wreck since he heard of Hinata's capture, the fact that it happened almost at the same time as Hanabi's death didn't help things at all. They had both been there at the girl's funeral, and they had never seen the man in such a state before. From what they heard, he spent most of his time in his own quarters, denying all contact save meals. If they could get his daughter back, it would most likely revitalize him beyond what any drug could hope for. They would get the full support of the Hyuuga Clan who would thank them all for the return of their Heiress. Not to mention that Hiashi would do all but kiss the ground where they walked. The leader of the Hyuuga Clan was a powerful ninja in his own right, having spent many years as an ANBU Captain before retiring, and he never let his training stop for a moment. When Tsunade first came into office, she was certain that Hiashi or Danzou would be her greatest inside threat, both of them had the political power to possibly seize her title, and both had the personal strength needed to hold onto it. He wasn't as strong as Sarutobi once was, but both Tsunade and Jiraiya felt that Hiashi could have given either of them a run for their money in a fight, he was a truly fearsome individual. He had to be, to run the most powerful Clan in Konoha, to take his title and defend it from all rivals. He would undoubtedly be a great asset if they could rejuvenate him.

The female Sannin was overjoyed at the possibility, but she wasn't blind to the circumstances. Her expression sobered considerably when she asked "Where is she?"

Jiraiya sighed a bit at that. This was the hard part. "According to my informants in Kumo, she's in Kumogakure, the Raikage Tower to be specific."

Tsunade didn't say anything, didn't do anything except slump onto her desk and slam her fist into it. Then after a moment she all but screamed "DAMMIT!" at the top of her lungs. It wasn't loud enough to leave the room, probably, but it got the point across. She lifted her head, stared at the wall for a second before saying, with real venom in her voice, "Why is it that every bit of good fortune is immediately covered in a RAIN of crap! Fuck!"

Jiraiya stood back and let her vent for a minute before continuing his report. "From what I can tell, Gomorrah went to Kumo on Naruto's orders, bringing Hinata as a bargaining chip. Odds are that he's going to try and use her to broker an alliance between his forces and Kumogakure. I say that because an alliance between Naruto and Kumo would be the worst case scenario. From their geographical locations, Kumo's forces would protect Naruto's right flank, while the sea covered his left as his forces attacked everything to the South. After they reached the Kaze no Kuni deserts, they would turn inland, catching Hi no Kuni in a pincer attack, striking from the North and the West simultaneously. Then they would take out the smaller countries, send ships across to conquer Mizu no Kuni, and leave Kaze no Kuni to starve to death after sending in a few raids to destroy crucial structures. An alliance between Kumo and Naruto would be nothing short of a deathblow. If Naruto can actually secure an alliance then he's almost definitely won."

Tsunade glared at him and said "And what do you say we do about this oh great Toad Sage? You wouldn't go into things in that much detail if you didn't have some kind of plan."

Said Toad Sage just smiled and said "Yes. What we do is engage in diplomacy with Kumo and try to get them to release Hinata to us, possibly forming some kind of alliance as well."

The Hokage sighed and said "Brilliant. So tell me, why on Earth would the Raikage do that? If he sides with Naruto, he'll be able to conquer the Elemental Countries. He'll become one of the two most powerful men in the world. Why would he give that up to bite the hand that gave him what his village tried to steal over ten years ago?"

Jiraiya's demeanor became serious when he said "Because the Raikage isn't an idiot." When Tsunade gave him a look, he continued "The current Raikage CAN be brash, he can let his emotions control him, especially in an emotionally trying situation. But normally he has a good head on his shoulders, he thinks things through. He knows what Naruto plans to do, as do many people in the countries bordering Tsuchi no Kuni. He knows that war is on Naruto's mind, and he knows that if he allies himself with Naruto that he'll be expected to support him. Sure, he would be one of the rulers of the world, but for how long? The Raikage had to have seen what Naruto did to Tsuchi no Kuni, he knows that the bastard wouldn't be satisfied with sharing power. The moment Naruto's forces and Kumogakure conquer the world, Kumo will be next on the list. The Raikage isn't dumb enough not to see that. He'll go along with an alliance with Naruto, only in the hopes of stabbing him in the back. We give him an easy way to do that, and he'll go along with us. We get Hinata back and set Naruto up for when he finally launches his attack. Instead of having an ally covering his Western flank while he charges a prostrate South, he suddenly finds Konoha, Suna, and Kiri ninja waiting for him and his supposed allies blindside him at the worst possible moment. If it goes down like that, we would have a real chance of victory. But for it to happen, we have to get the Raikage on our side."

Tsunade thought about the idea for a minute. She decided that she liked it. She smiled as she thought of the possibility of setting Naruto up and seeing how he liked taking what he'd been dishing out for so long. Finally she said "Okay, Jiraiya you're to contact the Raikage immediately with this plan of yours, you have my full authority to act on your own initiative. But whatever you do, don't get noticed. I wouldn't put it past Naruto to have guards near Kumo to watch for something like this. He isn't the most trusting individual."

Jiraiya nodded and ducked out the window without another word. What he didn't say to Tsunade was how much what she just said worried him. Naruto WAS NOT a trusting person, not in the slightest. There was every chance that he had a plan in case he was betrayed by Kumo, and that was the biggest worry Jiraiya had at the moment. Either way, it would be Naruto's first big push to the South that would decide everything. If he won, he would be unchallenged for the most part and free to do what he wished. If Konoha and their allies beat him, then they would have the momentum to launch an assault on Tsuchi no Kuni, possibly freeing the land and killing Naruto. Either way, things were coming to a head for sure. And with those thoughts, Jiraiya left Konoha, and headed North to Kumogakure.

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With Sasuke

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Sasuke and his team were up and about for the first time since they got to the small city in which they found themselves hospitalized. The Uchiha himself was stretching his muscles out, silently admiring how much better a bed was than a mat in the jungle. The other members of Sasuke's group were sharing similar sentiments as they prepared to leave once more.

There were no shops that sold anything close to ninja supplies in the city, nor could they legally purchase them even if there were, so they were somewhat under supplied, but the money that Sasuke had lifted from Orochimaru was more than enough to resupply them with food and medicine, which all of them realized was much more important than weaponry or smoke bombs and the like. It was a startling realization just how mortal they all were.

But that newfound sense of mortality did nothing to make Sasuke stray from his course, if anything it spurred him on. Now that he had actually felt just how easy it was to be killed by something inconsequential, he led the group out of the town heading North with new energy and fresh determination.

Sasuke knew that what was to come was not going to be easy, all four of them knew that. While Sasuke, Karin, and Suigetsu were laid up in bed, Jugo was gathering information about border security and other such crucial information. There was one railway into Tsuchi no Kuni, and while it would have made an excellent method of entry to sneak in with the train, that simply wasn't in the cards due to the fact that the only train allowed in Korin Station was a large red locomotive marked with an uncountable number of long, barbed spikes. Any attempt to hitch a ride on the metal behemoth would have ended up with Sasuke and his group either speared to the train or trampled under it. So, they had only one option and that was to go through the border guard.

That was the second part of the information Jugo had gathered. Several dozen teams of Naruto's creatures patrolled the border day and night. And from what Jugo had heard from the townies, and what he once saw when he traveled up here on his own to scout, everything pointed at these things not being limited to simple physical abilities. It didn't matter if they couldn't see you, they would still catch you and you would never be seen again. At least, that was the story. And this was the guard that Sasuke was determined to go through to reach his foe. No, rather this was the first line of the guard that Sasuke planned to go through. But that didn't seem to matter to him, he kept on walking North. Like obedient dogs, his three 'compatriots' followed him in utter silence. None of his followers knew just how worried Sasuke was. This was a man who, when he last met him, decimated Sasuke in combat. This was a man who had set his gaze upon a Nation, one with a Great Ninja Village protecting it no less, and conquered it. The Destroyer of Iwagakure no Sato and the slayer of the Tsuchikage. The conqueror of Houfu and the most famous revolutionary in the world. Sasuke felt some kind of recognition of these deeds and he could not help but feel real fear for the first time since he last saw Itachi. He felt fear and he hated himself and the one who caused it. But although he hated the emotion of fear, he couldn't help but wonder 'Could ANYONE face someone who has done what Naruto has done, and not be afraid? Or, could they not feel fear and still be sane?'

Sasuke was taken by his internal conflicts and remained silent. And, following his example, Karin, Jugo, and Suigetsu remained silent as well. This stayed the same for almost half an hour as they mindlessly traveled North. And would have continued for as long as it took Sasuke to come to terms with himself had Jugo not suddenly rushed ahead of Sasuke, thrown out an arm to prevent him from moving any farther forward and quietly said "Stop. Now."

The Uchiha stopped in his tracks, as did Suigetsu and Karin behind him, and Sasuke glanced at the large man, silently asking for an explanation. Jugo got the hint and said "This is as far as the birds have ever gone. The first time I asked them, they went farther but did not come back. After that they have refused. Please use your Sharingan and see what you can find out. It will most likely be important."

Sasuke didn't like being told what to do, he never did, but he saw Jugo's point. He activated the eyes his family were famous for and gazed upon the landscape with red eyes. And he was thankful and amazed at what he saw in front of him.

About twenty feet in front of them, there was a grayish misty haze blocking the way. It rose up like a wall of fog that obscured everything behind it. It went up for about a hundred feet before rearing back, forming a partial ceiling, and it stretched left and right as far as he could see. There were occasional breaks, about a mile or two apart, where sometimes, just for the barest instant, he could see past, but aside from that he could only see a massive wall of vision obstructing fog.

Sasuke's eyes returned to black as he thought about what he saw, interpreting the images that the Sharingan showed him. Finally he said "I think that there's some kind of barrier in the way, probably right on the border line. There are some breaks along the wall, weak points, but aside from those I can't see a thing."

Suigetsu and Jugo were silent, they didn't know the slightest thing about barriers or seals, or anything like that. But Karin did, and she was thinking furiously about what Sasuke reported. Finally, she said "I think that this is how the border guards know when people are trying to sneak in."

Jugo and Suigetsu looked to her for an explanation, while Sasuke continued to stare forward, but Karin knew he was listening as well. She said "I would say that this barrier isn't meant to stop anything from going through, but it will tell someone if someone does go through. A silent alarm rather than a wall. If you go through the barrier, it alerts someone on the other side and they send a guard team after you. It might even have some kind of tracking function for anything that slips through."

Suigetsu's eyebrows climbed toward his hairline when he heard that. He didn't know much about barriers, but he kenw enough to realize the amount of energy needed to put something like that up was gargantuan. "Do you realize how much power you'd need to put up something like that across the border of an ENTIRE COUNTRY!" he half shouted. "You'd need at least twice as much chakra as any Kage I've ever heard of, you'd need to have something like a Bijuu's chakra to do something like that."

Jugo was rather disturbed at the possibility that brought up. "Karin, do you think that Naruto himself is the one that put this barrier up?"

Sasuke looked back at her as she thought about the possibility. Finally, she shook her head in the negative. "No, I've never met this Naruto guy but from what I've heard of him, he isn't the kind to do this kind of drudge work himself. Most likely this is a group effort by a bunch of individuals, each one doing a section. That would explain those weak points Sasuke reported, those are the places where the barriers from two people meet, but don't overlap quite as perfectly as they should."

Sasuke knew a bit about barriers and seals, it was part of the education Orochimaru gave him, but he was no expert. So he asked Karin "How far away would the person doing this be? And how would you think we can get through?"

Karin thought about it for a moment. She was ecstatic that Sasuke was relying on her knowledge, but at the same time she loved the challenge that this presented.

Finally, she said "I don't know how close the person doing this would have to be. Within a mile at least, I'd say, but I can't be sure. As for how to get through, there's sure to be a hole in the barrier where the train goes through so that they don't get mixed messages. But since we can't go through that way, I would hazard a guess and say that those weak points might be our only real chance. Either that or a distraction of some kind."

They were silent for a moment while Sasuke thought things over. Finally, he said "Suigetsu, there was a small pond we passed on the way here, right?"

Suigetsu nodded, not sure where Sasuke was going with this. Sasuke continued "Good, go back there, and make as many Mizu Bunshin as you can, then bring them all back here."

The Kiri ninja looked annoyed by having to do something when he didn't know why, but he knew better than to defy Sasuke and annoy Karin. He went, and the remaining three waited for Suigetsu to return. Jugo tried desperately to become deaf when Karin started trying to seduce Sasuke again, but luckily they didn't have to wait more than ten minutes when Suigetsu returned, twenty two Mizu Bunshin in tow.

Suigetsu just looked at Sasuke, and all of his clones copied his slightly aggravated expression when he asked "Okay, now what?"

Sasuke took a kunai and flung it into a tree a good distance away. He said "Send your clones to that tree, and then send them running through the barrier. Once they're through, have them scatter in all directions. We'll go through a different point while they're busy with the clones.

He watched with his Sharingan active as Suigetsu sent his clones running through the fog, and he saw the holes that they made in the barrier. He waited a moment and said "Follow me, quickly." Then he ran to the other side of the section where the clones ran through, and went into the weak point there, hoping that between the weak point and the distraction that they would be overlooked. The other three followed him, and hoped that Sasuke's plan worked.

Once they were through, they ran as quickly as they could as they went straight North, quickly putting the barrier behind them. In under a minute, Suigetsu reported that the first Mizu Bunshin was destroyed, and then they started falling one by one like dominoes.

Suigetsu sent his clones running in all directions once they were through the barrier. The ones that were farthest to the East fell first, the ones closest to Sasuke and his group. But they apparently went unnoticed as the unseen enemy focused on the clones, heading from East to West, destroying every clone in sequence. Unlike the Kage Bunshin, Suigetsu couldn't retrieve the memories of what his clones saw and heard, but he knew that they were taken out quickly, each killed by a single blow. After they heard that, the four ran all the faster.

Finally, about twenty miles past the barrier, they finally stopped running, taking shelter in the ruins of a small village. The homes were all decimated, but they provided some small shelter as they stopped to catch their breath. They waited a while, and Sasuke took a map from his bag, spreading it out over the floor. He scanned the map and finally said "These are apparently the ruins of Sanren, one of the villages that was destroyed by Naruto's campaign. Our destination is Houfu, the Capital city, way North and slightly to the West of here. We'll stay far away from any of the cities, and hope that we can approach the valley somewhat unnoticed. Let's get going."

With that, the four stood and left the burned remains of the buildings and the salted fields behind, heading North. Fear filled their hearts at least slightly because they all realized that they were in enemy territory. They realized that they were in the realm of their foes. Not in the belly of the beast, but they were certainly in his mouth.

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Five minutes later, Dark Heaven Castle

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Naruto was working with Hogback in his laboratory, completing the last bit of work on his latest General when a Midnight Visitor knocked on the door and entered. He slipped inside, closed the door behind him, and knelt down against the wall, waiting to be acknowledged.

After a minute or so, Naruto finally said "What is it?"

The Visitor dipped his head even further toward the ground and said "Sasuke Uchiha, Tenpin no Jugo, Karin, and Hozuki Suigetsu have entered the border of Tsuchi no Kuni my lord."

Naruto stopped for a moment, and then smiled slightly. "So, they made it through the border guard then?"

The Midnight Visitor only nodded slightly in assent.

Naruto nodded and said "Keep an eye on them, but don't send anybody to attack them unless they get within five miles of a city. Understood? If they don't get too close, let them do as they want. But keep me updated of their movements."

The Midnight Visitor bowed his head and said "Yes, my lord." Before he stood and left the room.

Hogback looked up from his work and asked "Naruto-sama, why did you order Uchiha and his cronies to be let through by the border guard? They could probably have caught them for you if you let them."

Naruto smiled as he looked down at the most powerful General he and Hogback had created together. He said "Simple, they'll be a good test for GZ-011. When he's brought up to speed, his first assignment will be to hunt them down."

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So, the latest chapter has finally been completed. Sorry all that it doesn't have much of Naruto in it, but I thought I would bring everybody up to speed on what was happening with the other groups involved. So, please review, and I look forward to bringing you the next chapter when I can.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	93. Second Hiatus

Hello everyone, this is Artful Lounger giving a bit of an update on things.

Now then, I know I've done this once before, but sadly I'm afraid that I'm putting this story on hiatus as of now. As for why, well what can I say, work has been piling up more than it has been for years, a number of other things are popping up not the least of which is that my home needs to be fumigated in the near future and I have to deal with the preparations for THAT. A few other things.

But above them all… I don't really know how to say this but I'll give it a try. When I started this story, I liked the idea a LOT. I was always thinking of how to make it better, new ways to take it and ratchet it up another degree in terms of story-telling. I was inspired. But after work started picking up again, about when I went on that first hiatus about a year ago, I don't know. After I started up again, that feeling wasn't there. That spark was gone, and it hasn't come back since. With every new chapter, it feels more and more forced, more like a job than a hobby. Sometimes on the weekend I sit doing nothing, I consider writing another chapter, but then I continue staring off into space because I really don't feel like writing another chapter. I don't know what to say beyond that I can't get excited and inspired writing this story like I used to. That combines with the fact that I have come to utterly despise the canon as much as humanly possible. It doesn't make for a good writing environment. And I think that all of this has begun to show in my writing, not to mention the update schedule which has pretty much been write a bit of a chapter whenever I feel like it and then post it when it gets to a certain length. The writing suffers because I've lost that spark, I've lost the muse I had for this story.

More and more lately I keep coming up with new story ideas, but then I'm held back by the fact that this story is still unfinished and I have a personal policy not to do two stories at once. So that's why I am putting this story on hiatus for now.

Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not discontinuing it by any means. But this story isn't going to be my main focus for quite some time. I hope that you guys read the stories I put up in the future, but I don't think that there will be any new chapters on this one for a while. Personally, I'm hoping that by writing new stories I'll manage to light a new fire for this one in the process.

So, that's the reason why I'm doing this. I hope that you'll read the other works that I will be putting up in the near future. But until then this story is on hiatus until the spark comes back.

I know I'm probably disappointing a lot of fans here, and I'm sorry about that. I really am. I hope that you guys can forgive me for this and continue to read the other stories that I'll be putting up in the near future. I hope you understand.

Until the next upload,

Artful Lounger


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